bigmac
22/05/2007, 9:14 AM
In Emmet Malone's IT column today
The interest of significant sections of the population in the game is evident from the huge numbers who play and the substantial revenues paid to cable stations here who show games from Europe and South America. The indifference of the media and wider public to games that take place on their doorstep, however, is all too obvious.
He is talking about the profile of football in New York, but I was struck by how apt this comparison is to Ireland and probably many other countries. Is this a worldwide problem, that "fans" have turned into "consumers" and a "revenue stream"? I'd imagine that most of the established European countries don't have this mentality, but there must be a hell of a lot of places where the barstooler is king.
The interest of significant sections of the population in the game is evident from the huge numbers who play and the substantial revenues paid to cable stations here who show games from Europe and South America. The indifference of the media and wider public to games that take place on their doorstep, however, is all too obvious.
He is talking about the profile of football in New York, but I was struck by how apt this comparison is to Ireland and probably many other countries. Is this a worldwide problem, that "fans" have turned into "consumers" and a "revenue stream"? I'd imagine that most of the established European countries don't have this mentality, but there must be a hell of a lot of places where the barstooler is king.