In 1992, Sky received the rights to broadcast the newly established Premier League in a £304m five-year deal. Two years later, Duncanson predicted that the ability broadcasters had over soccer would proliferate to an extent not but seen.
“Should you suppose tv is simply too highly effective in sport now, in 10 years’ time you will not consider the management that they will have,” he mentioned.
Duncanson additionally speculated that followers in 2004 would watch soccer by way of subscription and pay-per-view providers.
“He’ll watch it on his personal native Newcastle cable station as a result of the BBC or ITV will not have the ability to afford the rights to the sport,” he mentioned.
“The cable operator could have paid a fortune for it, however he is aware of he’ll get the cash again from subscription.
“It is in all probability going to be finished on pay-per-view, so you may put a card and a quantity in your phone, faucet it in, 5 quid docked out of your account, the sport pops up.”
Extra three many years on, subscription-funded broadcasters proceed to be the gatekeepers of top-flight English soccer.
In 2023, the Premier League agreed a report four-year £6.7bn home tv deal for Sky and TNT to point out as much as 270 dwell video games a season from 2025-26.
Reflecting on his authentic predictions, Duncanson mentioned it “wasn’t rocket science” to see the place issues had been going “in the event you adopted the cash”.
“Sky had modified the sport by spending a lot cash on rights as a result of it established them as a serious satellite tv for pc energy, and so they proceed to at the present time,” he mentioned.
Casting his eye in direction of the long run, Duncanson sees the character of subscription viewing altering.
“We’re all going to be taught a brand new acronym: DTC – direct-to-customer,” he mentioned.
“There’s a little bit of a push-back now with subscription costs rising, from soccer followers who say, ‘Why do I’ve to pay a lot cash? I do not need to watch cricket or rugby or motorsport or no matter. I simply need to watch my workforce play.'”
Taking its cue from the NFL, NBA and Formulation 1, Duncanson believes the Premier League will more and more evolve right into a rights holder and broadcast platform.
“The Premier League subsequent season are going to start out their very own channel in Singapore. If that is a hit, you may see that being rolled out into different territories,” he mentioned.
“You will be watching ‘Premflix’ or ‘Fifa TV’ or ‘Uefa+’, or any of them who have gotten that degree of beneficial soccer.”
