Right at the top of this very page someone has explained how watching one of the streams led to them and their entire family going to the Keighley game, and you come out and say nobody is gaining anything?

How many more people like Bully Boxer saw one of the streamed games and decided to check out a match in person?
What is the % swing in terms of walk up support since we started streaming games?
Have we sold any season tickets since the streams began?

Unless you have access to this info then I don't see how you can call it a loss making exercise.
The expenditure is advertising, it's as simple as that. We advertise our product and if people like it, they get involved. How successful the advertising is will take time to determine.

But what is the alternative? Wait for the RFL to help this division out? Well they actually want to cut all funding to this division so yeah, that clearly isn't going to happen. We can tread water like the Workingtons of this division or we can experiment with something different like this.

When Mick Gledhill gives a sensible and reasoned response, but the chairman of the club comes across as a petulant child. The world has gone mental.

Is it Freaky Friday?

With respect Nothus, that's mostly airy fairy nonesence.

Unless they have some kind of hard baked plan to make money from this (and I'm sort of assuming that someone must have) then giving away permanent free samples to folk who will then continue to expect it for free, certainly isn't my idea of a great money making scheme. If they can make it pay then fine, but I'd definitely like to see the business plan, since all we've seen so far (apart from free games) are costs.

give it a rest... you seem to hate Gledhill, that's your issue, some of us are thankful for his excellent commentary and passion for the Bulls - oh and he doesn't go round comparing current Bulls players to doggy dooo....

So clear evidence of the stream bringing in a lapsed supporter is nonsense?
Okay then

You may have missed it, but I praised the fact he gave a sensible explanation and response (it's a far cry from the Mick Gledhill of years ago, who you may not remember as a regular poster on here). When praise is due, it's given. I've also given it numerous times in the past for his commentary, because it was due. It's a shame the chairman couldn't do the same that Mick did and take some time to think about his comments, then come across professional.
I wouldn't know if he compares players to dogsh*t as I haven't heard his commentary in quite a while, but as a commentator if someone is playing badly, I'd expect he'd acknowledge that (albeit in a professional manner that I don't need to adopt because I don't work for the club).

Equally, when praise is not due (for anyone), I'm happy to speak my opinion. If I think someone's an idiot or a poor player, I am more than happy to say so. Unlike many sycophants I see on social media (and a few on here) that daren't ever say a bad word in case the person who's backside they're kissing might not give them a selfie next time they're drooling over them in the Coral Stand.

But you carry on praising people who are quite terrible at their jobs, that makes far more sense.

I think there's more to it than just doing it for the sake of it. Yes Toronto have the novelty factor but how many people have bought into it through streaming? I have family in the US watching the Bulls FB streams and actively promoting RL to their friends.

I know they aren't going to attend but building the brand back up from the laughing stock it became and selling the odd shirt along the way was really repairing the damage... that is until our normally inscrutable Chairman went full doylem on us.

'Sorry we can't stream this week, Workington have decided it may affect turn out from the local area and we respect that decision' should have been the response.

Its been refreshing these last months with other fans being generally positive about Bradford but now all the mentally challenged Wakey and Fax freaks are back foaming at the mouth blethering about big clubs, cutting cloth and all their other favourite cliches.

With the tinfoil firmly in place and seeing the glee in Koukash's tweets it makes you wonder who was behind the decision that led to such a spectacular bite from Chalmers.

Wasn't the crowd in the region of about 1300, with about 750 Bulls fans there anyway?

So the publicity didn't help them get a big crowd anyway. And they lost out on however many thousands who would have watched on stream too. Seems a pretty pointless spat really in hindsight.

The only highlight being I don't have to/can't watch a half-d Bulls performance and a disappointing loss online. Like I did last year.

Also, isn't Koukash looking at getting a dedicated Cumbrian team in SL with Workington, Whitehaven, Barrow et al all being feeder teams? Looks like suck-up publicity for his cause. I can't see his plan working either, what with the rival fans hating each other but (in his mind) getting together to support an area wide team with no real fanbase. He did such a good job with his last club too....

You seem to have a lot to say, (some of it downright insulting and infantile). I get the impression from your posts you don`t actually attend matches, but listen to commentaries.

A whole ONE! That sounds like desperation, to be honest. The whole idea is a succes because one person claims to have been convinced, you couldn't make it up.
Let's be right, I hope it works, I really, really do as I want the club to be successful, but so far, to me, all the aims and aspirations for the idea that I've heard just seem to be wishy washy, pie in the sky and wishful thinking - typical adman's blurb. Sadly, you can't just believe something and it automatically happens, so I sincerely hope the people behind the scheme have something a bit more hard headed and better thought out behind it than what I've read in many posts so far.
I guess we'll see.

It wasn't Gledhill who labelled a current Bulls player as doggy do - that's all you..... deflect all you want.....

I don't think Gledhill gets paid for commentating, maybe he does, but you are the only person who thinks he is bad at it... so he is far from terrible at his "job" as you state.

Nowhere have I said he is bad at commentary. Absolutely nowhere. Again, I'm not criticising him at all in the post you quoted. I am praising him and referring to how it's so much different to the way he used to be (which is a credit to him).

The reference to people being bad at their jobs was referring to your reminder of me suggesting that one of our hookers is dogsh*t. Which I believe he is. It wasn't a reference to Mick. It was also a reference to the "media manager" who is quite clearly in the job for reasons other than knowing the English language (I would guess he's cheap). Again, it wasn't aimed at Mick. I'll say it again in case it sinks in this time. IT WAS NOT A REFERENCE TO MICK.

If you're going to argue, I think you need to learn to read properly first.

I'll make it easy for you. I DO NOT THINK MICK IS BAD AT COMMENTATING.

Clear yet? Or do you need it in a larger font too?

I do have a lot to say, because if I have an opinion, I'm not afraid to voice it, regardless of whether it is there to praise or criticise. I'm not going to praise something just to be nice. That way when I do praise things, it's genuine and not just said to make people feel better (which I couldn't care less about).




Then impressions are not your strong suit.

Well I guess it hard to quantify and I suppose it is possible that I am the only person who has been convinced to attend a game on the back of the streaming. I would have thought it is unlikely that I am the only one though. Now whether the outlay is covered by people like me I don’t know.

PS It’s more than one... because I also convinced my wife and child that it might be a nice afternoon out!

One person from the tiny demographic that actually bothers to post on this website.

I get that and I do hope the stream pulls fans new and old back to the game however this sounds like keighley benefitted and York lost out since you watched the york game for free.

Personally I travelled, paid for a ticket, food drink at york. Now I’m not having a go at you or anyone for not going but what is my incentive to do that when I could have watched at home for free? From a business prospective it just doesn’t make sense.

Sure we get exposure to the game as a whole but we are effectively saying why pay when it’s free. Likewise how would anyone convince a broadcaster to pay for the rights given we give them away for free? This is the very same issue the RFL are now having with the competition rights after the stobart deal.

I 100% want to be wrong and want the streaming to lead to 10,000 on the terraces again but how could it? Is it worth having a fan base all over the world and thousands watching online when the club and other clubs don’t see a penny in return?

Even if we take the examples by some that fans might turn up to the odd game. Does that £20 in a blue moon balance out the drop of season tickets knowing you don’t need one when it’s free online..

I would be absolutely amazed if we have sold a single season ticket on the back of the free stream. If we have I take my hat off to that person

I think you are missing the point. York haven’t lost out as you have said above - he wasn’t never going to go to York, but watching the stream convinced him to go to one of the next games in person.

I think that is entirely the aim for this season, and if viewing figures are good I wouldn’t be surprised to see a subscription service next season.

After years of poor performances, I now have some confidence in the coach and it looks like AC does too. If we think performances are going to be good enough to bring back some old fans then why not explore the live streams?

With us reaching (more or less) our season ticket sales target I guess Chalmers thinks he can showcase this now when we hardly get any away support. If we go up I don't expect it'll be free next season. Having said that it depends on how the club sell the watching audience to potential sponsors - if they can do that it might be worth keeping it as free.

I don't think anyone who has actually sat down and (tried) to watch the game being streamed live has genuinely thought that it is a viable alternative to going to the game.
Let's be honest the commentary is pretty good, if a little shrill at times, but the quality of the pictures and reliability of the stream are pretty bad. It's a good job it is free because in it's current state I would not be willing to pay for it.
That's not a slant on those putting the efforts in to get the streams up and running and broadcast etc. I'm just being honest.
They're doing the best with what they've got and who knows, perhaps with better funding the quality would improve.

All of this may become a moot point anyway because (fingers crossed) if we do get promoted this season then I don't think we'll even be able to do any live streaming of matches because technically Sky have already bought the broadcasting rights for the championship. The only reason we can do it now is because nobody gives a gnat's chaff about this division.

Toronto are still airing games via Premier Sport aren't they (I'm not sure as I don't subscribe)? I don't know what deals they have in place, but it's obviously doable.

Which then makes me wonder how/when? this will be monetised as there is an outlay by propersport (less from the Bulls) and what we're getting at the moment is more of a proof of concept sort of thing which will have evidence of viewing figures when the time comes to start selling advertising.

^This. Good on them for trying something different but can't see much of a long-term future in the live streaming in its present form (speaking as someone who can't get to matches, I don't even bother now as the quality issues don't make it worthwhile). Just keep the after match video interviews.

As Nothus rightly said though, the quality would need to improve before they could start asking people to pay for it. They'd be inundated with complaints if you were paying for the current service. As a freebie, we can't really moan about it, we can just choose whether it's worth watching or not.

I have thought the exact same thing though. There seems to be a big thing being made by people involved to get the viewing figures out there (although I do think they're purposely trying to quote the higher figures rather than things like unique visitors, but hey, they're marketing) and I fully believe that's so they can try and sell it to sponsors and potential future customers.

One thing we've overlooked in all this, what's the quality of Workington's Tea Lady's brew?

They do but only after agreeing it with Sky and (presumably) paying them for the broadcasting rights.
I'm just assuming we don't have the financial clout to do that, and that we won't have had to pay anyone this season because nobody owns the league 1 rights.