The 'Internet Match' - A Failed Experiment. For Now.

In a world-first, Saturday's World Cup 2010 qualifier between Ukraine and England was the first football match to become available for viewing exclusively on the Internet. In an attempt to 'revolutionise' the way fans experience the beautiful game, the match was not shown live on any UK television networks, giving the audience a chance to pay between £4.99 and £11.99 to watch Wayne Rooney and co. attempt to win in Dnipropetrovsk, and high hopes were placed on the latest advancement in live sports broadcasting to deliver.

However, the live stream only served more problems than delivered to the fans. According to reports, the World Cup qualifier attracted only 250,000 subscribers nationwide, making for an estimated total viewing audience of 500,000. Complaints were made about the authenticity of the websites that were broadcasting the game (I typed 'Ukraine vs England October' on Google and several other sites claimed to have the real stream), slow streaming speeds and glitches, and visual quality was at a minimum. A lack of atmosphere was also a key factor; it is common knowledge that watching a stream on your 14'' screen laptop pales in comparison to a 40'' High-Definition TV screening an England match in your living room/local pub.

Another incident which left fans across the country upset was the BBC's announcement after the match that they will be screening the highlights at the later time of 22:15, something that ITV exposed as a "major ethical issue", accusing the Beeb of misleading viewers who paid up to £12 for the internet coverage unaware a terrestrial highlights deal was already in place.

In my view, online football streams will steadily improve as we make more advancements into technology. However, despite David Pleat's optimism for the future of sports broadcasting, enthusiastically claiming that in five years "people will be able to sit on the beach and watch football on their mobiles", nothing beats the traditional method of sitting back on your armchair, drink in one hand and a remote in the other, with a 40" television of the highest quality staring back at you.

Tradition. You can't beat it. Especially with the beautiful game.