Reason Middlesbrough v Rotherham United Was Late Saturday Night Kick-Off
The reason Middlesbrough v Rotherham United fixture was a Saturday evening kick off.
A Sky-sports obligation as part of their EFL broadcast deal was the reason that the Middlesbrough
v Rotherham United fixture was played at the unusual time of 7.45 on Saturday evening.
Such kick-offs - Reserved for midweek fixtures, with weekend games tending to take place at
mid-day on a Saturday, & afternoon for Sunday.
Sky-sports deal with the EFL is that they are obligated to show every side at home, at least twice
in a season, once each side of the new year, & with plans in place through out the rest of the
year, it was realised that Rotherham United hadn't been scheduled.
When looked at, it was realised that it would be unable to schedule Rotherham United in for live
broadcast at the NYS.
So provisions were made to show the game at Middlesbrough's Riverside stadium, which then from
a broadcasting point of view, was therefore viewed as a Rotherham United home fixture.
Financial Payment - Sky-Sport Broadcast
Home clubs receive around £100,000 per televised game, away sides receive around £10,000 plus
logistics costs, such as travel & accommodation where necessary.
Because Rotherham United had to be shown at home, & therefore classed as the broadcasters
home side, in order to receive fair share of broadcast money, Rotherham automatically received
the home side reward, therefore receiving around £100,000
Where Middlesbrough were the actual hosts, they fought also to receive the same fee, which
understood was given.
Meaning Sky-sports paid out around £200,000 to broadcast the game.
Paul Warne said, " I bet sky are buzzing with that ! I appreciate fans who came, considering its on
TV at a unsociable time in the Worlds history, no one wanted to be here, the people on Sky
buzzing, I got out quick, so they could go home. "
