England’s World Cup qualifier against Ukraine this weekend will be the first England international streamed online only, marking a major first for sports coverage on the web. But will audiences be willing to stump up a fiver or more for a virtual seat?
The match on Saturday was supposed to be screened by Setanta, but the Sky rival collapsed earlier this year. Instead, online sport specialist Perform will be screening the England game at www.ukrainevengland.com for £4.99 (before Thursday, £9.99 until Friday and £11.99 on the day), payable via PayPal. Former manage Sven-Goran Eriksson is even commentating on the game.
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Perform has previously streamed UEFA cup matches, but the deal means that pubs will not be able to show the England game – instead, Odeon is screening it at 11 cinemas up and down the country. Don’t get too down though if you don’t fancy hunching over a laptop with your pint: England is already through to the tournament next Summer. Anyone smell a dead rubber?
