“What people forget is, television is entertainment.”
Pat Spillane has made the bold claim that viewers of The Sunday Game ‘don’t give a s*** about deep-dive analysis’ and are more interested in being entertained.
Spillane was a key panelist on the show since 1992, and was at the heart of many debates and discussions during the show’s coverage of the football championship.
However, with the game becoming more technical, and tactics playing a much bigger role in the sport, pundits and presenters are using their half-time and full time slots to explain the game in greater detail.
Lee Keegan, Sean Cavanagh or Paul Flynn would maybe explain why a sweeper has dropped back, or the functions of Ethan Rafferty’s roaming role from nets, rather than get into a heated debate about whether the game is boring or not.
Spillane believes that this isn’t what the majority of viewers want to watch and admits that he doesn’t miss his role at RTE.
He told the Irish Mirror: “I have them all recorded – do I watch them from start to finish any more? I flick through it.
“There are days now people say, “Do you miss it? I don’t miss the savage social media abuse you’d be getting for two or three days after you appeared on the Sunday Game.
“I don’t miss that. I am sort of in a good space at the moment. ”
In terms of the modern analysis and in-depth coverage, it’s fair to say that the Kerry legend isn’t a fan.
“What people forget is, television is entertainment. 10 per cent of the population want to be educated.
“Your social media warriors and another small cohort, the anoraks, they want a deep dive analysis – zonal analysis, the low blocks.
“There’s 80-90 per cent of the people watching the Sunday Game, they don’t know what “a low block” is and don’t give a s*** what a “low block” is.
“They don’t know what a “back door cut is” and don’t give a s*** what “a back door cut” is.
“Do you know. They want to know roughly why one team won and why the other team lost.
“The big thing is, they want a bit of entertainment.”
Related links:
- The most ‘boring and predictable’ thing about football is Pat Spillane calling it ‘boring and predictable’
- Pat Spillane goes in on Dublin’s decision to bring Stephen Cluxton back
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