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Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To as a connected mumsnetter to lobby the govt to make The Champions League Final free to view for all UK citizens?

115 replies

mumofoneAloneandwell · 20/05/2026 20:04

Football is a working class sport at its heart. No child should be prevented from watching a major sporting final because they can't afford to!

Edit - ask**

OP posts:
Thread gallery
5
housepaidoff · 21/05/2026 07:08

Or Arsenal fans can suck it up and pay to watch it.

Sick of all the furore around them.

rose69 · 21/05/2026 07:11

How about lobbying the football teams to make these things free. Owners and players want huge pay packets which is why you have to pay.

Jc2001 · 21/05/2026 07:11

PurpleCoo · 20/05/2026 20:44

I think there are far more valuable things in life that people from deprived backgrounds may wish to lobby for access to rather than a sports game.

There are, but we (as a society) are slowing chipping away at things that people, kids especially can do for free which gets them interested in things other than doom scrolling of social media and potentially set them up for life with an interest that might keep them fit and healthy.

All these things aren't big on their own but that makes a difference when you put them all together.

So, instead of jumping on the op for suggesting something like this, maybe get on board with it and call out other things that society is slowly taking away from our kids.

Don't ask 'why this?' ask 'what next?'

Sunshineandrainbow · 21/05/2026 07:14

justanotherpassword · 20/05/2026 23:59

Not sure but should be a great game. Though I’d want an English team to win it’s depressing it’s Arsenal.

COYS for life but we have our own problems 😢

Feel the same how can it be a year today since they won the cup! My daughter experienced the best day of her life as as spurs fan in Spain, let's hope that joy is back soon 💙

MasterBeth · 21/05/2026 22:10

shellyleppard · 20/05/2026 21:33

@MasterBeth i have to disagree on that point....but not everyone likes the same things

No. But lots more people like football.

Besafeeatcake · 22/05/2026 14:11

SpottyAlpaca · 20/05/2026 22:53

YANBU.

There must be millions of kids who want to watch Arsenal, the newly crowned the Premier League champions play in the Champions League final tomorrow night but can’t as their parents don’t subscribe to TNT, which is a minority pay channel.

The final should be listed by the government as one of the protected events made available on free to air TV for all to watch. There is far more public interest in the CL final, whoever is playing, than in the Epsom Derby or Rugby League cup final, which are protected.

But then why this year? It's always been the same and Arsenal isn't a bigger team (worldwide smaller) than Man City or Liverpool for example who have won in the recent past.

This PL season was poor at best.

BeardySchnauzer · 22/05/2026 14:22

rose69 · 21/05/2026 07:11

How about lobbying the football teams to make these things free. Owners and players want huge pay packets which is why you have to pay.

Yep - this

maybe arsenal could pay uefa the money to refund the tv company any losses to make it free to view in the uk.

oh wait, they wouldn’t

Middletoleft · 22/05/2026 14:28

Who's going to pay for it. Football is a multi million pound industry paid for by football fans by way of season tickets, merchandise and channel subscriptions.

Cue the baying hounds who hate seeing anyone get something for nothing.

housepaidoff · 22/05/2026 14:32

Middletoleft · 22/05/2026 14:28

Who's going to pay for it. Football is a multi million pound industry paid for by football fans by way of season tickets, merchandise and channel subscriptions.

Cue the baying hounds who hate seeing anyone get something for nothing.

Why should they get it for free

WhereTheWeatherSuitsMyClothes · 22/05/2026 14:38

The way football has become all about money is so very sad.

My Dad is a massive football fan, but my mum absolutely loathed it and wouldn't allow him to watch it in the house in my childhood, and hated discussions about it too so I never realised quite how massive it was. I now have 2 sons and have since learned it is a religion, and that is no exaggeration, the passion and love an obsession of so many people all over the world of every proper religion, creed, colour, culture and denomination is phenomenal. Just look at travel programmes like Race Across The World - it is even an international language. My children have happily played with total strangers who do not speak their language on holiday and had lots of fun with them, through football.

Everything about it should be more accessible, not exploited. The amount footballers are paid should be at the very least halved, as should tickets and shirts and the amount of new strips they churn out all the time. I appreciate things are quite a bit cheaper outside the Premier League.

It's a fantastic, accessible sport, all you need is a ball and a 4 items to make 2 goals and absolutely anyone can play it and learn it, and it is being totally ruined by greed.

Totally agree finals should be on mainstream TV - any of the channels you get with a TV licence. As should Rugby, Cricket, Cycling.

(Not sure why Tennis is so special, I don't actually know anyone who plays tennis and I know loads who play/do all the others?!)

Middletoleft · 22/05/2026 15:41

housepaidoff · 22/05/2026 14:32

Why should they get it for free

I rest my case. Took less than 5 minutes for a bite 😁

Costacoffeeplease · 22/05/2026 16:10

Bloody ridiculous

Boomer55 · 22/05/2026 16:11

I’d agree but sport is all about money now. 🙄

MsFogi · 22/05/2026 16:12

I assume this is some sort of football game. I think the government needs to be prioritising other things than this, whatever it is.

murasaki · 22/05/2026 16:18

I signed up to hbo max through amazon prime to watch all 3 finals for 4.99. Annoying, but not impossible.

MasterBeth · 22/05/2026 19:59

MsFogi · 22/05/2026 16:12

I assume this is some sort of football game. I think the government needs to be prioritising other things than this, whatever it is.

You sound well informed.

AlcoholicAntibiotic · 22/05/2026 20:00

As long as they don’t fuck around with the rest of the TV schedules. I’m fed up with things being moved because of sport. Not everyone is interested.

MasterBeth · 22/05/2026 20:01

WhereTheWeatherSuitsMyClothes · 22/05/2026 14:38

The way football has become all about money is so very sad.

My Dad is a massive football fan, but my mum absolutely loathed it and wouldn't allow him to watch it in the house in my childhood, and hated discussions about it too so I never realised quite how massive it was. I now have 2 sons and have since learned it is a religion, and that is no exaggeration, the passion and love an obsession of so many people all over the world of every proper religion, creed, colour, culture and denomination is phenomenal. Just look at travel programmes like Race Across The World - it is even an international language. My children have happily played with total strangers who do not speak their language on holiday and had lots of fun with them, through football.

Everything about it should be more accessible, not exploited. The amount footballers are paid should be at the very least halved, as should tickets and shirts and the amount of new strips they churn out all the time. I appreciate things are quite a bit cheaper outside the Premier League.

It's a fantastic, accessible sport, all you need is a ball and a 4 items to make 2 goals and absolutely anyone can play it and learn it, and it is being totally ruined by greed.

Totally agree finals should be on mainstream TV - any of the channels you get with a TV licence. As should Rugby, Cricket, Cycling.

(Not sure why Tennis is so special, I don't actually know anyone who plays tennis and I know loads who play/do all the others?!)

The amount footballers are paid should be at the very least halved

Why? How will this help anything? All of them? Men and women? Why half? Have you really thought this through?

MasterBeth · 22/05/2026 20:02

AlcoholicAntibiotic · 22/05/2026 20:00

As long as they don’t fuck around with the rest of the TV schedules. I’m fed up with things being moved because of sport. Not everyone is interested.

Not everyone is interested in the stuff they put on for the rest of the year.

How many times a year is The One Show on? Or Corrie?

The Champions League Final is two hours a year.

AlcoholicAntibiotic · 22/05/2026 20:07

MasterBeth · 22/05/2026 20:02

Not everyone is interested in the stuff they put on for the rest of the year.

How many times a year is The One Show on? Or Corrie?

The Champions League Final is two hours a year.

Oh well. If they can’t watch overpaid men kicking a ball around they’ll just have to do something more productive with their time.

MasterBeth · 22/05/2026 20:10

AlcoholicAntibiotic · 22/05/2026 20:07

Oh well. If they can’t watch overpaid men kicking a ball around they’ll just have to do something more productive with their time.

What, like watch the junk you're up in arms about being moved?

HobGobblynne · 22/05/2026 20:12

shellyleppard · 20/05/2026 20:06

Not everyone is a football fan though....

I don’t think Op is suggesting everyone be forced to watch it?

JustGiveMeReason · 22/05/2026 20:21

I'm really disappointed none of the finals have been / are on free to view, but even I don't think it is something for the Gmnt to get involved in.

The upside is that it will put some money into the dying pub trade as people go to the pubs and clubs to watch them.

murasaki · 22/05/2026 20:25

JustGiveMeReason · 22/05/2026 20:21

I'm really disappointed none of the finals have been / are on free to view, but even I don't think it is something for the Gmnt to get involved in.

The upside is that it will put some money into the dying pub trade as people go to the pubs and clubs to watch them.

Although I already posted a very cheap way to do it at home.

And yes, @mumofoneAloneandwell wasn't suggesting people be forced to sit in front of it with their eyes clamped open like Alex in A Clockwork Orange.