V-League 2018 will play... prime time
According to the schedule of the 2018 V-League season, which will start on March 10, there has been a major change in match times. This is the first time the V-League will have matches taking place at 7 p.m.
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| HAGL's U.23 team will have 10/13 matches at 7pm in the first leg of V-League 2018. |
At least until the end of the first leg, each round will have 2 matches taking place at 7pm. The delay in the evening means that the early matches of the new V-League season will take place 1 hour earlier than in previous seasons. Specifically, the early matches from 5pm to 6pm and the matches at 7pm.
This time slot is considered “prime time” on television channels. In regional national championships such as the Thai League (Thailand) or the Malaysia Super League, which is currently in operation, most of the matches have been scheduled to start at 7 p.m. in recent seasons to take advantage of the opportunity to promote on television and attract more spectators to the stadium.
Thai League has nearly 90% of matches at 7pm. Photo cscreen down |
Even this season, nearly 90% of Thai League matches take place from 7pm with some matches as late as the Premier League at 8pm. The earliest match of Thai League 2018 takes place at 5:45pm.
In Southeast Asian countries, football matches are played in cool weather, allowing players to play in the best possible conditions, and giving spectators more time to arrange their work to come to the stadium to watch. In addition, because it is the “prime time”, TV channels that broadcast live matches will also attract more sponsors to “run” advertisements.
In the Thai League, the revenue from television rights helps clubs to receive a very generous share each season, like this season, each 18 team received a total of 25 million baht (more than 18 billion VND).
Change match times, change the way sponsors promote their image to earn more money, change the coordination mechanism with the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) on the issue of referee control.
Therefore, the fact that V-League has joined the trend like regional national championships has been enthusiastically welcomed by Vietnamese (VN) fans.
Quick polls on social networking sites about the new match times of V-League 2018 have received positive reviews from many people. Along with the effect of U23 Vietnam players, helping V-League 2018 to have an exciting start before the new season.
In another development, from the positive influence of the U.23 Vietnam team at the U23 Asian Cup in January this year, the movement of the V-League is being paid close attention by the number 1 sports television channel in Southeast Asia, FOX Sports, which has opened a Vietnamese version to provide information along with commentary by veteran writers such as John Duerden or Gabriel Tan.