Interview with Mark Bajaj, raising money for City Catering through PPV Boycott
We spoke to Mark Bajaj from the Saints FC Not 606 forum, who have raise money for our projects by boycotting the Premier League PPV price and donating the money to our cause.
Mark explained that the Saints FC Not 606 forum were a group of people on an independent Southampton FC forum that enjoy the banter and enjoyment from watching Southampton FC play - whether live at St Mary's or on the TV. However, they were disappointed by the decision for the Premier League to introduce a £14.95 pay-per-view fee in October.
The Premier League’s decision led to significant protests among fan groups and more than £300,000 has been raised for independent charities by fans boycotting pay-per-view games after top-flight clubs voted 19-1 in favour of the "interim solution".
Mark expressed “A few of us on the Saints FC Not 606 forum got together as we felt that enough was enough with the introduction of another charge to watch football, especially as the games are being played behind closed doors and there is no other way of following your team. We all already subscribe to two or three services to watch televised games and this just seemed pure greed that the extra one or two games over a weekend were being made PPV.
We are in the midst of a global pandemic and rather than encourage us to stay in and stay safe, this to us seemed to encourage people to meet up in homes to either share the extra cost or congregate in a pub or bar to watch it.
It seems wrong that the Premier League is awash with money and wants more in these hard times, while people around the UK and in our local community are going hungry and worrying where their next meal is coming from.
We are living in especially difficult times at the moment, so we decided that rather than pay the Premier League more money, we would put that money to good use and encourage others to do so too. In 2020 nobody should be going hungry or worry about feeding their family. By not watching a football match on TV everyone that donated has helped support those who really need it. The work that City Catering do is amazing and we hope that as well as raising a lot of money, we have raised the profile of this worthwhile cause.