Lower Leagues Reap Rewards of Televised Games

As a fan of Blue Square Premier side, Oxford United I tend to take more of an interest in teams lower down the English divisions. Since I have recently subscribed to Setanta, I have been able to watch the likes of Mansfield, Rushden, and Northwich.

It's fantastic that those teams in the lower divisions have the chance to play on TV and most importantly it helps them out financially.

Until recently Oxford United had not won a televised game on Setanta leaving many fans questioning the team's involvement on the channel. However since their 3-1 triumph at home to Cambridge there has been a growth in confidence in terms of Oxford's involvement on Setanta and now even I have subscribed to the channel.

It's not just Setanta that offers coverage outside the Premier League though. Every Sunday ITV show highlights of all the Championship games along with the goals from Leagues 1 and 2.

Yesterday of course ITV showed the live FA Cup tie between Blue Square side Histon and the former mighty Leeds United. It was great to see a side like Histon win as their financial status would have taken a big boost and hopefully there's more televised coverage to come.

The BBC also used to televise similar games with the excitement of a small club facing the big club in the FA Cup.

Just over four years ago, the BBC advertised Oxford United's (at this point they were in League 2) match against local rivals Swindon Town. This was a big deal for the two clubs and held much anticipation around both counties.

Oxford went on to win the game 1-0 and drew against Arsenal in the 3rd Round. Although the game itself was not televised there was media coverage which helped advertise the club.

For my media investigation I am looking at the coverage of football on television over the last 30 years. It would be great if you could add a couple of comments about the coverage of smaller teams in the world of football and whether or not you prefer to watch the lower league players rather than the stars like Ronaldo in the Premier League.