If you aren't going to the game you only have the option to watch on Sky - surely we should be able to watch our national team on free-to-air TV?
Not so long ago if you wanted to watch Wales playing football on TV you could do so for free. Now, the only option you have if you want to watch Wales from the comfort of your own home is to pay Sky for the privilege - which doesn't come cheap. A cursory internet search leads me to believe this will cost you a minimum of £41 a month (assuming you don't buy the one off "day passes" which cost £6.99 for just one day's viewing) and given the frequency of Wales' matches on live television it'd be a hard sell claiming that either option represented good value for money.
What's more, Sky have recently announced that they're to discontinue their Welsh language coverage on the red button for Wales matches. When they deem fit to show them, that is! I remember a match not long after Sky had paid to acquire the rights for Welsh football, where a scheduling clash meant that it was actually "impossible" to show our game. I seem to remember England, Scotland & Ireland featuring on Sky Sports 1, 2 & 3, and the Wales game being completely absent from programming schedules.
Obviously this is far from the norm, and normally they do manage to show our games, but the question remains as to why the FAW sold our televisual rights lock, stock & barrel to BSkyB. English & Scottish fans can, I'm sure, still watch their teams playing international matches on free-to-air TV - why do we get the short straw?
Perhaps it's the lack of a professional league system (and ultimately, financial turnover) which dictated the reasoning, but either way I really dislike having to scrabble around online for a dodgy stream to watch my home country. Yes I know I should just buy a ticket and get to the games, but owing to work commitments and financial restraints I struggle to make as many Swansea games as possible. Sadly adding international fixtures to that just isn't viable at the moment, and I'm sure that's the case for many fans who are currently facing a difficult decision of stumping up for Sky Sports or streaming a game illegally. That's not a choice I think people should have to make.
Maybe we're due a change soon. As of 2014 the broadcasting rights of 52 countries' international football are to be controlled by UEFA directly, in a move which was/is supposed to give every member nation more financial clout with which to bargain. Given the people they're up against (Sky et al), they need all the clout they can get! Let's hope that in future we will once again be able to watch our internationals on free-to-air TV. There surely can't be many countries in Europe where you can't watch your national team without paying for a subscription service, and hopefully the next time bidding rights come about BBC & ITV put in a strong showing and snatch it back from Sky.
Sadly though, the more I think about it the more I think it'll never happen. With UEFA's line on the grouping of TV rights being that it will increase the bargaining strength of the teams as a collective, and Sky's superior financial clout compared with BBC & ITV, it's hard to see such a turnaround occurring.
Let's hope I'm wrong eh.