Ben Foster has revealed that he received a number of warnings from the Premier League in relation to his YouTube channel.
Foster goes by the name of “The Cycling Goalie” on YouTube. He started it during the COVID-19 pandemic when games were conducted without fans. It offered a unique perspective on the gamer to the fans. It led to Forster becoming a star in the football media industry.
Ben Foster and his channel
Ben Foster recently explained his idea to start the channel with footage in a chat with TalkSport.
I got the idea to put the GoPro in the back of the goal. Nobody had seen it from that angle before. I didn’t ask, I did it and put the content out. I kept it under a towel. At first, I didn’t really tell anybody. I stuck it in the back of the goal, it’s on a little Tripod. And then just to hear how footballers talk to each other and converse.
How I would tell my right back or left-back to come in, all that stuff people were just fascinated by it. I put it out and that’s when the slap on the wrist came and they said, ‘You can’t just do that, you have to ask at least. It was Sky and the EFL that I had to clear it with and they were brilliant and let me carry on doing it.
While the authorities were okay in the Championship, the Premier League executives thought differently. They did not want him using the footage in his videos.
As soon as the season finished, I had to go on a Zoom call with the Premier League and all these other big dogs. Basically, it was ‘Don’t even dream of doing that in the Premier League. We have to charge Amazon, BT, Sky Sports, all these guys, so much money to broadcast our content. There’s no way you’re doing it. We will sue you like you wouldn’t believe.
As fans, it is disappointing to see these restrictions. However, the Premier League also have a point with there being legal issues to share footage.
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