Exeter have launched an appeal against the Conference's decision to move their home match with Accrington from a Saturday to a Monday for live Sky coverage.
The top of the table clash was due for the last Saturday of the month, but has now been set for Monday 30th January for Sky coverage.
Conference clubs have no say in the matter once the Conference and Sky have agreed a game, but Exeter insist that the decision could cost them over £25,000. A club statement on the official Exeter site reads:
"The Directors of Exeter City Football club are concerned the fixture against Accrington Stanley planned for Saturday 28 January has been apparently moved to Monday 30 January in order that it can be shown live on Sky television. Not only is it anticipated that the Club will lose a significant amount of much-needed revenue from this 'top of the table clash' (currently estimated to be at least £28,000), it will also deny many of our regular supporters the opportunity to be at St James's Park in person to watch the match. For that reason the Club continues to appeal against the decision to move this fixture and has made a formal written request to the Conference asking for evidence to show that individual clubs have no say in such matters together with a breakdown of anticipated losses."
Exeter appear to be expecting a bumper gate for a Saturday fixture, but recent evidence suggests the club's fears are unfounded. When the Bulls travelled to St James Park for a Sky evening fixture just 10 days ago the gate was around 1,000 higher than the two Saturday matches either side of the game on the fixture list. In fact, of the six gates Exeter have posted in the Conference over 4,000 this season only two have occured on a Saturday.
The Bulls have consistently received higher than anticipated gates for televised matches, with most televised Conference matches getting 4-500 over the club's anticipated figure.