Saints have announced that you can now subscribe to the matchday programme and recieve it by e mail, but is this the future ?
Certainly it seems to be an idea that no one has thought about before and it some respects its so simple that it should be a sure fire winner, however for many football supporters its not about reading matchday programmes its all about collecting them.
This being the case there are many who will baulk at receiving a downloadable file, even if they can print it out and save it, programme collecting is about much much more than the information contained in it.
Even for those who dont obsessively collect and neatly file away their match programme its something a little bit more than a computer file, its about buying it at the ground, reading it in the build up to the match and for kids its about perhaps getting it signed by a player or two, all of these things wont quite be the same even if you have printed it off at home.
But Im not completely dismissive of the idea, in fact in many ways i think it's a very positive innovation, of course those that like to buy their copy on matchdays can continue to do so,but for those that for one reason or other cant get a copy, its a great way to read the programme.
From a cost effective point of view it also makes sense, the introductory offer of £29 for the season is good value for 23 issues and even at £39 its still cheaper than paying for a hard copy.
So to summarise I dont think this form of media for a matchday programme will ever replace the more traditional form, however I think offering the option makes good business sense although the traditionalist in me is saddened by the thought that the younger generation will not experience the excitement of buying and collecting programmes, something that was an integral rite of passage for football fans for over 100 years.