Kipax has given an answer but I shall elaborate further.
There are many photographers who take photos for local papers of the local team and have a licence of there own because they get the required number of photos in thier local paper to qualify for the EFL licence.
They can submit and do to the nationals at the same time as doing the job for their local paper.Like Kipax.
Those are the freelancers that have really struggled to get published in the nationals this season.
Even the small agencies are now struggling because of the changes at the begining of the 2017-18 season.
As I said the big agencies were getting well and truely PO with the amount of freelancers getting published over them. I have heard and had expressed to myself the disquite that had developed with the likes of Togs from, Getty, action Images,Back Page Images and Associated Press.
The reason they where concerned is a simple one really. There (big agencies) business modle was not sustainable at all when one considers that a large majority of their Togs were travelling in many accassions 100 mile there and 100 mile back to matches. The average must have been about 80 mile round trip. How can big agencies sustain such costs when one considers that the Togs are full time and the fuel and travel expenses have to be covered.
As apposed to smaller agencies that employed no one and the Togs paid for their own fuel and expenses. Most staying local and there being a lot of them to cover matches. Many of who where using top camera equipment comparable to the big agencyTogs.
Just the simple maths of the matter meant the big agencies had to do something about it.
Freelancers and small agencies are still a threat to the big agencies and I think that if the press decide to revert back to the level playing field that existed up until the begining of last season the big agencies will have to remodel their business plans.
I think the fact that the big agencies have the hold on the premiership was what gave them the leaver to put presure on the nationals to favour them in the first instance no matter what. Even at the lower leagues having already tied up the premiership with contracts to supply.
But the nationals will call the tune at the end of the day and I suspect that they asked for a cut in rates from the big agencies in order to push the freelancers out and to only use freelancers where no big agency pics exist (the nationals are publishing head shots from players who have scored goals from big agencies over cracking shots of the goal being scored by freelancers).
If anyone knows different to my conspiracy theory. Please go right ahead that's what the forums for.
