Oxford United v Sunderland - the first pay-per-view match in British football history - was a big turn-off for any neutral viewers paying £7.95 to watch on the Sky Box Office channel.
Sky spokesman Chris Haynes said it would be impossible to tell how many people had watched the game on TV until all the figures came in from SkyDigital and cable customers.
But he described a statement on the radio that as few as 4,000 people might have paid to watch the match as "way off the mark".
Oxford United will receive one sixth of Sky's takings from the experiment, which is being conducted jointly with the Football League.
Story date: Monday 01 March
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