FSC to air CL

Always easy to pick on Goliath, but ESPN simply beats Fox Sports on every conceivable front. The game is the thing so let's hope Fox doesn't screw up the before and after too bad.

I would have to think that Derrick Rae will have his resume in hand and Fox would be stupid not to hire him immediately.

 

The article also stated, "FSC, which reaches 34 million households, plans to launch HD telecasts at the end of this year"

 

AndyPalmer - If you look at my first message, I said that ESPN360 coverage was sparse. I myself do not get it at my apartment, only when I am on campus.... so I mentioned that it is a plus for me, not all, and is a reason why I do not like the switch....

Just defending my honor....

At Clemson, my only off campus option is really Northland Cable and in Cola its Time Warner... neither have the 360.

Sad face

 

A few random points:

One article I read suggested that FSC would just use the English commentary feeds.

re: ESPN360. My problem with ESPN's policy is that I have no influence over Comcast (I'm a captive audience), but ESPN doesn't even offer a pay-per-event or subscription service for users in my condition. My e-mails to them have all gotten the same reply "Switch to one of our approved providers." Errrrg!

 

English (British) commentary is the only way to go. I'm secretly hoping that some (Brits) are brought over to cover the MLS. The Rapids currently have Mike Haynes, who is a GREAT hockey announcer, doing the Rapids play-by-play. However it just doesn't feel right, it kind of feels that the organization is trying (too hard) to inject enthusiasm to a game they feel is over the heads of their audience.

Give me a Brit and a pint, and I'll watch and listen with a smile.

If I had to go another way, the FSC guy who calls most of the Serie A games calls a great match IMO.

 

I completely disagree with this. I know it's very fashionable to bash ESPN on all things, and I know I'm risking abuse to even defend them for a moment, but I think they do a good job with their soccer coverage.

I believe they have made a commitment to soccer that is appropriate to, if not in excess of, the popularity of the sport in this country. They give the UCL, the USMNT matches, and their coverage of MLS a fair amount of build up and promo time; they set up pregame/studio shows that rival their counterparts in other sports; they've started to show scores from the Prem, Serie A, and La Liga in their score scrolls and on ESPNews; they've given a weekly primetime spot to MLS, a league that, let's be honest, very few people watch; they properly convey the enormity of big events (like the UCL and UEFA 2008); and the biggest one by far is that they have seriously curbed the nudge-nudge-wink-wink, "aren't we clever?" patronizing attitude among their anchors when narrating soccer highlights. This used to be my biggest criticism of theirs, but you almost never see that anymore.

As for starting a game late when another game runs long...what would you expect them -- or any other network -- to do? End the earlier game before it is finished? That would be outrageous to the fans of that game. Flip it around and say this: what if you were watching a champions league match that went to extra time/penalty kicks and they ended it early to start a baseball game? You would be outraged, correct? So why should we expect the network to cut away from a baseball game that's in extra innings to start a soccer match on time? We can't have a double standard.

Soccer will never be ESPN's first commodity. It has the rights to too many sports and soccer is probably the 6th most popular sport in the U.S. But if we, as fans, want the sport to continue to grow in this country and if we want the coverage of the sport to continue to improve in quality and in volume, then we should be rooting for ESPN to get more soccer rights. It may benefit a company we don't like, but it will reach a much larger audience and people will be forced to take it more and more seriously.

 

THANK YOU!!!!!

It's all very fashionable and trendy to grouse about programming you dont like as a soccer fan.. or the announcers or the scheduling but to continually act like ABC/ESPN are not trying to deliver on what we want is ludicrous.

US Soccer owes a huge debt to ABC and ESPN. They've been THE primary TV promoters of the US sport for over thirty years. They havent always gotten it right but that's not for lack of trying.
They are, however, a business.. and they have to show bottom line black for their programming. That means the air time has to pay for itself, at the least.

What you should be grateful for is they havent signed contracts with Pro Rasslin'. THEN you could accuse them of taking the cheap and easy way.

Exhibit 'a': The SciFi Channel

 

Now that the final is over and Fox is set to take the reigns I can't help but think how penny wise pound foolish this is. The higher ups at UEFA know little to nothing of American broadcasting. If you watched any of the Laker-Nugget games then you saw the Messi-Ronaldo buildup at nauseum. If you tuned into Sportscenter or ESPN News there were the top ten champions league goals displayed repeatily for the 3 days leading up to the match. The cross promotion that ESPN delivers is second to none and the exposure for the big clubs is something they obviousily didn't consider.

Watch one FSC report and the studio/graphics/production looks like espn sportscenter circa 1990. Fox tried to compete w/espn nationally and failed miserably and resorted to a "regional strategy". Fox offered more money up front, but will surely put in a fraction of the money espn would into production.

Two final thoughts to bonder. 1) Max Bretos doing play-by-play... (fingernails on a chalkboard sound better). His partner O'Sullivan is okay, but is prone to incoherent tangents for the average fan. 2) How is Versus working out for the NHL?? (*Versus is an actual channel that is currently televising the hockey playoffs, and yes hockey is being televised :shock: )

 

Excellent point.

Once Columbus was knocked out in first round by the Red Wings and Hockey wasnt on FSN-OH anymore, I assumed NHL had just handed Detroit the Cup.

Meanwhile the vast bulk of time on my local FSN-HD cable channel is a LOGO and some bar of elevator like music... the kind you hear on a DVD menu.

OT, sorta but not exactly: T-W replaced HD Net with Mav Channel. I had thought it was a name change. {Think about it} Nope, not related.

Nothing lost.. one poor block of premium channels if there ever was! How poor is HD Net? Crew fan on BS is all upset because he was looking forward to:

I'm heartbroken too, especially about missing Ronson play the Tambo, but I'll get by on the YouTube extracts.

 

Same with GolTV -- I watch either and I feel like I'm watching the BudBowl on Youtube.

Its going to be very interesting to see how they handle the CL. They might do what they do for them Prem, and just cut to the British announcers. Or they may have Bretos do the matches. Or maybe hire Derek Rae. Or maybe hire Don.

We really don't know yet.

 

In the "this may be a positive" category, FSC showed 2 hours of Champions League Pre-Match from Sky Sports Live feed on Wednesday. No complaints here about that move, but one question/statement, could you imagine ESPN doing THAT??

 

OTOH, was it in place of 'paid advertising' programming?

 

Last I checked, Charter cable here in Wisconsin only offers GolTV with the Spanish tier. That's the one thing I don't get with GolTV - their commercials are in Spanish, but they show mostly German games with English commentary. Are they targeting Belgians?

 

Not sure what OTOH means in web-geek vernacular, but it pre-empted the typical replay match of a couple of Italian teams, or Wet Spam v. Pick a team.

So, does FSC have open slots for better coverage of Champions League, as well as any other interesting live event? uhhh, YEAH!

 

But you can catch a glimpse of the beautiful, historic, and magical Cottage here: http://www.myp2p.eu/broadcast.php?match ... art=sports

 

The fact remains that it CANNOT be better for a sport's visibility and popularity in this country when the biggest club event goes from the most popular, most watched sports network to a network that most sports fans don't even know exists, much less where to find it on the dial.

Non-soccer fans won't even know the Champions League is happening when FSC takes over. Everyone who turned on ESPN in the last month knew about it this year.

 

I should make it clear: I love the fact that FSC exists. It's still not better than having more big matches on ESPN... at least, at this point in the sport's development.