I agree with the keeping it on fox notion. It's nice knowing i'll be able to see a good amount of Arsenal matches live in HD.
This is obviously key but it just hit me how key... Long-term the Premier League (it's management, backers, sponsors, etc) wants their product seen by the maximum # of eyeballs in the USA. Since BeIN is not a widely carried channel in the USA, and even if it was, it's still a singular channel (right?), then why would the PL want to relegate their product to their grossly inferior coverage, even if BeIN paid more money? <he says with hope>
Wednesday, Champions League match with be LIVE on Dish Network Channel 444 in HD, and should be available (in theory) to everyone who subscribes to a package with a Regional Sports Network.
Indeed. In my case I can watch/record it on MSG+ ... part of Fox's regional network I guess. [ BTW, this is basically one of the points I was making above about BeIN vs Fox. Fox just has so many channels that they can use to show stuff. Remember the final day of last season? There's just no way BeIN will be anwhere near that kind of channel coverage any time soon. They don't even have a single channel on my cable service at this point. ]
Correction: The Dish Network Channel number is 440 not 444 (which should be evident by just looking in the onscreen Guide for Wednesday)
The Dish Channel 440 used to show the match is a mechanism used to satisfy the UEFA contract ("national availability") for those customers whose RSN channel shows a local high school or college game instead of the UEFA game. It's the same sort of temporary channel used to show overflow matches for the RSNs for college and pro sports. DirecTV has the same thing and uses it for FSPlus live matches as well. So, this is in addition to the MSG+ coverage or other regional coverage. This is done by agreement of Fox and Dish and DirecTV - and there is no reason why BEIN could not do the same agreement. Basically, Dish Network sells bandwidth on the open market, and they would have no problem in dedicating bandwidth before prime time to showing sports to Dish customers, if they get paid the going rate. Bein clearly has no problem with spending whatever is necessary. DirecTV also has a history of allocating extra bandwidth for soccer. I actually think that ESPN winning the Premier League would be the biggest problem. ESPN has a history of charging providers huge sums for their channels. ESPN currently has two channels, which they have to allocate to ALL USA sports - pro, college, high school, world's strongest man, tiddlywinks, whatever. They would have to launch a new soccer channel in the USA, and they would want a lot of $$$ for it. And, the future is clearly broadband, not TV. The NBA has all games available in broadband (subject to blackout) in 720p HD, and also for tablet and smartphone. I have a friend in Australia who watches NBA games on his ipad there...
The last day of last season was excellent. Maybe they'll split the games into time slot packages? I'm not complaining about FOX. I mean, I am, but I'd rather have the games on fox than on some obscure channel no one gets. ESPN's probably better suited towards the big tournaments (WC, Euros, CL, etc.), than they are to full coverage. I'm happy with them continuing a couple games a week. Ah well, we'll know everything within a week or two. [edit] The other strength of ESPN (or anyone other than fox) would be free online streaming too. Assuming you get the channel, if not, you're sol.
So you're telling me I can watch games that are live on FSPlus on DirecTV without actually subscribing to FSPlus? Where is this channel?
So you're telling me I can watch games that are live on FSPlus on DirecTV without actually subscribing to FSPlus? Where is this channel?
It looks like the channels are around 480 this season. Actually, though, I think if you don't subscribe to FSPlus, all you can see is the 1/8 screen of it -- like the NFL package, they have all eight matches on the one screen. Also, just to clarify on the Premier League TV deal. I am not advocating for BeIN Sport. Personally, I like the current setup. I'm pretty sure, though, that cash is the bottom line. I'm not sure that the league cares too much about distribution deals, etc. Perhaps those kinds of things might come into play if the offers are in the same ballpark. The thing is, BeIN has made sure their offers aren't in the same ballpark so far. Take the English Championship, for example. BeIN Sport bought the rights that Fox used to have. Now, since Fox lost the Serie A rights, having the Championship probably would have been a pretty good thing for them, right? BeIN Sport bought them and shows maybe one match a week and several weeks so far they've shown none. Surely, the league would have had more exposure by staying on Fox, but I am guessing the money was that much better. Again, I'm not defending that strategy by the Championship; perhaps it would be better for them to take less money in exchange for more exposure. Somewhat related: I believe in other countries that BeIN Sport has entered, they have added a second channel relatively quickly to handle all the rights they have. Also, I saw their Twitter account this weekend said that they will soon have information about streaming matches.
I have a hard time believing that FOX will lose the rights. Remember, they are rebranding SPEED and making it a national sports network, 'FOX Sports 1'. They're gonna need content for that channel. Right now, they have Big XII/Pac-12 football, NASCAR, and a new baseball deal that isn't for a ton of games. But the channel needs a flagship of tons of games, just as the NHL is to NBC Sports Network. And that's where the Prem and CL come in.
Not quite. Espn360, Espn3 or whatever they call their streaming service now, only works if your ISP has an agreement with them. Mine (Cablevision) does not for some stupid reason. So alas many people like me don't benefit from Espn's "free online streaming" that you say is their strength.
Hmm. For some reason I thought it was as long as you subscribed to cable, but you're right. Now I remember that it took Time Warner ages to get it - when they had their last contract dispute with Disney, they finally added support for it. Well if this thread has proven anything, it's that I don't have any idea what I'm talking about. So I'll shut up now...
Can anyone tell me what DirectTV channel number I need to ask for at the pub, please? (They have the big sports package so should have the regionals.) Thanks!
http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/04/cablevision-deal-with-the-walt-disney-company/ Speak of the devil...
HALLELUJAH!!!!!!! Thank so much Woodraw for bringing me (us) such sweet news. Repped. Edit: Just on espn3.com, put in my zip code & sadly it still says "Optimum currently does not offer WatchESPN". Hopefully the lawyers will get out of the way soon!
Recently my picture degraded on certain channels and after much investigation it turned out that certain companies had lowered the power on their feeds to my cable provider (Cox). Fox was one of them. Time Warner was not. The picture was a little blurry and I wasn't sure if maybe I was getting diabetes or needed a new TV. No, it was corporate America giving the finger to the public, yet again. There's nothing you can do about it. Just sit back, relax and enjoy.
Funny how ESPN3 (WatchESPN) seems to be creeping slowly into my neighborhood... Just checked the status by clicking "Get Access" on Espn's website. And it now says: But when I click "WatchESPN" it says: So I called the number listed on the first message and the rather clueless ESPN tech support agent said Optimum is not supported. Then I had her try "Get Access" herself with my zipcode and she was baffled by the message that said it was supported. Plus she said the phone number listed is not theirs! I assured her it that it must be, because I was indeed speaking with her. I figure this is just a case of one of their systems having been updated but not the other. The agent wouldn't agree. But nonetheless I said "let's just wait a few more days and see". Any of you seen this problem before when your provider was just being added to Espn3?
So how could I see Arsenal v. Schalke Wednesday? Anybody know if it is on Direct TV or beIN, in which case I could try a pub?
It won't be on beIN - Fox owns the champions league rights. Right now all I see is on FoxSoccer2Go, but I can't speak for Direct TV.