Ok, so I am here to talk about what a great job both ESPN and ESPN Deportes Radio did with the Europe cup. Please note that the two countries that suck base on some media ratings in the US were in the final. That is football. Italy base on all their winnings and history, is the best team in Europe, and Brazil will always be the best team of all. Nonetheless, the ratings for both leagues will not sell in this country. So that is why, this whole argument about football and ratings is not a true reflection of wonderful football. ESPN Deportes Radio was excellent, and for those who come from either South, Central or Spain can all agree that ESPN Deportes was detail and with limited commercials on their spanish narration. Great job. And they still have 2014, but I will be in Brazil for that one.
For a guy who has worked at a TV station in Los Angeles, you are 100% clueless about how the PAY TV industry works. (Even compared to me who has NEVER worked even 1 minute in the industry.) Common sense will tell you that beIN SPORT USA LLC has no choice but to partner with Comcast/NBCUniversal if it wants 1) cable TV carriage on Comcast, and 2) to win the U.S. rights to EPL. You need much better industry sources if your sources are telling you the complete opposite of what my sources are telling me.
Common sense will have been to purchase Goltv, but they did not do that. This guys are new to the US Sports market, and if Al Jazeera news is any indication of their managerial skills, well we are in for some major disappointment. The Comcast Theory is just that a Theory cooked in your head, with very little evidence, Nonetheless, you are entitled to speculated all you want, but give it a rest. We get it, College football will anchor both NBC and beIN sports because it makes sense. And remember, there is very little information about the beIN executive team driving this new venture. So you can speculated all you want about Comcast, but you have no idea what beIN has in mind. This is just my two cents.
Sorry to necro the thread, but Lalas and Twellman reflect on the Euro broadcast experience, including thoughts on Michael Ballack, social media stuff, etc., here: http://espn.go.com/espnradio/play?id=8162312 (Opening 15 minutes or so of the podcast.)