I could be wrong, but I think TV is the reason for taking 4 weeks and has little to nothing to do with the Europa league(only been what 3 years that they have done this). I think the reason for it is to eliminate the chance that 2 teams from the same country are playing opposite each other thus hurting the ratings for the TV "partner" in that country. Sky doesn't want both Chelsea and Arsenal on at the same time. Would rather stretch it out to maximize their audience.
Manchester City has games in hand because they reached the FA Cup Quarterfinals and the League Cup Final, both of which were played after the midweeks that had the Champions League Round of 16 first legs, so freeing up those midweeks would only help if Premier League games could be played earlier than originally scheduled.
Man City v Sunderland was postponed due to weather in early Feb. So they could have at least made-up one game-in-hand.
Piers Morgan on the Arsenal game? Really? Who was the bearded guy at halftime of the Athletico game last week at half? A fan contest?
It was actor/comedian Judah Friedlander who was a regular on 30 Rock which aired on Thursday Nights on NBC for a few years. Judah was featured in some of the NBCSN Premier League Preview programming that aired last Summer in the run up to the start of the season. He is a pretty big fan of the sport.
Im so glad I missed that. So Fox' new approach is F list "celebrities" to add some insight to the sport. I wonder if they can get John Lovitz or maybe Steven Baldwin in time foe Russia 2018? Such a joke!
I thought maybe the guy won a contest. I was upset I didn't win. Now I realize why I don't watch that pre game or half time show.
It was really bad. Specifically Friedlander who rambled about soccer and made up weird fictitious stories as the rest of the panel just looked at him. They did not know whether to laugh or to smile or to act serious. Silvestre was probably confused as heck. Awkward to say the least.
Fox continues to show it has no idea what its doing. People keep hoping for the NT's sake and MLS's sake that they'll suddenly change course and show they do get it and will improve their production/product. Yet, Fox repeatedly shows it's the ugly stepbrother of NBCSN/ESPN and has failed to learn anything from those two media outlets who've both taken the production and presentation of the sport to a new level.
Fox is shit. Hibs v Hearts on Sunday at 7;15 est. Fs+ will not be airing this in favor of Amlin Challenge Cup. FS1 has the 29th reair of fox sports "live" which is not live but a poor mans sportscenter and by poor we're talking piss poor. FS2 is showing UFC Reloaded. I know Scottish Football isnt the highest rated football entity but for ********s sake its live programing for 7:15am on a sunday. Top derby in Scotland, very important to the relegation race, and you own the rights to the league. So youre Fox and you decide to ignore it completely. I hate you Fox. I hope Im alive to see the day your shitty ameteur channels go out of business. Keep losing $ and aggravating potential viewers with your Nascar mentality!
That is pretty brutal that they didn't even clear the Celtic game for FOX Soccer Plus. The only SPL game this weekend on TV is Partick Thistle vs. St. Mirren on FS+ at 4:30p on Sunday. The points deduction against Rangers has killed my interest in the SPL. It is crummy that the deduction came right at the time that FOX picked up the SPL TV contract.
I agree that the loss of Rangers from the top tier of Scottish football has not helped to grow its popularity but there is actually a lot of interesting events going on in Scotland this year. Celtic wrapped up the title in the fall but the rise of Aberdeen, Motherwell's consistency and a fun Dundee Utd have made it enjoyable at the top but the relegation zone consists of the entire bottom 6. Hearts are already going down and Hibs are in big trouble to get sucked in to the relegation playoff. Honestly, FS+ should try to get the rights ($1 + transmission costs, idiot!) to the Scottish 2nd tier for next year. With Rangers, Hearts and possibly Hibs it will have more of the major clubs than the top tier.
Personally I'd rather watch Major League Soccerball or the Argentine League. That Scottish stuff is brutal
Fox doesn't even know whAt they have In the rights to the Scottish league They are not even paying g attention Huge match this weekend and they don't even know .. This league is more than the green and blue.. But Fox doesn't even realise that so true fans are looking for the alternative way of watching.. Cantona---
I begrudgingly subscribe for the extra CL, Europa, and Scottish matches. I send them 3-4 nasty emails every season and always cancel it in the offseason. I used to subscribe to seranta year round because I felt like they were a company worth supporting. Fox is a company worth hoping it goes out of business. Fox Rugby plus.
I think someone else mentioned this but if FOX soccer plus or Fox soccer 2 go presented Copa Libertadores matches that are usually not shown in our area I would probably pony up the cash to get one of those. It certainly would make more sense than the aforementioned Rugby matches.
Wynalda did predict a certain goal scored by a certain someone though. Gotta give him credit for that.
Someone should have told wynalda that the game was over before it was actually over. Yes there is 20 minutes left but let's be realistic. Another bummer I had today. Left the tv on NBCSN after hockey last night. Taped the game and got ready to watch tonight. I turn on the tv, and there it was, on the bottom ticker, the CL headline starring right at me. Wynalda prediction will go down in broadcasting history