UEFA Champions League in the US...

[Visca...]

When is ESPN and their networks going to realize that one game of UEFA CL a week isn't enough!!!!!!

[sweet nick willy]

Well, for those fortunate enough to have ESPN Deportes, they will get to watch two more games this week than the rest of us (including Celtic v. Barca :( ).

[Visca...]

IDIOTS! Espn just doesn't know how big the demand is out there for Champions League.

[jamison]

Moved to TV board, not that I'm disagreeing with you.

It is surprising that crap like Outdoor Games can bump a Chelsea- Barca game from the Nou camp. :rolleyes:

[da_cfo]

Moved to TV board, not that I'm disagreeing with you.

It is surprising that crap like Outdoor Games can bump a Chelsea- Barca game from the Nou camp. :rolleyes:

FYI:

The 15th re-run of the "Big Air Dog Tricks" competition from the "Great Outdoor Games" gets 2 to 3 times the ratings and makes 10 to 15 times the money compared to a live UEFA Champions League telecast on ESPN2.

The UEFA Champions League DOES NOT SELL IN SUFFICIENT NUMBERS on non pay-per-view non-ethnic US television. 150000 households (out of 110 million) is NOT SUFFICIENT.

Everyone in the business has 10 years of TV data to back this up.

UEFA Champions League belongs only on ethnic TV networks and pay-per-view in the US market. UEFA knows this, ESPN knows this, so do everyone else in the TV industry. The only ones who refuse to accept this are the euro football fanatics living in the US.

The ONLY reason why UEFA Champions League still airs on ESPN2 13 times a year is because ESPN Deportes and Setanta Channel combined do not reach enough homes. When they do (probably by September 2006), UEFA Champions League will disappear from ESPN2 completely, as it should.

FOX is NOT interested in UEFA Champions League, which is way too expensive and does NOT sell enough subscriptions or advertising.

[Visca...]

You know why those ratings? Because they don't show the games people want to watch. It's always damn Real Madrid, even if the play the worst team in the competition. They have to show a good match, competitive, entertaining, not a manslaughter of sparta praha or maccabi tel-aviv. I mean come-on!!! What are your sources? Where do you get those ratings from? You think just Euros want to watch the Champions League? What about Latin Americans, Asians, Africans, Middle Easterns? The US is packed with immigrants. It's just a matter of getting to them, of advertising the Champions League. You think they wouldn't want to watch a Bayern Munich-Real Madrid like last season? Of course ESPN2 showed something stupid like Man U - Porto or Monaco and somebody else.

[da_cfo]

You know why those ratings? Because they don't show the games people want to watch. It's always damn Real Madrid, even if the play the worst team in the competition. They have to show a good match, competitive, entertaining, not a manslaughter of sparta praha or maccabi tel-aviv. I mean come-on!!! What are your sources? Where do you get those ratings from? You think just Euros want to watch the Champions League? What about Latin Americans, Asians, Africans, Middle Easterns? The US is packed with immigrants. It's just a matter of getting to them, of advertising the Champions League. You think they wouldn't want to watch a Bayern Munich-Real Madrid like last season? Of course ESPN2 showed something stupid like Man U - Porto or Monaco and somebody else.

ESPN tried to advertise UEFA Champions League during its flagship "SportsCenter" program in 1995 (the games advertised were the semifinals featuring AC Milan).

Guess what? The ratings for the games that were advertised actually got WORSE, not better.

UEFA Champions League belongs on ESPN Deportes, not ESPN2.

If you want UEFA Champions League, get ESPN Deportes. 77 games each season.

[Visca...]

Don't I have a good point though? Immigrants! That's the main source. If you said they advertised back in '95, then try again. It won't hurt them to try. You work for ESPN or something?
Concerning espn deportes, how about making it available for everyone?

[da_cfo]

Don't I have a good point though? Immigrants! That's the main source. If you said they advertised back in '95, then try again. It won't hurt them to try. You work for ESPN or something?
Concerning espn deportes, how about making it available for everyone?

ESPN2 is NOT an ethnic sports channel.

ESPN Deportes is an ethnic sports channel catering to immigrants.

As I said, UEFA Champions League belongs on ESPN Deportes, not ESPN2.

The problem with ESPN Deportes: it does NOT have Mexican Futbol, which accounts for 65%-70% of Spanish-language sports TV viewership in the US. As a result, many big systems (Comcast, DirecTV, DISH Network) do NOT want to carry ESPN Deportes.

One more thing: Mexican Futbol outdraws La Liga by anywhere between 10 to 1 to as much as 100 to 1 in the US. 10 years of TV ratings don't lie.

There are at least 10 times more Guadalajara and Club America de Mexico fans compared to Real Madrid or Barcelona fans live in the US.

Most US TV viewers who want to watch Futbol want Guadalajara and Club America de Mexico, not Real Madrid or Barcelona.

[DAGSports]

ESPN2 is NOT an ethnic sports channel.

ESPN Deportes is an ethnic sports channel catering to immigrants.

As I said, UEFA Champions League belongs on ESPN Deportes, not ESPN2.

The problem with ESPN Deportes: it does NOT have Mexican Futbol, which accounts for 65%-70% of Spanish-language sports TV viewership in the US. As a result, many big systems (Comcast, DirecTV, DISH Network) do NOT want to carry ESPN Deportes.

One more thing: Mexican Futbol outdraws La Liga by anywhere between 10 to 1 to as much as 100 to 1 in the US. 10 years of TV ratings don't lie.

There are at least 10 times more Guadalajara and Club America de Mexico fans compared to Real Madrid or Barcelona fans live in the US.

Most US TV viewers who want to watch Futbol want Guadalajara and Club America de Mexico, not Real Madrid or Barcelona.
All of which makes sense if one wants to sit and think about it.

Most Latino immigrants to this country are Mexican, especially in Los Angeles, the nation's #2 TV market. Univision et al. realized this and thus Liga Mexicana could be economically viable on US Spanish-language TV.

EPL and SPL also have a decent British and Irish ex-patriate audience.

La Liga and every other league doesn't. It's been proven ever since ESPN 2 and later FSW were launched.

Gol TV is nothing more than an ultra-niche channel which happens to have Liga Mexicana plus an ambitious business plan to hold its own, centered on Real Madrid and South American soccer coverage (hoping to attract a variety of niche audiences). It's best chance for survival is if NewsCorp ticks a major MSO off and that carrier allies with Gol TV.

[rangers00]

Don't I have a good point though? Immigrants!

ESPN2 is not a channel tailored towards immigrants. It's a channel tailored towards Americans...


That's the main source. If you said they advertised back in '95, then try again. It won't hurt them to try. You work for ESPN or something?

You said you have been in the U.S. for 6 years? yet you have no clue on the history of CL telecasts on ESPN/ESPN2?

Did you just get interested in European soccer (and Barca) recently? or did you just install cable TV recently?


Concerning espn deportes, how about making it available for everyone?
Well, they are trying. But even if ESPN Deportes is not widely available, that still doesn't justify putting more CL on ESPN2. They are totally separate issues. The failure of one does not, and would not, lead to the other.

Just like there are so much Liga Mexicana covered by Spanish ethnic channels here. Had these channels not existed (and they don't exist in many markets, particularly northern cities), the local NBC/CBS/ABC affiliates wouldn't have picked up Mexican soccer either. Mexicans living in Detroit simply have no Liga Mexicana to watch...

[wjarrettc]

If you want UEFA Champions League, get ESPN Deportes. 77 games each season.


I've got a check right here made out to "DBS or Cable provider willing to carry ESPN Deportes in Raleigh-Durham NC".

It has been sitting here in my checkbook for over a year and not one company has been willing to accept it. I don't mind paying good money for ESPN Deportes, it's just not available on any of the three primary DBS systems or via cable in my locale.

In the meantime, I'll have utilize the Setanta Pub Channel as much as possible to get my fix (thank goodness there is one bar here in town that subscribes!)

[Visca...]

Rangers00, I see you prefer to watch the outdoor reindeer games and billiards so I'll just leave you and the "WORLDWIDE" leader in sports alone to enjoy those highly rated acclaimed shows.

[jammybastard]

FYI:

The 15th re-run of the "Big Air Dog Tricks" competition from the "Great Outdoor Games" gets 2 to 3 times the ratings and makes 10 to 15 times the money compared to a live UEFA Champions League telecast on ESPN2.

As one of the directors for the GOG I'll back that up.
ESPN makes money on the GOG, both the events and the broadcasts.
They don't make $$$ showing the CL.
Maybe if they got a taste of the parking or concessions that would change.
:D

[rangers00]

Rangers00, I see you prefer to watch the outdoor reindeer games and billiards so I'll just leave you and the "WORLDWIDE" leader in sports alone to enjoy those highly rated acclaimed shows.

Not at all, I prefer bashing the whiners of "not enough CL on ESPN2" over watching any soccer game. I mean, any soccer game, including the World Cup final.

[Visca...]

Any soccer game? Ok, let's see. MLS over Champions? LA Galaxy vs. Columbus Crew? or Ajax vs. Juve? Oh yeah. Any soccer game. We got your point. You can't even compare it. Go watch your MLS

[rangers00]

Any soccer game? Ok, let's see. MLS over Champions? LA Galaxy vs. Columbus Crew? or Ajax vs. Juve? Oh yeah. Any soccer game. We got your point. You can't even compare it. Go watch your MLS

Do you mind putting this sentence in a language that we understand?

[Visca...]

you cannot compare an mls game to a champions league game. no way

[rangers00]

you cannot compare an mls game to a champions league game. no way

In the post that you respond to, regarding "any soccer game":

"Not at all, I prefer bashing the whiners of "not enough CL on ESPN2" over watching any soccer game. I mean, any soccer game, including the World Cup final."

when did I compare an mls game to a champions league game?

[Visca...]

you are practically saying that. the bt network and just watch any soccer on tv. I guess you just don't have the passion for great games. just any games that's on, you'll watch it. It's like a duty for you to watch any soccer game that comes on