News: ESPN acquires Euro 2020, Europe WCQ '22 and Nations League rights

Thank god. I was worried that espn would be out of the soccer game for good. (Except for the odd friendly and some sublicenses from fox)

 

Supposedly there was a bidder that wasnt a traditional network. I wonder who the bidder was.

 

They have MLS/SUM for like the next 7 years.

 

Apparently, they paid $110 million for this. I can't believe Bein wasn't able to offer more. This should have been peanuts for them. Or maybe they did but UEFA didn't want them.

 

Interesting. My guess is some website like google/youtube or yahoo. But I am just speculating.

 

I think BEIN did not want to commit due to CONCACAF and South American Qualifying that may conflict. But once again, that is just speculation on my behalf.

 

They could always show the entire tournament as 90in30s.

 

This is great news. ESPN does an excellent job covering Football. It's a pity they lost the World Cup rights. But they at least kept the next most important tournament. They basically have become the home of European international football. Now all ESPN has to do is take the Champions League away from Fox and I'll be happy.

 

Right now ESPN gets thrown a bone with sub-licensed matches. And to tell you the truth I do not like their coverage as much as FOX's when it comes to the Champions League.
I do like ESPN Deportes way better than FOX Deportes though.

 

Qualifiers and CL matches : Fox wins
Big tournaments: ESPN wins

 

I agree, but all they need is one person to fix that. Derek Rae.

 

If you get the full array of channels (FS1, FS2, FSN, FS Deportes, FS+), Fox easily wins for UEFA CL coverage.

Even without DirecTV, it's a lot better than ESPN's coverage.

Honest question: Other than better commentators essentially causing him to fade into the sunset, what happened to Tommy Smyth?

 

He still appears sometimes on ESPN FC.

 

Addendum to my previous post:

I can do one game on the TV, four on WatchESPN, one on the phone and one on Slingbox.

And now that I think of it, I can do a sort of "side by side" on the TV. I should try this for next time. I wonder if all eight games would be possible via that method.

 

He's hosting a show on SiriusXM FC with Rodney Marsh called "Grumpy Pundits." I think it's on 3x a week in the mornings.

 

I rather ESPN have the CL rights, I would pay less to get them all, I have a chromecast and I have a 3 monitor desktop. plus my tv. Easily 4 games at once, with less money. With Fox I don't get FS2 or plus and Deportes is on the hispanic package, while ESPN deportes is on the sports package. ESPN > Fox

 

One thing I like about Fios is getting ESPN Deportes and Fox Deportes without a Spanish package.

 

Lots of coverage this wknd of @UEFAEURO 2016 Final Draw, incl 90-min show on E2. @BobLeyESPN hosts. https://t.co/pOBABp7IQk

— bill hofheimer (@bhofheimer_espn) December 10, 2015

Details of #ESPN's coverage of #UEFAEURO2016 Final Draw Saturday, 12/10: https://t.co/Vwjg6tMAzh. Digital content on @ESPNFC

— Mac Nwulu (@MacN_ESPN) December 10, 2015

 

Tomorrow: UEFA EURO 2016 Final Draw (@UEFAEURO) coverage across ESPN https://t.co/IPN70JQJxN pic.twitter.com/qvzTrD0gdW

— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) December 11, 2015

 

The official result of the #EURO2016 draw... pic.twitter.com/B296dE607r

— UEFA EURO 2024 (@EURO2024) December 12, 2015

The official match schedule for #EURO2016...
Most exciting group stage match? pic.twitter.com/AjHherhuUw

— UEFA EURO 2024 (@EURO2024) December 12, 2015

 

#Euro2016Draw: ESPN2 is showing the final Draw now - @BobLeyESPN, Santi Solari & @IanDarke on set. pic.twitter.com/3V0rR8MhA1

— Mac Nwulu (@MacN_ESPN) December 12, 2015

#Euro2016Draw on #ESPNDeportes right now - in Bristol studios w/ Fernando Palomo, Tato Noriega & Andres Agulla pic.twitter.com/WWRrm5OFyS

— Mac Nwulu (@MacN_ESPN) December 12, 2015

 

#Euro2016Draw: @caroguillenESPN in the studio hosting #ESPNDeportes segments of the Final Draw. pic.twitter.com/coLKNjlNmL

— Mac Nwulu (@MacN_ESPN) December 12, 2015

#Euro2016Draw: this is @TaylorTwellman beamed into #ESPN2 studio from Kansas City #CollegeCup pic.twitter.com/9oSiEfLBPw

— Mac Nwulu (@MacN_ESPN) December 12, 2015

 

It all depends on your package. With the AT&T U-200 package, I can get my regional channel plus FS1, FSs and ESPN2 all in HD plus the games on ESPN3.

I think even the ESPN Deportes game was typically on ESPN3, wasn't it? I could regularly watch seven out of eight games this time around. (The day before Thanksgiving, I think I saw them all with the early games.)

But just like ESPN2 took time to fully launch, FS2 is the same way. When ESPN2 first launched, it seemed like it was a ton of action sports, NHL talk shows and other filler. Eventually, it took on more premier events to the point where ESPN deliberately assigned a Duke-UNC basketball game there so that people would call their providers and ask them to add the channel.

 

So we've gotten general coverage/channel details for the Euros, but no info on the talent yet. Surprising.