Exactly. If I were a Spanish or French league executive, I would partner with a major network like ESPN, Fox or NBC, even if all matches are stream-only, rather than stay with beIN. Same for MotoGP, by the way.
Why does AT&T f@ck up everything they touch? DirecTV used to be really good before AT&T. I may need to go back to Dish.
OK, watching Bein Sports (English version) on Dish at neighbor's house. Ligue 1 game has Spanish language commentators only, no alternate audio available, but the pregame was in English with the usual Bein English speaking hosts. Switched over to Bein Sports Espanol, and the La Liga game is in English using the alternate audio, but everything else is in Spanish (with Spanish language hosts at halftime, Spanish promos, commercials, etc.), so English is clearly the alternate audio. My neighbor says it has always been like that on Dish, with English language on the pregame, halftime, and postgame of Bein Sports (English version), but Spanish language during the game. Bein (English version) on DirecTV was not like that. WTF?
I'll say something kind of nice about beIN -- I watched The Express thingy on Sunday night and it was kind of nice to see La Liga, Ligue 1 and even Prem goals all in one place after a busy day. Didn't even mind the goofy analysis from Rongen and co.
I do miss this now that I'm sans beIN. I have no channel to go to in the evening and reliably know something soccer-related will be airing that I can watch for 20-30 minutes and get caught up. That's my old man yelling at cloud moment.
Now that international week is back I miss it too. Also gonna hurt when World Cup qualifying picks back up
Just got back from France, where the hotel had Bein 1, Bein 2 and Bein 3 (lots of netball) to find that there's no Bein on my Directv. Where does La Liga show on Directv now?
It’s funny because I was just in Italy and I was kinda in shock that the hotels we stayed at none of them had sky meaning none of them had Serie A.
Did directv drop Bein? If so then no La Liga on Directv I guess. I had the same issue with Fios but they settled it pretty quickly.
Yes, Bein is off DirecTV, but DirecTV customer service says they are still in negotiations and the channels could come back. I went with Dish Network and kept DirecTV with basic stuff for now. The irony is that both the Bein Sports English and Espanol channels on Dish had lots of DirecTV commercials all weekend. So, why would someone who is watching Bein on Dish want to switch to DirecTV, who does not carry it? Bein had several CAN qualifiers live from Africa this weekend, plus even more delayed and in 90 in 30 format. I find those very interesting to watch. The various stadiums and crowds alone are fun to watch, except for the problems at the Madagascar-Senegal game, which although Bein showed the game, they did not show the pregame crowd problems. Dish has this weird audio problem where Bein Espanol has English language game commentary available via alternate audio but Bein English has game commentary in Spanish, usually, with no alternate audio available. But the studio shows on Bein English are in English. Weird.
The unfortunate byproduct of beIN losing Serie A is that they now feel compelled to use their "talent" on matches which in past years they used the international commentary. I already knew to find other sources for Barca, Real Madrid and PSG matches, and last year that started going for Atletico Madrid as well. But now I fired up Valencia-Betis on the DVR and upon immediately hearing Cordero (or was it Bonetti? or both?) on commentary it was like opening a kitchen cabinet and being startled by a roach skittering around. And Connect still isn't firing on all cylinders (has it ever really?) as I was able to watch one of the Ligue 1 matches Saturday afternoon but not the other.
The best thing Bein has going for it and they probably dont even know it is on Bein~ they will sometimes have Simon Hanley and Graham Hunter on the commentary when using the english language option on your remote. They did the Sevilla-Girona match this week and will pop up from time to time. Excellent! They make every match feel like a major event even when its not necessarily a huge match.
Anyone else still holding on to hope DirecTV and Bein sort shit out, or has everyone switched to Sling or Fubo or whatever?
I went with Dish Network and I told DirecTV that the loss of Bein was the reason, for whatever it is worth. The DirecTV customer service rep said they were still negotiating with Bein.
BeIN tends to have that effect. Similarly, I was pumped for Sevilla x Real Madrid because everybody knows the atmosphere in Seville is amazing before any big match there. Of course, BeIN doesn't even show the players coming out of the tunnel (something NBC always does even though the atmospheres are dreadful in most EPL grounds) and return from commercial half-way through the Sevilla anthem. And the commentators talk through most of the second half of the anthem.
There's always hope. U-Verse went without NHL Network and the Hallmark channels for years until they came back. However, it seems beIN has less value now, as they've lost a lot of teams and they want lower placement... They may be too greedy for what they have. I have to blame beIN here. If they wanted Sports Pack tier placement, they'd probably go right back on.
AT&T has partial ownership in a couple of regional sports channels. They haven't had these channels in years.