http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/article/62863 According to this article, "ESPN has reached a one-year, sublicensing agreement with GolTV for rights to Spain’s La Liga, bringing more than 95 matches of top-flight Spanish soccer to ESPN360, ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes". The financial terms of the deal will be announced later on this week. According to this news, "Sublicensing La Liga allows ESPN to continue to broadcast top-flight, European soccer on ESPN Deportes and ESPN360 despite losing the Champions League. It also gives the media company the rights to broadcast games featuring three of the world’s biggest stars — Lionel Messi of Barcelona and Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid." In summary, it allows ESPN Deportes to air 95 La Liga regular-season matches live in Spanish and ESPN360 will simulcast those matches live in English during the 2009-10 season. In addition,ESPN2 will broadcast 20 games. ESPN Deportes and ESPN360 also pick up rights to Spain’s domestic tournament, Copa del Rey.
Is the next MOVE the EPL? I guess, from ESPN's point of view, they want to showcase the top teams from EUROPE on their networks. This will allow ESPNDeportes to grow it's distribution. Basically, to an extend, they are negating the impact from losing the UEFA champions League games. It also allows ESPN to continuosly show European soccer leading to the next year's World Cup. In order words, they want to keep the momentum of showing great European action from the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid and etc. So, is the EPL the next move? We have to wait and see.
since we are talking about the spanish league, here is some more news: http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/article/62862 Basically, FC Barcelona expects it's revenues from the US market to increase by 33%, "to as much as $27.6 million, in the coming years, said club President Joan LaPorta". In this article, it states that Barcelona is still interested in deepening it's relationship with MLS. According to the article, " FC Barcelona entered a bid for an MLS expansion team in Miami but withdrew it last fall in the midst of the credit crunch and economic downturn. Despite that, LaPorta said the club is still interested in making a permanent presence in the U.S. and hasn’t ruled out being part of an MLS franchise." Furthermore, the article points out that Miami didn't work for Barcelona, but another team and another city is still a possibility. FC Barcelona is coming off one of its most lucrative seasons in recent memory. The team made more than $483 million in 2008-09, including $55.2 million in revenue from its UEFA Champions League title. Over the last six years, according to teams president, FC Barcelona has increased its revenue every season and gaining $220.8 million in profits
Thanks HDsports. I have access to the entire article, but i don't want to post the entire article since it is a subscription based.
This sucks. Never been a big fan of having two distinct networks sharing a league. You can get away with it in the Premiership where there are 4 big teams but I'm not happy with this arrangement in a league that in reality only has 2 teams. What we will see is Barcelona one week being on GOL TV, next week on ESPN Deportes and every other week or so on ESPN2. Same bouncing around for Real Madrid. If you are a Dishnetwork subscriber, this is the move that sends you to DirecTV as you cannot get GOL TV on Dish (and it would take a miracle at this point to get GOL TV back on Dish). So we are going to see this bouncing back and forth of the 2 big teams between the networks and with the recent transfer activity in Spain, this is a league that will get a lot of coverage next season. It also makes it more expensive to follow the league as there will be plenty of weekends where Real Madrid (or Barcelona) will only be on ESPN Deportes. Now you need a Spanish package from your provider on top of basic (for ESPN) and expanded (for GOL TV). All I'm saying is that I prefer to follow a league like La Liga on a single channel for consistency and while I can understand the financial need for GOL TV to make this move, I can also see less subscribers in the long run as the casual fan will be able to catch Kaka, Ronaldo and Messi enough on ESPN to dismiss GOL TV. Those are my initial thoughts but now on to the silver lining (which I always try to look for): ESPN definitely brings more exposure to the sport and with 3 of arguably the best players playing in Spain its good overall for the sport. Secondly, there is a chance that with ESPN we see la Liga in glorious HD again after the demise of WorldSport TV. That in itself would be enough to make me eat my own words above. Finally, I have a big question about what this means for Canadian viewers. Will the ESPN games find their way to TSN? If not, GOL TV Canada, which is already looking differently than the US counterpart, may have completely different programming if it retains all the rights to the "Big 2" in Canada. SA
I don't believe this is good news unless you currently get ESPN Deportes - I currently get GOL TV through Direct TV - could see most all of the Barca - RM games - Now every other week those get moved to Deportes - with an occasional ESPN 2?
Well this move stinks. I also get GolTV but do not get ESPN Deportes. So basically, I can see the good game every other week on GolTV and maybe some games on ESPN2. This move cannot be a good thing for english speaking La Liga fans. I believe Deportes is available only as an international package which is atleast an extra $10 on Comcast. (Not sure of the number but its atleast 10).
The 95 La Liga games being sublicensed by GolTV to ESPN will air live in English on ESPN360.com and in Spanish on ESPN Deportes. ESPN2 will take 20 out of the 95 games via tape-delay. If you have access to ESPN360.com (i.e. AT&T, Verizon, Comcast starting in August), you are all set. Watch the games on your computer, with English-language commentary (i.e. Derek Rae and Tommy Smyth, simulcast with ESPN Australia/ESPN New Zealand/ESPN South Pacific Islands). I won't be paying the extra $20/month to get ESPN Deportes on my DirecTV box.
I don't get Deportes, but will be able to get the games via ESPN360 (those that are not on ESPN2). Unfortunately, those broadband simulcasts will not have English commentary. This will give GOLTV more airtime to still not show Bundesliga matches.
Ahhh...Right, I had totally forgotten that 360 is available on Comcast in August. So I guess I will be able to see the games then. Thanks.
But please don't forget that ESPN classic will be switched over to ESPNDeportes in some markets. This way ESPNDeportes will try to reach more viewers. I'm not planning to pay anything more for my tv.
If i'm reading this right: So huhue888 is saying ESPN360 will have the games in English. HDSports is saying ESPN360 will not have English commentary.
a few weeks ago, on Sportsbusinessdaily or was it ESPN's press release (sorry, my memory is not always perfect), it was stated that ESPN was willing to switch ESPN classic to ESPNDeportes. They see more potential revenue and income from Deportes. ESPN classic is not doing well, and i think, ESPN is sort of stuck with it. They want to utilize the channel better. So, in some key markets, it is willing to have ESPN classic switched over Deportes. Now, i don't know if we are going to get any more press release about this. ESPN360.com will show the games in English commentary according to the press release. It will be availabel to 45 million homes by this August. So, i hope some of you will start getting ESPN360.com. Now, I didn't see any mention of ESPN2 games being delayed. Here is a text from the article: "Under the deal, ESPN Deportes will air 95 La Liga regular-season matches live in Spanish and ESPN360 will simulcast those matches live in English. ESPN2 will broadcast 20 games. ESPN Deportes and ESPN360 also pick up rights to Spain’s domestic tournament, Copa del Rey."
Like the others on here without ESPN Deportes I'm a bit nervous about this move. I have 360, but watching games on my laptop is not ideal. And I don't want to buy the Spanish language pack on Direct. Hopefully they can get this sorted before the season.
The plan offered by ESPN to most cable-cos is to swap ESPNU with ESPN Classic, not ESPN Deportes with ESPN Classic. ESPN Classic is being kicked upstairs to the sports pack to fill bandwidth while ESPN, Inc. figures out what to do with the bandwidth once the economy improves.
I misread the part about the Deportes matches being shown in English on ESPN360...that's great news. While I prefer to watch my matches on TV, the tradeoff is that there will be an upgrade in the announcers. This deal actually should increase the coverage of La Liga in the US as GOLTV on a good week covered at most 4 matches, and usually no more than 3. Now both GOLTV and ESPN will have 2-3 matches EACH. And there should be even better coverage on the mid-week matchdays, which has been sorely lacking on GOLTV. Does anyone know the HD telecast situation in Spain, and the possibility of any resultant HD coverage on ESPN2?
that's a big difference - thanks for the clarification would be great if ESPN Deportes was made available to more customers like myself - would love to have it as part of the Sports Pack on Direct TV, similar to FSE.
For those newbies who are excited by this news, that how European soccer has become mainstream, that you can watch la Liga on your cheapo analog cable (ESPN2), do a little research on the TV schedules from 1998 - 2001 (?). huhe's soccertv group in yahoo is a good place to start. Here was the timeslot for la Liga game of the week back then: Monday 4 AM, or Tuesday 9 AM, or Tuesday 1 AM, or Monday 3 PM, or .... You get the drift. This is not the first time we see la Liga on ESPN2...
Exactly. Just because a channel, any channel, has "rights" to something doesn't mean they will air the stuff live, or even at a reasonable time. Although, back in 1998, there was no Gol TV. If Fox Sports World was around then, it certainly didn't have the audience it does now. Hopefully the competition from other networks, as well as the presence of John Skipper will lead to games being aired in a tape-delay that isn't horribly delayed. Although, once again, ESPN and ESPN2 are good "starter networks" for soccer fans, but the serious fans know to look on the premium tiers for coverage. It's the same thing with movies, actually. If you want to watch an occasional movie, TNT, USA, and TBS are all fine networks, but if you're serious about movie watching, you'll shell out the cash for HBO, Showtime, AppleTV, or whatever else there is.
What about recording it on your DVR if you are away? And as good as a stream as it is, it can still have issues, like I said not really ideal but obviously an option. Wish they could just show the LaLiga matches Live on ESPNU or Classic though or put Deportes on the normal sportspack on Direct.