Even their own Talent makes fun of the SPI and deem it worthless. You make it seem like BEIN and FOX, Univision, etc. find it difficult to make predictions without some weird mathematical computation that does not even take into account injuries and other intangibles.
I'm not saying it's hard to make predictions without numbers. I'm saying that I think ESPN's rationale for using the SPI is that their predictions will be based on something unique that the channels you named don't do.
Jonathan Tannenwald @thegoalkeeper - Seattle-Toronto FC on ESPN: 305k viewers. .@ChicagoFire vs. @SoundersFC, Saturday at 9 p.m. Eastern on ESPN2:@AdrianHealey @TaylorTwellman @JSB_TV— Jonathan Tannenwald (@thegoalkeeper) May 9, 2017 Really looking forward to our @MLS "PrimeTime" Game Saturday night 9pmET in @ChicagoFire hosting @SoundersFC on ESPN. #MLS— Taylor Twellman (@TaylorTwellman) May 9, 2017 .@TimbersFC vs. @ATLUTD, Sunday at 4 p.m. Eastern on ESPN:@CangyManMSG @AleMorenoESPN— Jonathan Tannenwald (@thegoalkeeper) May 9, 2017
Jonathan Tannenwald @thegoalkeeper - Always good to talk soccer and lots of other things with @BobLeyESPN and @JeremySchaap. With relaunched E:60, ESPN aims to prove its journalism isn't dead: https://t.co/rADKosdphd via @phillysport— Jonathan Tannenwald (@jtannenwald) May 11, 2017
A bloody, violent fight for the soul of soccer in Syria https://t.co/LHwXnLeMdA via @SteveFainaru— Jonathan Tannenwald (@thegoalkeeper) May 11, 2017 Jonathan Tannenwald @thegoalkeeper - You’ve seen that ESPN report on soccer in Syria by now. It’s the first of many soccer stories E:60 will feature.
A new summer blockbuster is coming! The #USWNT will host Australia, Brazil and Japan for the #ToN2017.Details: https://t.co/KazBx9fbow pic.twitter.com/8qcmzppGdp— U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (@USWNT) May 10, 2017 July 27: USA-Australia in SeattleJuly 30: USA-Brazil in San DiegoAugust 3: USA-Japan in CarsonTimes and TV below: pic.twitter.com/TdD8KFL3Es— Jonathan Tannenwald (@thegoalkeeper) May 10, 2017
I've caught a few E:60's that were fairly interesting. But I've come across them randomly. Do they publish their E:60 schedule much in advance, with the show titles/descriptions?
To play or not to play? Here's a preview of 'The Dictator's Team' part of an all-new E:60 Sunday 9a ET ESPN https://t.co/gHuvdCaJHw— E60 (@E60) May 13, 2017
It's a pity ESPN has lost almost all it's big-league soccer rights. They sure could use some programming on weekend mornings when there's no NFL or Ncaa football/bball to cover. One can only watch so many E60 reruns
The NCAA Football season starts a little after the top soccer leagues. What top soccer leagues play in summer mornings USA time?
Is it possible to restart a live event on espn3 and watch from beginning? Or is that only possible after the event ends.
ESPN's greed became their downfall my mismanaging their priorities. They diluted their product and content with too much overhead. Losing premium content like the WC was a major blow for ESPN. They are spending too much for TV rights for Baseball, NFL, and NBA. I think ESPN will probably get away from Baseball (older demo, falling tv ratings) and direct the funds towards content like Soccer in the coming years.
Delighted to say I'll be part of the @espn team covering the #InternationalChampionsCup across the USA later this summer. 1/2— Derek Rae (@RaeComm) May 31, 2017 Among other games, will be calling the first Manchester derby held outside England. United v City in Houston, TX on July 20. 2/2— Derek Rae (@RaeComm) May 31, 2017
Jonathan Tannenwald @thegoalkeeper - Men - Spain-Colombia - Wednesday - 3:15 pm ET - ESPN2 - @IanDarke @AleMorenoESPN Women - Sweden-United States - Thursday - 1:30 pm ET - ESPN2 - @IanDarke @JulieFoudy Men - France-England - June 13 - 2:45 pm ET - ESPN2 - @DonaldsonESPN @CBurleyESPN ESPN networks will combine to carry 21 international matches during the June 2017 FIFA International Match Week, highlighted by marquee friendly matches and FIFA World Cup qualifying contests in Europe and Asia. http://espnmediazone.com/us/weekly-updates/espn-thisweek-june-6-2017/#i
Sunday's @E60 will feature a @SamBorden report on the Chapecoense disaster.— Jonathan Tannenwald (@thegoalkeeper) June 6, 2017 E:60 to Feature Story on Brazilian Soccer Team Plane Crash - contact: Molly.Mita@espn.com This Sunday morning - June 11 - E:60 - will share the emotional story of the Brazilian Soccer Team, Chapecoense, whose plane crashed last year while the team was on its way to the biggest match in the club’s history. Players, coaches, and staff members were all killed. E:60 reporter Sam Borden traveled to Brazil, Bolivia and Columbia to tell this story, airing Sunday at 9:00 am ET on ESPN. http://espnmediazone.com/us/weekly-updates/espn-thisweek-june-6-2017/#i
They were going to a game they'd always remember. They ended up in a tragedy that a city can never forget. https://t.co/cQhtOJ4XME pic.twitter.com/vGxq2rJoQK— Sam Borden (@SamBorden) June 8, 2017 Enternal Champions - Seven months ago, Brazilian underdogs Chapecoense boarded a plane to play in the game of their lives. Instead, their biggest moment turned into a tragedy no one can forget. By Sam Borden - 06/08/17. http://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/19444318/the-unthinkable-fate-chapecoense
ESPN doesn't air any European soccer league. They prefer to air American football shows in weekend mornings.
And I am glad they are feeling the heat. They were the only game in town for years, and while (to their credit) their announcers have laid off the snide comments regarding soccer, they got to complacent with their overall product. FoxSports and MSNBC Sports do a better job overall. ESPN's announcers come across as to juvenile with their delivery, as if they are appealing to high school kids or frat boys. "BOOYAH, HE TAKES IT TO THE HOUSE YO!!!", etc.... Not saying they need to be as stoic as SkySports, but nice to see other networks strike a balance.
Two @MLS matches on ESPN this wknd. @TaylorTwellman & @JSB_TV will work both, starting w/ #NYCFC vs #Sounders -Sat, 1p ET. pic.twitter.com/MC5uPPHtx7— bill hofheimer (@bhofheimer_espn) June 16, 2017 Analyst Taylor Twellman and sideline reporter Julie Stewart-Banks will work two MLS matches on ESPN this weekend. On Saturday, Adrian Healey, Taylor Twellman and Julie Stewart-Banks will call the New York City FC-Seattle Sounders match. Coverage begins at 1:00 pm ET. On Sunday, Steve Cangialosi will join Taylor Twellman and Julie Stewart-Binks on the call of the Philadelphia Union-New York Red Bulls match. Coverage begins at 5:00 pm ET. Both matches will also be televised on ESPN Deportes. Richard Mendez and Giovanni Savarese will provide the Spanish commentary for Sunday’s match.
This date in sports 23 years ago was unforgettable. On the anniversary, @brettmorgen's fantastic @30for30 airs today -12p ET, ESPN2. pic.twitter.com/kufQExitQU— bill hofheimer (@bhofheimer_espn) June 17, 2017
Exactly a year away from the 2018 World Cup. Worked at every tournament since 1990. Run might well come to an end in Russia.— Derek Rae (@RaeComm) June 14, 2017 No plea :-) World Cups a big part of my commentary career but if it doesn't happen in Russia, c'est la vie. Plenty more to come.— Derek Rae (@RaeComm) June 14, 2017 Looking forward to being back @GilletteStadium in Foxboro, MA in a working capacity for first time in many years. Juventus v Roma, 30 July.— Derek Rae (@RaeComm) June 16, 2017
I was pretty annoyed again at ESPN's shifting a soccer game to another channel because some baseball game was late in finishing. Last night it was Union-RedBulls which I was DVR'g because I was driving home during that time. The college ballgame went over the 5pm KO time for the MLS game, so they temporarily dumped soccer onto ESPN2 I guess, but of course my DVR (and no DVR that I know of) is smart enough to react to that kind of last-minute move. So I missed about 38 mins of the first half. It wasn't the greatest match in history, so maybe I didn't miss much, but there's a bigger picture... This has happened before and more times than I can remember. Don't they know that it's dangerous to put 2 live games back to back, when the first game, especially baseball, has a completely unpredictable end-time? Wouldn't it have been smarter to plan the MLS game to be on ESPN2 right from the get go, where the only things they had going on were 30-for-30, E:60 & SportsCenter?