Thought I'd make a general thread for those not hardcore enough for 32 pages worth of Bein analysis.... This looks to be an interesting year for the game on TV. FOX is continuing it's effort on the sport although there will be some shakeups when Fox Soccer goes under and Fox Sports 1 gets underway. Bein shocked the world with it's snatching up of Ligue1, La Liga and Serie A rights. Not to mention CONMEBOL and USA road qualifiers. And you cannot forget NBC and it's get of the Premier League along with it's focused MLS coverage. So how do you think this will all line up? As a casual observer, this seems nothing but good early on. More and more mainstream outlets are picking up the game offering great chances to grow it's audience. Fox Sports could be the most interesting to watch. It's likely to be the third most distributed sports channel nationwide (after ESPN one and two) and could have some big time contracts, such as from MLB, BigXII/Pac12 football and NASCAR. This will help up the profile of the channel and with proper cross promotion could very well help the ratings of it's soccer output. Only question is what will they show? Highlights are the FA Cup and UEFA contests. I'm hoping they give the CONCACAF Champions League some love on that channel as well. That could be very good for MLS. Naturally NBC is all about the EPL/MLS tandem. Only problem is, while cross promotion on NBC sports is good, they seem to be setting themselves up as the premier niche sports channel. I say that because with their current programming line up (NHL, soon to be F1), they don't seem poised to be as big as the others. Still wide carriage of the EPL as sole broadcaster is a watermark. Then of course Bein, Their snatching up of the Latin leagues is good for those who want to see them. I think they will have some trouble breaking into the mainstream because of the limited appeal of those leagues (Real/Barca aside), relative to EPL. I enjoyed watching Latin leagues on ESPN3 but oh well. It will likely occupy the slot that FOX soccer had as premier sports channel no one knows about. I'm not crazy about them having the USA road qualifiers though....more on that in a little. Now ESPN. Their main programming seems to be related to MLS and the US team. I'm sure people are familiar with the hiccups in their coverage (lack of SportsCenter rundowns, jostling between timeslots and nights). Still you cannot deny the importance of being on the mothership. Overall it looks to be good year for watching soccer on TV. What do you all think? I'm glad because I get most of those major networks which soccer will be on. Long term I'd like to see a couple of things. 1. ESPN give better attention to the game. Preferably to MLS but because of the large slate of MLB games, this is doubtful. If not MLS, then the Men's national team in form of enhanced coverage. That would provide year round entertainment. Plus one of the best ways to grow the audience. 2. FOX to keep a home for the CONCACAF Champions League on it's main sports channel. It's doubtful but since they have the contract through 2017, they might as well. It would be great for the sport and MLS specifically.
Couple (related) things you left out: what's up with GolTV (Comcast seems to be slowly but surely removing it, how many other carriers are doing/have done the same)? And is there room for Bundesliga in what has become an amazingly crowded marketplace for soccer. I need more soccer viewing options like I need a divorce, but I think I might just like the opportunity to watch some Bundesliga.
Good call, forgot about GOL (shows how much it's on my mind). If they hold on to Bundesliga and South American action, they can stay on life support but I don't know what else they can do.
they can grab the portuguese league or the russian league. Should be available for $1 + transmission fees. Not as good as La Liga, but they got some quality...
It will be an interesting year indeed. Bayern could be poised for global greatness, but sadly few will get to see it in the US. And of course the BIG question for 2013 is ......Who will televise Boise State Football games??
Obviously, its the second half of 2013 that will be interesting to watch.... - All signs are that NBC will do the EPL right. The issues that will crop up will be Universal Sports being available in HD (if its used for EPL); some will complain about at least 1 match only available in Spanish (Telemundo and likely Man Utd. because of Chicarito); there will be a lack of repeats and many games will be online only which will bring up the question of who has access and of course, the quality. - Fox Soccer will be history. UEFA Champions League and Europa League should become the cornerstone of midweek programming on FS-1. A couple of questions crop up for me as far as other soccer inventory: one, will FUEL become FS-2 and if it does, will it remain a UFC-centric channel or will become more an all-incompassing sports channel in which case the FA Cup, Scottish football, etc. may be spread between the 2 national networks. Two, what happens with FoxSoccer-Plus? If it remains, I'm afraid that is where all non-CL Fox Soccer inventory ends up which means its an additional $20 per month for folks to watch the FA Cup, Celtic, Dutch soccer (maybe). Its Setanta all over again... Just keep in mind, a repeat of whatever version of 'Sportscenter' that FS-1 will have will grab higher ratings in the morning as repeats than any of the non-CL properties Fox owns in soccer. - GOL-TV/Bundesliga....GOL-TV cannot survive. It can pick up 20 other leagues it simply cannot continue. Providers are dropping them and I don't see how they can hang on for another season. So what happens to Bundesliga? Here is a league that got it right. Home attendance, quality and a lot of factors that simply work. But having said that, there is no market in the US for the Bundesliga. Its "filler". Sad but true. Its simply not the type of league that you run commercial for and know that people will tune in because of it. That is the reason I don't believe FOX will pick it up. Too much reshuffling going on to pick up another property - especially one that will clash with Scottish and FA Cup kickoffs. beINSport? They certainly have the ego and money to pick up the Bundesliga. Thinking they wouldn't would be wishful thinking on our part rather than the reality. Unfortunately, the Bundesliga would just add to the frustrations that people already have about beINSport and their treatment of leagues other than La Liga as filler. There is still a very good chance the Bundesliga ends up at beINSport. If FOX is indeed out and we don't want to see the Bundesliga in the hands of beIN, that leaves ESPN as the best choice. NewsCorp (FOX parent) buying the Eredivisie Media has many speculating that the Dutch league will become a FOX property next season. The Bundesliga would be a nice replacement for ESPN. Not sure this would result in the Bundesliga going on ESPN2 but Deportes and espn3.com is a good start. Certainly better than watching a 30-minute version of Bayern matches weekend after weekend. But again, this is just wishfull thinking. - The next 2 years (beIN properties) and 3 years (NBC/EPL) are all set and then we do it all over again. But here is my wish list for 2013. Some will likely happen, some don't have a chance but I can dream: - beINSport online servce that will provide ALL Serie A, nPower and Ligue 1 matches (free to provider based customers or a nominal fee - $5 to $10 per month).- beINSport add 2 more TV channels (unlikely)- Fox convert FUEL to FS-2 and scrape FoxSoccer-Plus. FS-2 becomes an international sports channel and fills its weekend mornings with football (wishful).- ESPN gets rights to the Bundesliga and even show it on ESPN2!- Ray Hudson is limited to Barca games only. - President Obama passes a Executive Order that all TV simulcasts of radio shows are illegal. Mulls idea of doing same to sports debate shows. (You know FS-1 is going to copy ESPN with all of the "talk shows" and you can't blame them - cheap to produce and they somehow get ratings. Just can't phucking stand them...)SA www.soccertvblog.com
I suppose it's probably too much to ask for NBC to provide a subscription-based online service - similar to FoxSoccer2Go, only not a steaming pile of shit, interface-wise. I'm about to cut my cable and watch most of the games at the pub but I hope I'll be able to watch games I'll otherwise miss online.
Fox Sports -- I know MLB has always been on OTA FOX. Will it change? Will "extended coverage" be on Fox Sports One? This will be interesting to see. ESPN - Remember in 2009 when ESPN didn't have USA @ Mexico, but they still sent people down to cover the match with pregame and postgame chatter? That was fun. I also remember the US-Mexico game in 2005 when ESPNews had coverage at 7 PM, then it switched to ESPN(2?) at 7:25 PM. At 9:30 PM, I think it switched back to ESPNews. I want to say there was an overnight replay on ESPN2 or Classic, but I think that was only in 2005. Obviously, the US-Mexico games are more of an "event", but if they can keep on doing stuff like that, it'll only be good. As far as SportsCenter, I keep hearing that the lower-level guys are all soccer fans, but by the time the show gets put together, there's very little time for soccer coverage with all the NBA, NFL. NCAA, big news, and human interest stuff. They have to cater to their general viewership, and outside of an occasional "look at this awesome goal," there just isn't enough time. FWIW, I hear that a lot of the soccer stuff gets nixed by the middle-level bosses.
Ollie the soothsayer never envisioned Boise State backing out of its Big East commitment. To think, Boise Freakin' State was the lynchpin to US EPL rights negotiations in the deluded world of Mr. Tse.
There are some good summaries in this thread. I want to add an important point to consider as the mediascape shifts. First, I think it was the 60 Minutes piece about Barca a few weeks back that put forth the statistic that the second most popular sport among 16-24 year-olds is soccer. (American football is the most popular.) Thus, the advertising target market of 18-35 (is that the target we hear about all the time?) is going to shift in the next 5 years. For this reason, the drive toward international sports channels, such as BeIN showing hours of handball this weekend and only 4 Serie A games between two channels is baffling. I understand the move to diversify programming, especially to help fill slots during soccer breaks. But I am baffled by BeIN's choices to push handball, volleyball, and rugby during hours when live soccer or 2-3 hour delayed games could be shown. Additionally, as I have noted many times, 90in30 and Gol's In 60 show no respect for the game, and can't be drawing much of an audience. The CL is still the biggest competition going. Most pundits now talk about the CL as surpassing the WC for most fans. I know that isn't the case in the US, where the sport continues to grow (per the statistic listed above), but it will be interesting to see how Fox handles the CL. Right now everything is great for DirecTV subscribers and really good for others. Finally, I hope that DirecTV will dump FS+ and provide those HD slots to BeIÑ or better yet, makes BeIÑ a full-time HD option. I know I spent the bulk of this post talking about BeIN as run by idiots, but BeIN is more or less the best option for soccer these days for those of us who are less interested in the EPL. And on that note, I would expect that BeIN will make a move for Bundesliga to help fill out the networks and generate some more 90in60.
The more different leagues and competitions are spread around different channels the more expensive of a pain in the ass it is to watch. At the moment i'm paying for base Spanish package on Directv to get bein espanol, goltv, fox deportes, espn deportes and all the Spanish channels, plus paying $13 a month for sports pack basically for Bein English. Now with Epl going to NBC I'll have to change everything around since NBC Sports is only available on the highest tier on Directv on the Spanish side. The days of just getting gol tv and fox soccer on sports pack were nice and simple.
I have a couple of questions. I have DIRECTV. FS+ is not provided in HD 100% of the time. FS+ is on channel 621. FS+ in HD is on channel 621-1. Content is on the HD channel only when BPL, Champions League, Heineken Cup rugby and select other sports and games are on live on a first-run basis. Repeats are never aired in HD. Are you saying that you'd like FS+ HD channel to be BeIN-ñ's HD channel instead? I'd bet they'd still not have HD content on 100% of the time, though. I do agree that it would be nice to have BeIN-ñ be full-time HD like they do with BeIN1. Gonzo
I think a daily show like World Football Daily when Steven and Kenny did the show together could work as a TV property. There isn't a daily soccer show on TV that takes viewer reaction and talks to guests like we see w/Mike & Mike, Dan Patrick, Tim Brando, Cowherd, and SVP & RR. A daily show from 12p to 2p M-F that extends to 2:30p when there is a midweek game could work with the right hosts and guests. They can always replay the show in highlight form later on in the day taking the best guests and parts of the show. Of course hardcore soccer fans would piss all over a show like a show like that because they would rather watch a first run airing of the 9th biggest game of the week in Italy or they will hate the hosts because they think the guys hosting are complete Muppets who know nothing about what they're talking about.
Yes, FS+ is only HD during live games. Any delayed game is SD only. So I am saying that I would like to see DirecTV give BeIÑ the HD slot for live games that currently goes to FS+. And if I am to dream a little bit, or if soccer ratings grow, to see BeIN HD full time.
I hate sounding negative but the reality is that there is a HUGE divergence in soccer between a sport being popular and that popularity translating into eyeballs watching soccer. Statistics have been telling us that soccer has been the fastest growing sport in the US for the past 25+ years. It has impacted the TV ratings a bit (ratings have been growing in all areas: MLS, World Cup, CL, etc.) but that growth, while encouraging, is still very very slow. Ask these kids playing soccer if they regularly watch or follow a league and you get a few hands raised for the EPL and a smattering of guys who will check in to see Messi or Ronaldo here and there. Overall, the chatter is about NCAA or other "American" sports. The only time the "players" are "tv fans" is during the World Cup. Back in the 80's I was one of those who preached how this younger generation who are being exposed to soccer early will become "tv fans" and the domino effect will go from there. Its not happening on the scale I hoped. Quite frankly, if I were a TV executive, I would be looking for growth in soccer viewership much more from the growing Hispanic community than anything coming out of the white-collar suburbs where participation in the sport is huge but its too slow in translating itself into meaningful TV revenue execs can count on. SA
That's dangerously close to another topic. All I will say is that we all know the reasons why the sports growth stunted here. Naturally it won't be easily remedied with all the competition. However, the fact that we see large media conglomerates even BOTHERING to buy rights to the sport for non-hispanic audiences I think is something. I mean really it wasn't until the new millenium that you begun to have appreciable choice of soccer on TV. With the expansion of media rights, I think we will have to wait for 20 years to see the marked rise in TV audiences you anticipated. The EPL will be fine. The onus is on MLS/USSF and to an extent the networks to maximize stateside potential in stateside footy. Now as to Bein.................I really do not understand their perogative. You are going to get but so much of an audience for non-Classico La Liga, not to mention the other Latin leagues. Their break into the marketplace is MUCH more seminal in France where Ligue 1 is undersold for TV revenue (according to what I have heard). I hope the venture is successful, but I will be first to tell you that I am not quite happy that US World Cup road qualifiers have been shuffled to that channel. I'd much prefer that to be on one of the more visible cable channels as National Team action could be a decent TV event if marketed properly and continue to grow the larger audience, you wont't do that on Bein, whom I doubt will get signifiganct carriage for at least a little while. Otherwise, it looks pretty good. Although again we have to wait and see what exactly FOX will do. I wonder about ESPN though. FOX and NBC can definetly use the game because it's precious programming material, but ESPN for all intents and purposes can get along just fine without it, so I wonder what they will do sans EPL which is obviously their biggest attraction soccer wise.
Very true - It seems that w/ immigrant communtites the game stays 'in the blood' and they wanna watch and/or play forever ; US kids move on to following the big three sports when they get older. http://www.nfhs.org/content.aspx?id=7495 Unfortunately in the USA soccer has to be lumped in w/ other high participation sports like swimming,cycling, gymnastics & track that only get a TV bounce when the Olympic/World Cup come around.
The days of the "blank" soccer channel are OVER.. The rights change to frequently.. Everyone wants a piece...the only way to survive is brand yourself as a sports or international sports channel.. That's why fox soccer and GolTV WILL go away.. This is a good move from Fox to rebrand the channel and its not locked in to just soccer properties.. But has the flexibility to keep it alive regardless if certain soccer rights are added or deleted. Soccer is here to stay... In the USA we have the luxury to watch more than any even in the home country in which these leagues are... Our concern is just the quality of the broadcasts... Will we have to endure more BeIN sport debacle commentary and programming issues or will we have providers that will realize want consumers want regarding quality and availability? The question remains..... Cantona---
This is an exact reflection of my thoughts. But here we part ways (to a certain extent) especially in a country of over 300million people. Goltv successfully proved that Ethnic/Racial targeted marketing should be secondary. Cheers
The answer is Yes - sooner rather than later. The power of the consumer is more profound and complex today than say in the FSW era. This shift in consumerism and expectation does come with consequences that can't be ignored. Cheers
That divergence in participation and eyeballs is due to the fact that as a WHOLE the country is not as invested in it as a serious pasttime as our home grown sports. Mind you that's changing (otherwise why continue to broadcast it) but it's going to be gradual. I for example am still early in my education of the sport itself (never played it) and I'm 25. Hispanic penetration is interesting but difficult. Liga MX has great penetration on TV, due to cultural affinity along with perrenial "smell tests" it'll be hard to convert a large segment the Mex-Am populace. But they are not the only Latino audience.. Here on the east coast we have a lot of people from the triangle of Hondouras, El Salvador and Guatemala along with Carribean folk. They cannot keep track of their leagues as easily. If MLS continues to recruit young players from those areas and market them, I think it could help build the audience......but that's going into another topic. All I know is that, selfishly as a fan, I believe that the US national teams exploits shouldn't be banished to an obscure area as the Phantom Zone (also known as Bein sport). The Latin Leagues are one thing, as I think the EPL will always have precedence over those here in America. But you cannot deny the importance of the USMNT for TV. I'd like to see more widely distributed networks get them next time around.
WOW. I just heard ESPN will gonna show live this weekend ; Galatasaray vs Besiktas Derby match.......
I just heard from insider mate from that league. lets wait and see, hopefuly if there is no any last minute cancelletion, this amazing derby we'll gonna see on ESPN channel. ps: Galatasaray is the home team. There will gonna be amazing careo ones again. (sneijder'S first game in the lions jersey).