So Fox is getting Italian Serie B? https://www.legab.it/la-serie-bkt-s...N7KCx-9-xndq_luVred9fbleGkfn1-vE2Bq2RZ0UZVajA
Yup, looks that way https://www.businesswire.com/news/h...works-Group-to-Broadcast-Serie-B-Championship
No clue, but you think it would be soon. Looks like 3 games a week on the Fox stations. https://pulse2.com/helbiz-nasdaq-hlbz-stock-why-it-significantly-increased-today/
First match is Frosinone vs Brescia Monday at 2;30pm on Fox Soccer Plus I hope all the matches aren't on there.
Most likely the case. That channel has virtually nothing but replays, rugby, AFL, some Liga MX/CPL and shoulder programming from Onesoccer. They need some programming
Appears so. The 3 weekday matches (Mon - Wed) on my FIOS listings are all on FoxSoccerPlus, as are next weekend's 3 matches (Sat-Sun).
SBJ reported that Fox Sports will obtain Euro '24 and '28, The European Qualifiers, and the Nations League. https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/en/SB-Blogs/Newsletter-Media/2021/10/18 Now pardon me while I vomit.
At least they were smart enough to pull Gus Johnson off the primary call. Is ESPN International still a thing? I feel like most of what I've seen on there lately is Stu Holden and Taylor Twellman. Derek Rae and Jon Champion are quality and Rece Davis is a good studio host. It seems like the Euros were a LOT longer ago than just a few months. https://the18.com/soccer-news/worst-espn-euro-2020-announcers-steve-cangialosi-audio
What would you rather have? Fox Sports World in SD with announcers we'd never see, dial tones while coming back from breaks and shoestring budgets (they didn't even use their own cameras for some MLS games.) I remember joking once with Max Bretos that they'd do the early EPL games in their PJs. For them, it'd be a 4:30am start time. "And it looks like we're all ready for kickoff. Let's send it out to your match announcers, NameOne and NameTwo." ...as soon as the whistle blew, the audio would revert to LA, just in time for that damn dial tone. OR: Broadcast Fox in 720p with big-boy budgets, but loud, bombastic announcers. It's a damn shame that FSW didn't make it. But it's also good that finding international games isn't the hunt it once was. It's fun to see EPL on NBC and Bundesliga on Fox at the same time.
Terrible news if confirmed. The downgrade in coverage quality will be substantial, but (possibly) worse: how is Fox going to make all the games being played simultaneously on qualifying days? ESPN+ has been fantastic in that regard. What can we expect from Fox? Also, not clear what the terminology "European Qualifiers" refers to: just Euro or also World Cup? Does anyone know?
Fox intends to answer your question by partnering with Fubo. Fox Sports will keep the best matches for itself and offload the rest to their streaming partner.
Fox, Fubo and Tubi, $33 a month minimum??!!! This is a nightmare. I know it's different, but all I can think of right now is the dark days of the Setanta crooks. Please ESPN, don't let it happen!
It is a smart move along with some other earlier smart moves. They can constantly remind European fans that they have the Biggest World Cup ever at home 2026. They can try out some new commentator pairings and European based correspondents that they will sorely need for that World Cup too. They earlier got rights to South American World Cup Qualifiers and the Copa America. So they will be able to inundate those fans with all their propaganda and World Cup promos too. Hopefully try out some Latin American commentators and correspondents. 2024 Euros in the morning and Copa America at night on FS1, FS2 will be interesting and basically a training ground for what they want to do two years later with all the matches they have to cover.
From Fox's perspective, no doubt. That's another story for fans/viewers. IMO, over the years, ESPN has done a far better job than Fox in terms of soccer coverage.
Meh. I did not mind the World Cup coverage of FOX. I would not say ESPN has done a far better job. Maybe a slightly better job in some ways but not as good in other ways for my personal taste.
But the main issue isn't even FOX v ESPN, its that now we need yet another streaming service. And the price of these streaming services never goes down. ESPN+ price has been creeping up as they obtain more and more content, so if they lose all of this content to FOX will ESPN+'s price go down? haha... fat chance. That's the part I miss most about old-fashioned cable or satellite. Stuff moves from one cable channel to another, no big deal - Just a different number on our dial. But if something moves from one streaming service to another, that's another $6.99/month or (much) worse, not to mention another clunky user-interface to deal with.
Yup, I've been moaning about all of this for years. The shameless greed and fleecing the customer is probably a near inevitability. But the splintered and dysfunctional myriad of GUI's is not... that's fixable, if collectively they decided it was something there were interested in doing... making it quicker, easier, more universal and full-featured for the user.