The Fox Soccer Era

Discussion in 'TV, Satellite & Radio' started by tsun23, Jul 27, 2014.

  1. BOSNAINTER

    BOSNAINTER Member

    krajina
    Bosnia and Herzegovina
    Feb 17, 2006
    Nat'l Team:
    Bosnia-Herzegovina
    espn world cup in germany was best for commentators and studio. you had ruud ,ballack, hidink, solari and others after that they try to americanize the experience with pointles banters and try to create superficial/artifical rival amongs the nations. when american commentators talk they just talk to "fill time in between pplays" and they say that openly this is not nfl , baseball or basketball this is football/soccer there is no need for 3 minutes of fill talk
     
  2. Roti2000

    Roti2000 Member

    Apr 27, 2012

    What is going on with the Spanish language rights?
     
  3. Redbullsnation2012

    May 26, 2010
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    TUDN has it
     
  4. Roti2000

    Roti2000 Member

    Apr 27, 2012
    Are you sure? According to their schedule they are not airing any matches on Wed or Thursday.
     
  5. Roti2000

    Roti2000 Member

    Apr 27, 2012
    To answer my own question, I’m watching yesterday’s Pachuca-Atlas match and they announced the Nations League will be on Vix. They didn’t say much but I would think if it’s on the streaming platform we can get all the matches. I can’t imagine they won’t air a match or two this window on Univision/unimas
     
  6. BocaFan

    BocaFan Member+

    Aug 18, 2003
    Queens, NY
    Thanks! Yes, it looks like (according to the TV guide on Roku) they are showing Poland v Wales tomorrow on the Fubo free channel (Roku #230). And two more matches on Thursday.
     
  7. danielmak

    danielmak Member

    Sep 26, 2004
    off the purple line
    Time to recover the Fox hates soccer thread title. Such a bummer to not have this on ESPN. Oh well, I'll watch what is on FS1 and that's it. Probably good for me to stop watching so many generally meaningless games.
     
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  8. Kryptonite

    Kryptonite Fancy Title Here

    Apr 10, 1999
    Columbus
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    The USA v Morocco game is on ESPN2.
    The USA v Uruguay game is set for broadcast Fox.
     
  9. bwiorly

    bwiorly Member

    May 3, 2004
    Louisville, KY
    Club:
    Newcastle United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    France
    This is an absolute disaster. What we used to get for $6.99 a month with ESPN+ (UEFA Nations League, Euro and WC qualifiers), we now have to pay $69.99 a month to have access to (for a Fubo "Pro" subscription).

    A way around this seems to be Spanish-language broadcasters. I can access the 4 Nations League games being played right now (Bulgaria-N Macedonia, Cyprus-Kosovo, Estonia-San Marino and Georgia-Gibraltar) on Vix:
    https://vix.com/es-es/deportes

    Not sure if Vix access is free for everyone or if you have to have Univision/ TUDN credentials (both channels are part of my cable package), and not sure what Nations League games Vix will carry: All? If not, how many? Which ones?, etc.

    Maybe we can all help each others out and report what we can/can't access with our various cable packages and subscriptions. (I'm also going to post something under the Univision Networks thread.)
     
  10. daniloni

    daniloni Member+

    Tottenham Hotspur
    United States
    Jul 17, 2013
    Oakland, CA
    Club:
    Atlanta
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Vix is currently free for everyone. I think there will soon be a paid tier but they haven’t announced yet which content will be on the free tier and which on the paid tier.
     
    bwiorly repped this.
  11. bwiorly

    bwiorly Member

    May 3, 2004
    Louisville, KY
    Club:
    Newcastle United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    France
    Also looks like they're carrying ALL Nations League games. Fantastic news. I'll be waiting for their announcement on the paid tier. Anything around $6.99 a month (current ESPN+ price), I'll be happy to sign up for, but no way I'm doing Fubo at $69.99.
     
  12. daniloni

    daniloni Member+

    Tottenham Hotspur
    United States
    Jul 17, 2013
    Oakland, CA
    Club:
    Atlanta
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    The idea behind Fubo TV is that it replaces your cable/satellite plan. I don’t think they expect people to pay $70 per month and keep their existing cable/satellite TV. I got rid of DirecTV in favor of Fubo and I’m happy with the decision. It has all the soccer channels including even BeIN, TyC Sports, Fox Soccer Plus and GolTV, and has all the games on demand for like 3 days. I’m lucky to live in an area that Fubo carries the RSN and the local networks (although I have an antenna anyway). They Achilles heel is that they don’t carry the Turner networks, so for the NBA I subscribe to Sling Blue during the season to get TNT (and the rest of the Turner channels). Fubo and Sling Blue together is still cheaper than the official price of DirecTV (without calling every time your discounts on DirecTV run out).
     
  13. bwiorly

    bwiorly Member

    May 3, 2004
    Louisville, KY
    Club:
    Newcastle United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    France
    Yes of course, but as you say, no Turner networks on Fubo, and in my case, a much more limited offer than what I'm getting with my current Spectrum cable plan, which I have bundled with my phone and internet.

    This to say that I am not ditching my cable for Fubo, so really hoping I can access what I used to get via ESPN+ (UEFA Nations League, Euro and WC qualifiers) through Vix/Vix+ at a reasonable price.

    It will be interesting to see if I'm in the minority of if Fubo does get a significant boost from people switching over to them for their current provider (cable, DirecTV or other).
     
  14. BocaFan

    BocaFan Member+

    Aug 18, 2003
    Queens, NY
    Indeed. Not so much losing the Nations League to FOX, but the fact that FOX will be covering pretty much everything of relevance on the int'l front for the rest of the decade!

    I guess I knew that already but it didn't sink in until at the start of the Argentina - Italy match when they explicitly listed all the competitions that they will be covering. Alexei Lalas sitting there grinning when they went through the list - no doubt the only person in the country smiling while hearing that news.
     
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  15. richsavare

    richsavare Member+

    Ajax
    Netherlands
    Jan 28, 2003
    New Jersey
    Club:
    AFC Ajax
    Nat'l Team:
    Netherlands
    Very Painful.
    Hoping common sense prevails and they bring in some of the UK guys.
     
  16. BocaFan

    BocaFan Member+

    Aug 18, 2003
    Queens, NY
    "Very painful" describes every aspect of their coverage atm, so I hope they do bring in some talent (just wonder why it hasn't happened yet if that was their plan :( ).

    First gap to fill is the live commentary. Surely they can't use these amateur muppets that are calling this week's Nations League matches for the World Cup!?! :eek:.

    For the studio team, I don't think they will bring in anybody. But I can live with Lalas' "he didn't get solid wood on that shot" comments if they address their commentators. I'll just make myself a coffee during halftime and wait for espnFC to get the analysis.
     
  17. richsavare

    richsavare Member+

    Ajax
    Netherlands
    Jan 28, 2003
    New Jersey
    Club:
    AFC Ajax
    Nat'l Team:
    Netherlands
    Most of the former US players seem to struggle badly in my opinion, and never seem well versed with non US players.
    It drives me nuts, but the executives at Fox clearly don’t understand the sport to allow the continuous shaky coverage.
    That said commentary has improved over the years here believe it or not when comparing things now to the likes of Roger Twibell in 1998, Jack Edwards in 2002, Dave O’Brien in 2006 calling matches for ESPN, and even Brent Musburger in the studio through ABC back in 1998.
    Even Tommy Smyth I could not stand, and he had an incredible run on ESPN.
    Him and his “old onion bag”.
    Fox used to have Christian Miles who was hideous. Could not figure out the ball was round. Oh the pain.
    Absolutely brutal talking nonsense, getting players mixed up.
     
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  18. NorthBank

    NorthBank Member+

    Arsenal; NYRB
    United States
    Mar 29, 2006
    Connecticut
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    For game commentators, the main team of Strong and Holden is pretty good. Probably the best all-American duo I can think of. Beyond them I’m not sure what Fox really offers.

    I can’t stand Lalas. Mo Edu is ok to meh. But I continue to like Ally Wagner. And Rob Stone is a credible host… most of the time.

    But if you think Fox’s studio team/production is bad, have you watched Paramount’s?
     
  19. richsavare

    richsavare Member+

    Ajax
    Netherlands
    Jan 28, 2003
    New Jersey
    Club:
    AFC Ajax
    Nat'l Team:
    Netherlands
    Strong and Holden are ok.
    Aly Wagner seems ok, and Mo Edu I can live with but the constant US spin on everything is nonsense.
    Lalas should be better, but plays the town idiot role at times.
    Not sure how much world football he knows or follows.
    Rob Stone is ok too, but feeds the nonsensical comedy garbage at times.
    Paramount I have and it’s become quite a joke with Champions League coverage Kate Abdo is quite knowledgeable but the panel is just goofy joking now way too much.
    Was hoping she would return to Fox as she is pretty good when she sticks to the facts of football.
    I like Jamie Carragher but again he gets too much into the goofy crap.
    Micah Richards is the clown and would be ok if he gets away from that stuff too.
    Thierry Henry comes off arrogant.
    Peter Schmeichel is ok.
    I like the Spanish guy Guillem Baluge who I’ve followed for many years.
    Nico Cantor is ok.
    Always like when Roberto Martinez is in the studio.
    I like Bonetti and Cordero formerly of BeIn who do the Italian games.
    They take things rather seriously in my opinion and give good information and analysis.
     
  20. NorthBank

    NorthBank Member+

    Arsenal; NYRB
    United States
    Mar 29, 2006
    Connecticut
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Nice summary. I'm mainly in agreement, except...

    Roberto Martinez who I just can't stand listening to, both what he says and how he speaks.

    Micah Richard's being a clown is completely his brand... and I'm so tired of it, I'd be happy to seem him put out to pasture.

    Paramount's fundamental problem IMHO (and it was the same on B/R which is why I always suspected the production team just moved from there to CBS/P+) is that they pad their shows with almost 50% inane banter, which isn't even about footy most of the time, it's about their personalities/foibles/failures... it's idiotic, insulting and almost a complete waste of time.
     
  21. BocaFan

    BocaFan Member+

    Aug 18, 2003
    Queens, NY
    But their match commentators are so much better than FOX, which at the end of the day is 80% of what matters.
     
  22. danielmak

    danielmak Member

    Sep 26, 2004
    off the purple line
    I never watch studio shows so could care less about that. Announcing teams matter most. I agree that Strong and Holden are ok, but they spend their weeks immersed in MLS and don't have a clue about European players. I know this is going to bet a lot of flack but for me the top duo are Cordero and Bonetti. They at least pay attention to various leagues. But it's all moot. I'll have to re-think my subscription stuff, or after a few decades, change my viewing habits. I have DTV and Uverse bundled and would likely go over upload caps without that bundle.

    With Fubo are you set for all of the NBC channels that show EPL games that are not on Peacock (or not on Peacock for 24 hours)? EPL is my main interest when it comes to league play.
     
  23. drt2k3

    drt2k3 Member

    Jul 1, 2005
    Wilmington, NC
    Club:
    Wilmington H.
    How did Fox get the road leg at El Salvador for USMNT in the Nations League? I thought CBS/Paramount + had the rights to all non USMNT Nations League?
     
  24. Kryptonite

    Kryptonite Fancy Title Here

    Apr 10, 1999
    Columbus
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I thought CBS/Paramount was only for WCQ.
     
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  25. drt2k3

    drt2k3 Member

    Jul 1, 2005
    Wilmington, NC
    Club:
    Wilmington H.
    CBS/Paramount gets the 4 teams Nations League Finals and any non USMNT (home or away) games. USMNT home and away games are included in the USMNT contract.

    For WCQ, CBS/Paramount gets USMNT away games as those away games are NOT included in the USMNT contract.

    Come March, the 2 USMNT Nations League games will be on Turner
     

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