UEFA Champions League - Match Day 4 - US TV Matches will kick off at 2:45pm ET unless they are played in Russia, where they will kick off at 12:30pm ET Tuesday November 3 AC Milan vs Real Madrid - "Your Regional Sports Network" (HD) and FOX Sports en Espanol (SDD 7pm ET on FOX Soccer Channel) Manchester United vs CSKA Moscow - Setanta Sports USA (SDD 5pm ET on FOX Soccer Channel) Atletico de Madrid vs Chelsea - FOX Soccer Channel Bayern Munich vs Bordeaux - DirecTV (HD) Maccabi Haifa vs Juventus - DirecTV (HD) Marseille vs Zurich - DirecTV (HD) APOEL vs Porto - DirecTV (HD) Besiktas vs Wolfsburg - DirecTV (HD) Wednesday November 4 Rubin Kazan vs Barcelona - 12:30pm ET - FOX Soccer Channel and FOX Sports en Espanol Lyon vs Liverpool - FOX Soccer Channel and FOX Sports en Espanol Arsenal vs AZ - Setanta Sports USA (SDD 5pm ET on FOX Soccer Channel) Dynamo Kyiv vs Inter Milan - DirecTV (HD) Fiorentina vs Debrecen - DirecTV (HD) Unirea Urziceni vs Rangers - DirecTV (HD) Sevilla vs Stuttgart - DirecTV (HD) Standard de Liege vs Olympiacos - DirecTV (HD)
Tuesday November 3 2:30pm ET - UEFA Champions League - AC Milan vs Real Madrid - "Your Regional Sports Network" (HD) and FOX Sports en Espanol (SDD 7pm ET on FOX Soccer Channel) 2:30pm ET - UEFA Champions League - Manchester United vs CSKA Moscow - Setanta Sports USA (SDD 5pm ET on FOX Soccer Channel) 2:30pm ET - UEFA Champions League - Atletico de Madrid vs Chelsea - FOX Soccer Channel (SDD 5pm ET on FOX Sports en Espanol) 2:30pm ET - UEFA Champions League - Bayern Munich vs Bordeaux - DirecTV Ch 462 (HD 462-1) 2:30pm ET - UEFA Champions League - Maccabi Haifa vs Juventus - DirecTV Ch 463 (HD 463-1) 2:30pm ET - UEFA Champions League - Besiktas vs Wolfsburg - DirecTV Ch 464 (HD 464-1) 2:30pm ET - UEFA Champions League - Marseille vs Zurich - DirecTV Ch 465 (HD 465-1) 2:30pm ET - UEFA Champions League - APOEL vs Porto - DirecTV Ch 466 (HD 466-1) Wednesday November 4 12:25pm ET - UEFA Champions League - Rubin Kazan vs Barcelona - FOX Soccer Channel and FOX Sports en Espanol 2:30pm ET - UEFA Champions League - Lyon vs Liverpool - FOX Soccer Channel and FOX Sports en Espanol 2:30pm ET - UEFA Champions League - Arsenal vs AZ - Setanta Sports USA (SDD 5pm ET on FOX Soccer Channel & FOX Sports en Espanol) 2:30pm ET - UEFA Champions League - Dynamo Kyiv vs Inter Milan - DirecTV Ch 462 (HD 462-1) 2:30pm ET - UEFA Champions League - Sevilla vs Stuttgart - DirecTV Ch 463 (HD 463-1) 2:30pm ET - UEFA Champions League - Unirea Urziceni vs Rangers - DirecTV Ch 464 (HD 464-1) 2:30pm ET - UEFA Champions League - Fiorentina vs Debrecen - DirecTV Ch 465 DirecTV (HD 465-1) 2:30pm ET - UEFA Champions League - Standard de Liege vs Olympiacos - DirecTV Ch 466 (HD 466-1)
If that is the case, Rogers Sportsnet most likely has both first and second pick of 2:45 games in Canada. Setanta definitely has second pick here in the US (excluding the early games from Russia).
I don't know how they pick them, but Setanta Canada has Lyon v Liverpool (Nov 4), which would be my first pick and Atl Madrid v Chelsea (Nov 3) which is probably the third choice.
Rogers Media owns 67% of Setanta Sports Canada. Rogers Sportsnet has 1st and 3rd picks while Setanta Sports Canada has 2nd pick. Keep in mind that Rogers Sportsnet may have decided to use the 1st pick to select different matches for Match days 3 and 4 for a number of reasons.
It's a bit more complicated than that, but that's practically right. Do either of Setanta's matches next week look like 2nd choices to you? I'll repeat the question. Any theories as to why?
On November 3, Rogers Sportsnet took Man Utd vs CSKA Moscow as 1st pick, leaving Atletico de Madrid vs Chelsea as 2nd pick for Setanta Sports Canada. Sportsnet would use 3rd pick to take AC Milan vs Real Madrid. (Keep in mind that Rogers Sportsnet was NOT able to take CSKA Moscow vs Man Utd with 1st pick on Match Day 3 because of the early kickoff time. Sportsnet took Chelsea vs Atletico de Madrid as its 1st pick on Match Day 3, leaving Real Madrid vs AC Milan as the 2nd pick for Setanta Sports Canada.) == On November 4, Rogers Sportsnet chose AZ vs Arsenal instead of Lyon vs Liverpool likely because Sportsnet took Liverpool vs Lyon with its 1st pick on Match Day 3. That meant Setanta Sports Canada was able to take Liverpool vs Lyon with the 2nd pick on Match Day 4.
Its plausable that Sportsnet Canada uses 1st and 3rd choices (as they show 2 live games at the same time with their regional setup) leaving Setanta with choice #2 but I think you're wrong about Sportsnet NOT being able to take CSKA - Man United match last round because of the early kickoff. This week, Sportsnet is showing the Rubin v Barcelona match across all 4 of its regional networks live (12:30pm ET), giving viewers a HD double header on Wednesday. With the overlapping ownership between Sportsnet and Setanta in Canada, I think the distribution of matches is much more casual than in the US and its arranged to maximize both network's worth over time. SA
That's a plausible theory. They could be alternating where they put the most attractive match, sometimes putting it on Setanta to encourage subscriptions. I doubt it. Was AC Milan vs Real Madrid 3rd pick in the US? Regardless, Italian clubs are more popular in Canada than the US (relatively speaking). That doesn't make any sense. Liverpool is a more popular club and Liverpool vs Lyon is a much more important match.
Don't know if anybody was watching Besiktas v Wolfsburg, but the score-spoiling commentator was at it again giving away the score of the Man United game right around the end of normal time.
I noticed this too. It was a drag because the feed announcers don't usually discuss other games. I don't remember hearing this guy discuss scores when I watched Wolfsburg-Besiktas during matchday 3. Did he call a different game?
I thought that the FSN/FSC/FSE group were supposed to air different games live. Yet, as shown, they had the same games. Over previous match days, haven't they shown different games? Can we expect the practice of Match Day 4 to continue, or was the act of showing the same game an exception?
Something else I noticed was that FSE had no SAP available. I suppose since all those matches were also being shown live on RSN/FSC they felt there was no need, but even the delayed showings of other matches had no SAP available.
AC Milan Vs Real Madrid was not in HD this week although it was on FSN, Did everyone else noticed that?
the 12:30 start aside (since that's the only game on at that time) I think it's based on matchups and the pick order. They usually pick a Spanish team for FSE's live coverage and I guess Sevilla v Stuttgart wasn't a big enough draw so they went with Liverpool. Not sure why they didn't pick Inter v Kiev tho. They've done this before too - sometimes they pick the same game sometimes they don't. I suspect it'll be on and off based on the teams.
My FSN (FSN Ohio and FSN Ohio Cincinnati subfeed) didn't have the game in HD on my provider, but I heard that similar channels in Detroit and St. Louis did have the game in HD. Having the game in HD could depend on your area and/or provider.
FSI sublicensed 68 matches to DirecTV Inc., including 5 matches on each playing day of Match Days 1-6 (and 2 matches on each playing day of the 4th qualifying round in August.) If FSE had aired something other than Lyon vs Liverpool, it would have been on a non-exclusive basis (and shared with DirecTV.) One suspects that FSI officials determined that the other matches were NOT big enough so FSE went with Lyon vs Liverpool (shared with FSC).