2008/09 Arsenal on T.V. - U.S. Only

I'm not seeing anything for it right now...and does Setanta really not have any CL this year?

 

I don't think so. The last match was on ESPN360 and I think it may have been on ESPN2, but I'm not sure. Sucks for sure! Oh well.

 

They're in trouble. I read that the City is calling this a make or break year for Setanta.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/aug/13/premierleague

 

This says that they are...hmm... I don't know

http://www.setantaus.com/en/NA/Our-Sports/Soccer/#02

 

ESPN360 schedule has the return leg on as upcoming. Hopefully it will be on ESPN2 again so most people can see it.

 

I read somewhere that Setanta doesn't have any CL rights, unlike last year.

 

That would be extremely unfortunate...so other than ESPN2, who do we have? Just loads of ESPN360s?

 

fairly certain i heard on the last broadcast they will be carrying the return leg.

 

Although more expensive, uefa.com had live feeds of most of the CL games last season. I got the Setanta broadband yearly subscription that expires in December. If they do not have CL rights, I'll not be renewing. Not gonna pay to watch curling or jai alai or whatever else it is they show.

 

HA, HA, HA! Jai Alai - the pastime of middle Florida.

 

Setanta's commercials for the new season have included the Champions League when they're listing all the matches they'll be showing, so my feeling is that we'll be on there at some point this fall.

 

that would be awesome. really shocked that espn2 is covering cl qualifiers.

epl in 2010? let's hope so, so we can finally get some quality footy in hd!

 

God forbid!!! What would we get each weekend other than both Manure and Chelski (the official partner of Disney/ABC/ESPN). No thanks. Not worth it for the HD.

 

Its going to happen someday. Only ESPN is large enough to battle Sky for rights, they already cover it for asia-pacific areas. I imagine it would be time slots like present, not team preference.

I never heard but was the CL vs Twente in HD?

 

No, it was on ESPN2 HD but had the bars on the sides. Fake HD.

 

I could see it happening. Like cannon said they are the only company big enough to front the money to make it happen. In all honesty i could see them releasing a new channel to diversify the channel lineup. I highly doubt it would be devoted to soccer entirely like FSC but i could see it being like Setanta and catering to an international audience. Hell they have espn, espn2, classic, and university. Im sure a big enough market would exist in a few years to support a new channel.

 

Agreed!! Plus we'd have to listen to f***ing Eric Whinaldatime announcing and put up with horrible camera shots and no damn relevant replays. The MLS coverage on ESPN sucks so I shudder to think how they would cover EPL games.

 

No company in the world that holds EPL rights produces them. The production and commentary (in english) is all done by the league and sold as a rights package. Again the EPL is bigger than ABC/ESPN and wouldnt make an exception for them.

 

i don't think i could watch the epl if they have eric wynalda and that jp dellacamera guy doing commentary. although i wouldn't mind a little derek rae commentary.

the british commentators add a lot to the game.

 

eric wynalda doesn't do games for ESPN right now. If they did get the games, I'm sure it would be with the commentators from England.

 

Well, I think there are three separate, but equally possible scenarios. One involves ESPN outbidding FOX and Setanta for North American rights. In that case, the same arrangement takes place where, like in the case of FSC, there are in studio hosts who do the lead ins, but it's the EPL hired announcers that do the match.

The second instance involves ESPN wading into the mix to try to get rights for the rest of the world, which is pretty much the same as above.

Finally, the third involves ESPN attempting to become a larger player in the UK and outbid SKY and Setanta for local broadcast rights. I think that if this were to happen, announcers who work for SKY or Setanta would then be hired by ESPN.

Obviously having no idea what ESPN's business plan is, this is pure speculation.

 

I really hope ESPN doesn't get some freaky monopoly on Soccer in this country, while I appreciate what they are doing, I really hope it doesn't come at the expense of Gol TV and FSC.

 

I highly doubt it would. Soccer is a growing sport in this country but not nearly big enough to command a dedicated channel comparable to NFL network. That is why i said they could introduce a new channel but it would be multi-sport but catered to an international audience. Why would they try to compete with FSC anyhow (no idea who owns FSC or their budget)? Or to pose it in a different light, why would they try to take away viewers from FSC when they couldnt put forth a dedicated soccer channel? They would compete better with Setanta but i highly doubt they would drive them from the market which is all better for the US because you would go from 2 quality channels to 3. Hell you probably wouldnt miss an Arsenal game all season.

 

EPL revenue of all the clubs combined at best is $4 billion dollars a year.

ABC/ESPN/DISNEY is 10x that at $40 billion a year.

I'm not saying ESPN would even want to produce it themselves, and they do some crap things, but that organization is gigantic!

 

I'm going to go on a limb and say Fox, as in Fox Soccer Channel. Where is Dave when you need a "It's all in the name, innit?"