Best modern providers for soccer

Back about 10-15 years ago, it was believed that DirecTV (sports pack with FSW/FSC plus Setanta and Setanta Xtra and a ton of Spanish-language channels) was the best provider. Of course, it also had MLS Shootout (later Direct Kick) and even though DirecTV and Dish Network varied in what games they had, DirecTV was the only provider with Setanta for quite some time and the only one to ever have Setanta Xtra.

Of course, if you had that bar with Setanta Pub Channel, you'd get almost any game around the planet, even if you were paying $20 cover. Depending on the bar or event, sometimes they'd let you get away with buying $20 of drink/food and they'd waive the cover.

Some bars would even put the Setanta game on in a private area or they'd hang a bed sheet from the ceiling to block the view. Even if you wanted to peek at the score, such might be worthy of the cover charge. For big events, Setanta would send representatives to various bars to make sure everyone paid the rans... I mean cover fee.

I remember a USA game in Mexico that was on mun2 and feeling a bit "powerful" because I was able to watch that game at home.

My, how times have changed. FS1/2 and the various ESPNs are widely available and in HD. Even channels like Telemundo and UniMas are in HD for when they show games.

We're definitely living in the glory years with no signs of them reversing. Wasn't there a time when TNT/TBS would show commercials full-screen during games? Soccer Made In Germany and Fox Soccer showing spoilers of the game you'd be watching are ancient memories. (I've heard good things about SMIG, but that was before my time as a fan.) I do remember watching games on TV and the bottom of the screen would show that game's final score.

ESPN+ has a ton of stuff and it's available to anyone for a very affordable fee, live channels notwithstanding.

U-Verse used to be a decent provider for soccer. They had (still have) four or five Spanish-language channels on a basic tier. They still have Gol TV in English HD...but those Spanish-language channels are all in SD. ESPN Deportes is in HD, but you need the Spanish-language tier. I believe Gol TV can be obtained with their sports tier or Spanish-language tier.

BeIN is available with U-Verse in both formats, but it's a higher tier. Luckily, I can watch via Go90 and there used to be a U-Verse website I could watch on without actually subscribing, but I think it went away.

So...bring me up to speed. Obviously, Gol TV is a shell of it's former self and hardly available, or so it seems. ESPN Deportes doesn't seem all that critical. Univision Deportes has FMF and USMNT stuff, but the USMNT games are all in English on common channels. (No more $20 for sketchy PPV from Honduras or Panama!)

I'm assuming all providers are relatively equal. I'm not in the market for a new provider, but do any really stand out like DirecTV did not too long ago? Keep in mind with a Roku or similar, someone could stream MLS Live, but let's try to keep this to TV channels (HD or SD), packages and pricing.

 

As far as the EPL paywalling everything, with more people running around each day screaming the virtues of cord-cutting, I'm not surprised...but you really have to be a die-hard of a certain team to pay for such a thing. It's a shame that both aren't an option. You could pay for Gold which would include every game not on NBC/NBCSN/CNBC or get those games via overflow TV channels. I found myself watching less coverage mainly because it wasn't on 4-6 channels at the same time.

Comcast: I have a family member who lives in Mass, near Boston. He's not a soccer fan, but he hates Comcast and seems to sing praises of FiOS, but can't get it at his address. Satellite isn't an option as there are too many trees. I once heard that Verizon stopped building out to new addresses, as it was too expensive for them to run fiber to every house, but they may have reverted on that decision.

I also remember it taking a noticeable time to change channels via his Xfinity box.


Over on the official U-Verse forums, we get a lot of new customers who wonder why they can't get whatever sports package (U-Verse has NBA League Pass and that's it.) At this point, it seems most of those packages offer online versions with a subscription to the TV version...but for a similar price, someone could just get the online version, hook up a streaming device to their TV and be good to go.

But I imagine some people aren't as technical, or they want the convenience of having it via their TV provider...where an installment plan might be available, unlike the online version where there may only be one payment plan. (All at once.)

 

The Dish Hopper (or whatever it's called now) is what, one DVR with additional boxes that can control live TV and access the DVR to watch/schedule/delete recordings, right? Record six different shows at once and watch as many live channels as there are TVs?

I know Time Warner used to have a "whole home DVR" service, but I believe they got rid of it. Someone I know (who doesn't seem all that technical, FWIW) says she has one Spectrum DVR with additional TVs for the kids connected via Roku or whatever to the Spectrum app.

 

I forgot about the "mix" channels. Weren't there UEFA mix channels at one point?

 

16 per box? Per house? Like how would that work? If something is saved on one TV, I assume it can be watched in another room?


That's like home internet being at 300 Mbps. It doesn't *need* to be that fast, but in the spirit of competition, it *can* be that fast.

 

I believe U-Verse has something similar, but I don't use it, partially because it's an app-based thing and there's a short loading time.

https://www.att.com/esupport/article.html#!/u-verse-tv/KM1062535

 

True, Fox Soccer Plus is in a sad state of affairs, but it still has some stuff, right?

If so, I wonder who would pay $15/mo for it, especially if it's still HD only during live events, as it used to be on DirecTV. If so, bonus points go to various providers who have it in a sports tier where it's most likely HD 24/7.

With that said...out of curiosity, did Fox Soccer show the entire Dream Team series before the flip to FXX? I never watched that show, but I knew US airings were several seasons behind.

Also, any time NBCSN wants to bring back FanZone is great with me...I assume it's still a thing on Sky or whoever has EPL rights "across the pond."

 

Speaking of memories, does anyone remember when ESPN Deportes was a hot mess?

Their image seemed to be 16x9 SD. Watching on a 16x9 TV and there were black bars on all sides! It looked like watching through a peephole.

The picture was 4x3, but had "ESPN Deportes" black bars on either side, making the picture wider than taller. However, viewing on a HD TV and the TV itself had black bars on all four sides.
Lake homes in marlier today and give him a big Coin Rush
I guess if you zoomed in, you'd see "ESPN DEPORTES" black bars only on the sides of a 16x9 TV, but the image would be zoomed in.

 

It seems like a LOT of stuff is being discontinued lately. AIM died last year. Yahoo Messenger had a terrible redesign a couple years ago and it's going away next week, something else which escapes me at the moment and now this.


I wish I knew it had Gol TV. I used to get that via a website my provider offered, but I believe that website is no more. I remember watching a Boca/River match on there.

 

In terms of major leagues, is GOL TV really relevant? I see they have the Portuguese league, but beyond that, they seem to have a lot of Central and South American leagues from countries not named Mexico. (They have Mexican division two, but still.)