A mod should change the title of the other thread or at least lock it up so it'll wander down the board, because as it stands it's basically a headline-sized declaration of inaccurate info. The Champions League final is in HD on ESPN. Coverage starts at 2:25 p.m. Eastern. FSC will be running the SkySports feed all afternoon for those who want to soak up all the pre- and post-game punditry they can bear...
I was checking my DirecTV listing for ESPNHD (Channel 206), and starting at 2:15 p.m. the coverage for the Champions League Final does not have the HD logo on the listing (the rest of their programming do). So, I don't know about that. I hope I'm wrong.
Tambo is correct. Forget your online guides. Please... ESPN official press release from last week: ESPN Goes to Rome for 2009 UEFA Champions League Final English Premier League Champions Manchester United vs. Spanish La Liga Champions FC Barcelona; Coverage across ESPN's Domestic and International Networks; Live Reports from Stadio Olimpico; Digital Services; Studio Programs; ESPN The Magazine Profile; et al ESPN’s multimedia coverage of the 2008-09 UEFA Champions League (UCL) season will culminate Wednesday, May 27, with the live telecast of UEFA Champions League Final around the world, reaching more than 167.8 million television households in 115 countries and territories in the U.S., Latin America, Africa, the Pacific Rim, Asia and Canada. The 2009 Champions League Final between defending champions Manchester United, led by FIFA World Player of the Year Christiano Ronaldo, and FC Barcelona, featuring Argentinian striker Lionel Messi, from Stadio Olimpico in Rome will mark the 15th straight year the Champions League Final has been televised on ESPN’s U.S. and International networks. In addition to the live 2009 UCL Final telecast, ESPN will deliver its “game around the game” coverage with news, information, highlights and analysis across its media platforms in the U.S. and beyond. ESPN’s global coverage of the world’s most popular club competition will feature 14 on-air commentators (hosts, analysts, reporters, contributors) in Rome. On-site commentators – calling the match in three languages – include: Fernando Palomo, Quique Wolff, Juan Yankilevich, Jose Ramon Fernandez, Martin Ainstein (Spanish television), and Jorge Ramos and Hernan Pereyra (Spanish radio); Derek Rae, Tommy Smyth, and Dave Roberts (English); and José Trajano, Paulo Andrade, Paulo Vinicius, and Andre Kfouri (Portuguese). Highlights: - ESPN will present exclusive, English-language telecast of the Final in high definition in the United States. Play-by-play commentator Rae, analyst Smyth and reporter Roberts will call the action live at 2:25 p.m. ET from Stadio Olimpico in Rome - ESPN Deportes, ESPN’s Spanish-language network in the U.S., will televise the match exclusively in Spanish in the U.S. In the booth: Palomo (play-by-play), analyst Wolff and reporter Yankilevich. Additionally, the network will air a special 90-minute UCL Final pre-match show with co-hosts Ciro Procuna, Tony Cherchi, Rafa Puente and Daniel Brailovsky from the ESPN studios in Mexico, and live reports from Rome - ESPN Deportes Radio, the only around-the-clock national Spanish-language sports radio network in the U.S., will broadcast the match live with Jorge Ramos (play-by-play) and analyst Hernan Pereyra in Rome. The network will also offer 30-minute pre- and post-match shows - ESPN2 will air a special, one-hour 2009 UEFA Champions League Final preview show Tuesday, May 26, at 7:30 p.m. Adrian Healey will host with analysts Janusz Michallik, Shaka Hislop and Robbie Mustoe, including reports from Rome. Healey, Michallik, Hislop and Mustoe will also handle the halftime and post-match segments on ESPN HD (Wed., May 27) - SportsCenter – leading into the match, daytime SportsCenter (12 – 3 p.m.) will feature UCL Final segments - ESPN Deportes SportsCenter – Fernandez and Ainstein will join the booth team of Palomo, Wolff and Yankilevich for on-site reporting on all editions of ESPN Deportes SportsCenter beginning Monday, May 25 - First Take (ESPN2, 10 a.m.-12 p.m.) will feature Champions League Final-related segments including interviews with Smyth in Rome on Tuesday and Wednesday - ESPN Classic will re-air the UEFA Champions League Final in a special same-day presentation (5:30 – 8 p.m.) - ESPNEWS will feature in-game updates and post-game analysis Futbol Picante (ESPN Deportes), the one-hour Mexican soccer news and information program, will air UCL Final editions Monday and Tuesday with reports and updates from Rome Other ESPN Deportes programs: Juego Cruzado, sports news and commentary program modeled after ESPN’s Around the Horn, and Cronometro, a Spanish-language version of ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption co-hosted by Fernandez (in Rome) and David Faitelson, and the weekly international soccer program Fuera de Juego, will feature UCL Final segments.
You're right, it's 11:30 a.m in the East Coast, and I just changed my channel to ESPN HD and Tony Smith is reporting Live from the Rome Olympic Stadium, he is at the stadium live, and all of that on glorious high-definition (720p).