Why isn't the BPL on network television in the US? Seriously, I think the time is now to have this league on Fox on Sat. or Sunday. All of my friends who are sports fans (but don't play soccer) watch the World cup and said they would watch the BPL if they didn't have to pay for it. They don't watch the MLS, because it is second rate. (like watching minor league baseball) Now that pro and college football is over the US is dying for sports to watch (I mean the Nba,are you kidding me!) The BPL is hot right now and it is time for a game of the week on network tv. Anyways, let me know what you think or if I'm crazy! I gurantee this will draw higher ratings than the MLS. Remeber the Champions league final drew a 1 rating in the middle of a weekday!
I would think ESPN might someday buy the rights to the second half of the season. However you have to remember that ABC, CBS, ESPN and Foxs Sports all have College Football and the NFL on the weekends and they are much more popular. I don't see network television carrying any European tournaments anytime soon.
I believe they used to play Replays of matches on Fox Sports World, or something like that..it was including in my extended cable package, but still really wasn't good enough. I believe they were like on FSC and like passed down to show for replays.
The regional fox sport networks show delayed Premiership matches. It is essentially the FSC match of the week shown at 12 et, or something, on a Wednesday.
I'm not sure why the major networks would put regular games from a foreign league on television. Not unless they were showing regular season MLB games in London. It's not just the ratings, there is network politics. ESPN and Fox, for example, are rivals, they rarely even show highlights of the same games because of contracts. If we're only getting mid-week champion's league games on ESPN, you probably wont be getting prime-time Arsenal on NBC.
If anything the champions league will be the first event to be shown on network television, because it reaches out across much more than just English ex pats and American EPL fans. We all know that not all Americans are EPL fans, and that many watch other leagues. But the reason that Champions league will not be on ABC in the near future is because of when it is shown. Just watch ABC at 3pm on a Wednesday, or even 11am on the west coast! Champions league doesn't even make ESPN! The only chance would be if the final was on a Saturday night in Europe, thus a Saturday afternoon where the networks look for anything to put on.
I'm thinking this is exactly why FIFA moved the 2010-and-later CL finals to Saturday. They would like it to be an event that can be broadcast worldwide, even in countries where the rest of the tournament is not followed closely (like the Super Bowl is already). The CL final on a Saturday afternoon seems like about the farthest European club football could go on US network tv, though.
The champions league is getting good ratings on Espn (I believe last year's final had 1 million viewers even though it was on Wed. afternoon). I think people are more ready than ever to watch a real league Fox owns the rights, correct? Why not show a game Sat. 12 pm nationally, promote it a little and give it a shot. What else do they have on fox at that time???? If soccer is ever to succeed on television in this country we either need the MLS to get a whole lot better players or we need to show the top league in the world on Sat. or Sunday on tv at a regular slot that we don't have to pay for.
Well, you are commended for aiming high, instead of the usual "Why doesn't ESPN televise the Premiership?" However, you are crazy. The Premiership averages around 200K per telecast. Network television canned programs of ratings much higher than that. XFL had audience of millions yet it still didn't survive beyond the first season. But don't try the "Premiership is on niche channels (FSC, Setanta) right now. If it's on the networks, it will draw millions" argument. The NHL is a very good counter-example. The "put it on a widely available channel and people will flock to watch it" thinking has long been proven wrong. The CL final draws a 1 in the middle of the week? How many did they draw for a group stage game between Real Madrid and Werder Bremen? or between Marseilles and Liverpool?
I think the time slot will always turn the larger networks off. On the west coast the first game is usually on at 6am, and combine that with a seemly large investment needed to pry some of the rights away from FSC or Setanta, I just don't see larger networks biting at the EPL. The Hockey argument was a great point, another niche sport that doesn't draw great ratings. This time of year has the playoff rushes for the NHL and NBA, plus March Madness, so the sports plate is already pretty full. The only hope I see is for the all soccer channels (the Setantas, FSCs, and Gol TVs) to get better advertising and move into the cheaper cable and satellite TV packages. That would make the league more assessable to more US viewers but the leap to network TV is still probably a ways away.