In case no one stumped up with this answer in the last thread... I know for a fact MLS Cup was covered. I was sitting in a sports bar in LA near the airport, after having watched DC thrash KC. Then while the Patriots were beating the Raiders (I think) on one channel, one of the ESPN networks (the Deuce or News) was showing Esky, in somewhat grainy footage that may have been tampered with, possibly handle the ball on DC's second goal. This highlight was replayed every half hour in the news segment, and was featured on the SportsCenter broadcast that evening. Maybe the 11pm Pacific show. Thx, Jay! Edit: This isn't meant to bash Monster, rather to provide the proof that ESPN did in fact cover the MLS Cup across all their platforms.
Shwing again how absurd you are. Soccer makes incremental gains each year. The two I have seen on ESPN this year are the ability to switch broadcasts or times, which has happened at least once, and the addition of MLS to the ticker on all channels Sunday morning. Remember what Dr. Leo Marvin said, "Baby steps."
rangers and aartef - take your tickle fight elsewhere. This is a thread about ESPN's coverage of soccer, nothing else.
What a shame that when someone bashes ESPN, now that ESPN has scoped down to "no MLS coverage", when ESPN has been covering MLS for what? 9-10 years? Some people just go all out to attack ESPN...
Well that proves it then. You haven't seen it, so it doesn't exist, despite what everyone else is saying.
Why does everyone bash ESPN for soccer coverage? Compared to say NBC, Fox or CBS that also show sports on weekends ESPN shows a lot. Why aren't people complaining when NBC shows figure skating on a Saturday in the winter when there are loads of EPL matches? At least ESPN shows some and based upon the amount of soccer fans in the US, I would say they show a proportionate amount.
I actually like figure skating. Now when NBC shows spelling bees & lawnmover races over real programming, thats when I'll complain.
That certainly explains a lot about you then. Maybe you would like soccer to be judged and the outcome determined by the judge's scores. Man Utd 6.1, 6.2, 5.9, 5.8, 6.0 - Arsenal 5.6, 5.7, 5.9, 6.0, 5.4 = Man Utd wins. When have they ever shown lawnmower races? are they part of the great outdoor games or somethinig?
Right. What does the "S" stand for in ESPN? Spelling bees and poker are not even sports. Figure skating is. Have people become so ESPNized that they can't even tell what is and what isn't a sport?
So, basically, the events that are only shown once or twice a year - and likely have ratings similar to or better than soccer on ESPN - should just go away because of your personal preference?
The S stands for S. The letters mean nothing now. Although, in the beginning, the E stood for entertainment. Obviously, by the ratings, people are entertained by those things. Not everyone wants to watch wall-to-wall soccer.
I have seen MLS coverage on SportsCenter and I rarely watch it. Generally it is only in the Plays of the Day, but that's how they cover a lot of niche sports.
How dare anyone says Sportscenter cover no soccer? I've seen coverage of MLS, USMNT, World Cup, Champions League on SportsCenter. As a matter of fact, if there is an ESPN-televised game you still want to watch and don't want to know the score, don't dare watch SportsCenter because you think they don't cover soccer. You will get spoiled...
Oh, I thought it stood for Entertainment Sports Programming Network!? Guess they were tired of embarrassing themselves. Kind of like the singer formally known as "Prince". Does the "P" stand for poker? Not everyone wants to watch wall-to-wall poker. I mean, ESPN would kill to get the ratings that EPL gets in Canada on a Saturday morning...
Actually, no. A bunch of people eventually go to just the acronym. AARP has as well. You do realize that poker gets 10 times or so the viewers of soccer on ESPN2. Don't be an ass and ignore the facts.
Hey, they could buy the rights to show "Bold and the Beautiful" from CBS or whoever and that would also annihilate CL football ratings. Is that exceptable? Does the "S" stand for soap-opera?
Do you really think that ESPN has any chance of getting the EPL away from FSC? Last time I checked FSC is owned by Fox which is owned by Rupert Murdoch who also owns Sky in England. Doesn't Sky have the rights to the EPL? If they do I'd find it pretty much impossible for Murdoch to sell the rights to the EPL to a network other than his own.