http://twitter.com/#!/Palomo_ESPN/status/82843570498834432 He is about as reputable a source as there is. What does that mean for the US?
Both will own the rights now http://en.uefa.com/uefa/events/tv/news/newsid=1645463.html I believe FOX's exclusive contract in the US doesn't run out 'till about 2014.
Bottom line: 1. FOX holds exclusive rights to the UEFA CL (free TV, pay TV, Internet, mobile) in the U.S. through the 2014-2015 season. One major change: FOX Sports Net (regional networks) with have the #2 pick on both Tuesdays and Wednesdays starting with the 2012-2013 season, with the #1 pick on both Tuesdays and Wednesdays moving over to FOX Soccer (Channel) in order for FOX Cable to push the distribution of FOX Soccer (Channel) onto digital basic tiers. FOX Soccer Plus will be relegated to having the #4 pick on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. 2. UEFA still hasn't sold the rights to the UEFA Europa League in the U.S. market for 2012-2015. Don't be surprised if DirecTV, Inc. were to end up with the rights again by default (and for GOLTV, Inc. to sublicense.) Neither FOX, ESPN, nor Univision Deportes Network want a 2nd rate product with no brand-name teams. 3. FOX Sports and ESPN, Inc. are partnering in Spanish-speaking Latin America to a) keep costs down in markets with less than 50% pay TV penetration and b) to stop killing each other. Now that FOX Sports+ has been launched, FOX no longer needs to keep pay TV exclusivity to the UEFA CL and EL. That means at least 4 matches (and up to 6 matches) can air live simultaneously starting with the 2012-2013 season: 1 match live each on FOX Sports, FOX Sports+, FOX Sports HD, ESPN, ESPN+ or ESPN DOS, and ESPN HD. The rest can go on ESPNPlay.com. Note that neither ESPN, Inc. nor FOX Sports have terrestrial (free-to-air) rights to the UEFA properties in Spanish-speaking Latin America so the likes of Televisa, TV Azteca, and Meridiano TV can also air matches live. 4. In Brazil, Globo is the managing partner of the ESPN-branded properties (ESPN, ESPN Brasil, ESPN HD, ESPN360.com.br, and Radio Estadao ESPN) and Globo, ESPN, Inc., and FOX have each owned 33.33% of the ESPN-branded properties since 2003. Globo is the king of Brazilian media. One would expect Globo to maintain a stranglehold of the UEFA properties in Brazil (Globo also owns SporTV, SporTV2, and SporTV HD.)
What will the 4th and 5th picks to FSRugby (errrr FS+) mean for DirecTV? Will DirecTV still have some exclusive games that air on the 480+ channels? Also, will the games that air on FS+ re-air on FSC? I ask because as it stands, FS+ isn't worth $15 per month and I would love to avoid subscribing again and FS+ currently only shows games in HD on DirecTV when the games are live, whereas FSC always shows HD games when HD is available.