according to www.soccertv.com ESPN will not broadcast the champions League next year. Instead, espn will switch the champions league coverage on to Espn deportes. NOw tell me does anyone get espn deportes!!! I already get 2 or 4 games on ESPN 2 but now this totoally sucks. Looks like i'll have to get a satelite next year. Thanks a lot ESPN! PS Comcast Sucks and ESPN
I'm sure they based their decision on ratings. Does this suck? You betcha. I'm also pretty pissed that Fox cancelled Firefly due to poor ratings. Life goes on.
Nobody has the channel yet. The channel will not go on the air until September 7, 2003. So don't start throwing a fit until then. I would expect most digital cable and satelite providers to add the channel. So true.
Sort of makes the case for the MLS starting a soccer cable channel since none of the networks are going to cover soccer adequately. I only hope that it becomes a reality sooner than later.
"You could buy a DBS dish, and subscribe to DirecTV Para Todos." my friend has that (the cheapest version) he gets fsw espanol, galavision (lots of mfl games, if not mistaken they showed champions cup games too) tve (tv spain, but no liga games just cheap lower divisions) and tv azteca too if not mistaken ( i could be wrong) plus telemundo, univision
I agree with you. I am 100% Polish, i went to few NT games and been to 100's of Gornik Zabrze matches in sector 13 (supporters section) but i must say alot of Euros in america piss me off when it comes to football. Unless they have to work, or cant afford it or some other good reason that they dont go to matches or watch but i know alot of "Euros" who dont watch MLS becasue its "America". Football is football in Poland, England and United States. I must admit i dont watch many games on ESPN (usually busy on Sat) but i watch a few Metros on FSNY/MSG and i am season ticket holder for Rhinos and i gotta say, American football matches are awsome, not as good as the ones in Poland but just good enough.
That just sucks. I was really starting to like that show. Huh...I wonder if that companion chick is free.
You must be getting a different version of Ollie's site because it doesn't say that. I don't ever recal it saying it would happen, although he hinted it might. And even if it does, I'm sure they will all cry in Bristol at losing the 0.1 or 0.2 they got on weekday afternoons.
Yeah, the other networks would actually like that decision because then MLSTV could horde all the s**tty ratings for themselves. I love these threads.
I can see it now... Headline: SUM Invests $50 Million in Startup Soccer Channel so Bigsoccer Newbie Doesn't Have to Buy a Dish.
Re: I can see it now... Kenn...I don't understand your hostility here. SUM is, in fact, considering starting a soccer channel. And to Lucid...crap ratings for ESPN2 are strong ratings for a niche digital tier cable channel, so your post didn't make any sense to me either. These back to back posts from guys I respect are making me wonder if I imagined the news that SUM is planning a soccer channel.
Re: Re: I can see it now... They are *considering* it. What that means, I have no idea. My guess is that they are crunching numbers only to find that PPV operators like Setanta are willing to outbid them for the choice leagues (EPL, La Liga, etc.) TV rights. The biggest problem with a soccer channel is going to be distribution. There are already litereally hundreds of potential cable channels with broader appeal than a single-sport network that can't get any distribution on cable networks. It may be hard to believe now, but Home & Garden TV (aka porn for women) struggled for years before hitting it big over the past two years. The Tennis Channel already has run into these problems. Getting back to ESPN2, all I can say is "good for them." If they think they can make more money showing reruns of the World's Strongest Man, then go for it. That's what a free market is all about. Sachin
Re: Re: I can see it now... You didn't. I think Garber said it in one article and I heard it myself from someone connected to the league. So it's not fiction. But what I think where some of the sarcasm comes from (I'm just guessing here) is that MLS should do a channel for altruistic reasons and not financial ones. I am a big supporter of the concept of MLSTV. But it should be because it provides a revenue source and raises the profile of the league. It should not be simply because other entities don't show soccer.
Uh, there's this channel called Fox Sports World. It more than covers soccer adequately. And if you don't have it, you can get it by getting a dish.
Oh Yes, I have ESPN for latin america and is the best, you have such a great program as "SImplemente futbol" dedicated to all about football, also have Champion leagues magazine, Spanish La Liga coverage, Western Union World Football program each week ¡It´s great! PS Comcast Sucks and ESPN [/B][/QUOTE]
Or, rightly, those of us who enjoy watching both won't get to see CL. Please don't start a meaningless Eurosnob argument in here, Andy.
As much as this decision sucks, it just means that more and more people or going to have to buy a dish or get digital cable to see the programs that they want, which is the direction most cable systems are moving anyway. We are paying the price for overspeculation and the huge bidding wars for TV rights that characterized the 1990's. Now we will have to pay to watch what we want, which isn't so bad, if you really want it. I don't see it getting any better, but at least ESPN hasn't completely thrown in the towel on major team sports and is now bidding on the World Curling Championships (NBC). We still have the MLS for now. Direct TV Para Todos seems like a better buy as time goes by and may soon become a necessary purchase for any devoted fan of leagues outside of the MLS. I hope that ESPN would still consider carrying the semifinals and finals of the Champs League. I'd like to know what the ratings have been for the semis and final, they would certainly outdraw World's Strongest Freaks any day, any time.
Can anyone find a link which actually says this is going to happen. Even Ollie doesn't have the speculation on his page anymore. Bueller? Bueller?
Harkes: This is the true story (cue picture of John lifting MLS Cup) Preki: of seven soccer players (cue video of a cutback and left-footed shot) Albright: Picked to live in a house (video of shot going wide) Ruiz: Y tenga sus vidas grabadas (video of Carlos diving) Franchino: To find out what happens when people stop being polite (video of Joey clotheslining someone) Mathis: And start getting real (video of Clint with a Bd Light and a smoke) Meola (with a mouth full of donuts): The Real World
I'm big on MLS trying to please us fans that truly care about the game and not always ignore us trying to cater to people who don't give a crap. However, I still understand that the general public needs to have more exposure to MLS and they are needed for this league to succeed. So how would going away from all the cable channels and creating your own soccer channel that only the diehards would buy be helping the league at all except pleasing the true fans who buy it with more games? I personally can't afford to get dish to get these other soccer channels so this situation sort of sucks for me.