I don't care where it is, as long as it's somewhere I can get it. BeIN (which I get through Fanatiz) was fine, ESPN+/ESPN Deportes will also be fine. My dad is not currently an ESPN+ subscriber (he's one of the few that can actually get BeIN through his cable with Spectrum), but I suspect he will be for La Liga now.
Mainly glad La Liga is off a service which 1) never showed the early Saturday & Sunday matches on its main channel (unless one of the big 3 was playing), sticking them on Xtra or Connect 2) didn't offer any kind of on-demand viewing of replays (at least until very recently on Connect when they go back a couple of days on a few select matches), necessitating a subscription to Sling or Fubo to be able to watch via DVR/on demand 3) often relegated matches to 90 in 30 4) employed clowns like Ray Hudson to call their matches (ESPN has its own clowns like Mark Donaldson but at least it'll likely be limited to one match a week) 5) took up most of the upper corner of the screen with some stupid countdown clock to whatever match or league return it decided to hype 6) and ran a g-damned ticker along the bottom of replays and delayed-broadcast matches WHICH SPOILED THE MATCH YOU WERE WATCHING I for one welcome our new ESPN overlords.
I also wonder what ESPN is going to do with LaLigaTV. I hope they keep it as an alternative to get the world feed announcers on whatever matches they show on their linear channels (or when they put their own people on a match behind the paywall). My main concern is that they won't archive it since it's 24/7 programming.
Oh, and in NUMBERS news.. brace yourself. LaLiga's eight year deal with ESPN is worth... $1.4 BILLION dollars. That's $175 million a year, or currently almost $10 million more than the English Premier League is getting from NBC on a year to year basis. My reaction: Holy shit, the rights train money isn't stopping after all. I think we all thought with the pandemic and digital encroaching, the exponential growth of Soccer rights would slow down. Nope. CHOO CHOO, motherforkers. If LaLiga gets 175 million a year, what is the EPL worth? $250 Million? https://awfulannouncing.com/soccer/...1-4-billion-taking-over-from-bein-sports.html
So how much of La Liga will be shown on ESPN Deportes? ¡Tenemos grandes noticias! ESPN Deportes es la nueva casa de @LaLiga No es soccer, es #LaLigaAmerica 🇺🇸 ⚽ 😎 pic.twitter.com/6DaiSSUo2y— ESPN Deportes (@ESPNDeportes) May 13, 2021
The World Soccer Talk article today seems to imply that all La Liga matches will be shown on ESPN+ -- like what they have done with the Bundesliga. This is great as someone who does not have a ESPN/ESPN2 subscription. It has been annoying when you want to watch a Serie A match that is being shown on the cable channels and then not being able to have access (even the replay). Hopefully this will be the case: every La LIga match available on ESPN +
An article on the main ESPN page yesterday stated that every La Liga game will be shown live on ESPN+. That’s great news. Paying for streaming is cheaper than paying for cable tv if one is not interested in anything else on cable tv.
Does anyone know if the Eredivisie Pro/Rel playoffs are going to be shown? The Eerste Divisie teams are playing tomorrow in the quarterfinals but they are not listed on the ESPN+ app. Also, any word on if they are going to show the European Conference League playoffs?
https://www.espn.com/watch/schedule/_/type/upcoming/categoryId/119cfa41-71d4-39bf-a790-6273a52b0259 and related pages for May 20 and 23 do not list the Eredividie Pro/Rel playoffs.
Thanks for that. I also didn't see the Bundesliga pro/rel playoffs (26 & 29 May) on there which seems crazy since they broadcast 2 Bundesliga.
The Bundesliga playoff will guaranteed show up on there. Probably have to wait until they know who’s actually playing in it before they post it on the schedule.
I’m hoping getting La Liga won’t mean Salazar and Moreno calling games. They are fine for studio work but having them call games is not something I look forward to. I did not like it in copa del rey.
I hope so. I only brought it up because all of the English playoff dates (including the Wembley finals) are already on that schedule even without the teams yet to be determined.
Euro Commentator News: https://worldsoccertalk.com/2021/05...ture-jon-champion-and-ian-darke-among-others/
That bodes well for the quality of coverage we can expect. Doubt they would pay that much just to throw 10 games on streaming every week. Hoping for high quality pre- and post-match shows.
Very underwhelming. I hate when an analyst was never involved in a competition. Twellman never played in a European Championship. No point in him being with Champion (who is outstanding). I mean this obviously beats the garbage Fox gave us for the World Cup but still, Espn has done way better in the past.
An incoherent baby is better than Gus Johnson. The sad thing is that a lot of NCAA fans say he's good because he brings the excitement to the viewer. His terrible soccer coverage ruined him for me.
I thought he'd been put out to pasture, soccer-wise. He was really bad several years ago for whatever footy they had him calling back then. If he's continued to call soccer since then, has he not improved even a little?