Breaking some news here - exclusive for my site!! Noticed that WatchESPN site is listing the UEFA Champions League Playoff Round and Matchday matches for ESPN Deportes. This, of course, coming on the heels of FOX and ESPN joining together for the EURO/FIFA qualifying properties; MLS/US Soccer matches; and for the past 2 season the Europa League. Hope you like the little blog: http://soccertvblog.com/champions-league-to-espn/ SA
I would caution that right now, the WatchESPN link is listing spanish language only.. this may just be a sublicense of spanish language.. there's no news stories out there that would indicate a bigger share (and this would be a pretty big story)
Would be good to see ESPN gain back English language rights in the US. With the cuts happening around at ESPN International which was very noticeable last session it would guarantee that they would start to pump a few more dollars into their English language production
100% agree. Amidst my continued disappointment that Spanish language channels love the 90in60 and 90in30 model for showing matches (and Fox Deportes continues to edit every single delayed Libertadores and Sudamericana match), I can't figure out why these channels can make better use of SAP to actually show more games. For example, there is no reason to air the same CL match on Fox Sports and Fox Deportes. Use dual language graphics and SAP and then show other games on Deportes (e.g., CONMEBOL club games), which could also take the same approach or just air with Spanish commentary. Tied to my comment above about editing game, I hope this ESPN Deportes deal does not cut into games on DTV. ESPN Deportes has the horrible ticker (which often spoils the game that ESPN is airing on delay) and has a history of editing games.
Update: ESPN Formally announces they have exclusive spanish language rights to 72 games per year (on ESPNDeportes) and non exclusive rights to show 68 english language games (8 playoff, 60 group stage) on ESPN3 through 2017-18. http://espnmediazone.com/us/press-releases/2014/08/espn-champions-league/
ESPN Deportes presents LIVE exclusive multiplatform coverage of the Spanish Supercopa 2014. The anticipated two-legged Spanish matchup will feature two city rivals Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid. Supercopa - Leg #1 - Tuesday, August 19 - 5:00 pm ET - Santiago Bernabéu - Real Madrid. The LIVE telecast will be led by soccer experts Jorge Ramos, Hernan Pereyra and Martin Ainstein. Andres Agulla, Tato Noriega and Manu Martin will complement the coverage with studio analysis from Bristol. Fuera de Juego will provide a special one-hour post-match show. Supercopa - Leg #2 - Friday, August 22 - 4:00 pm ET - Vicente Calderón - Atlético Madrid. Jorge Ramos, Herman Pereyra will travel to call the match on-site alongside special guest Santiago Solari - who played for both Atlético Madrid and Real Madrid in Spain. Fuera de Juego will offer a 90-minute pre-match/post-match show produced from Madrid and Bristol. http://espnmediazone.com/us/press-releases/2014/08/supercopa-2014-on-espn-deportes/ http://espnmediazone.com/us/press-releases/2014/08/la-supercopa-2014-por-espn-deportes/
Articles fail to mention that the 1st leg (Tuesday) is also live on ESPN2!!! 2nd leg English coverage on espn3.com. SA www.soccertvblog.com
Probably didn't mention it because the press releases are ESPN Deportes only press releases. The title does say 2014 Supercopa on ESPN Deportes and not 2014 Supercopa on ESPN Networks.
I'm not certain which games ESPN3 streamed in the US but anyhow here is my rundown on commentators and presenters ESPN used ESPN International provided their own English commentary on 3 games Besiktas v Arsenal - Mark Donaldson and Craig Burley Maribor v Celtic - Mark Donaldson and Steve Nichole Lille v FC Porto - Adrian Healey and Paul Mariner They also provided American based host to 3 other games Flavio Pereira presented coverage of Napoli v Athletic Bilbao Mark Brown presented coverage Bucuresti v Ludogorets and Standard Liege v Zenit
For the US, the 8 playoff games would have been the two that were not shown on Fox Sports 1 (Arsenal v Bestikas and Celtic v. Maribor), these were on ESPN3 and I'm sure the same will hold true for the 2nd leg. My assumption about the group stage: There are 96 total group stage matches, 60 will be on ESPN3. Fox as the primary rights holder will get the 36 of their choosing, or 6 for each 2 day "match day" window, so Tuesday and Wednesday would probably have whichever 3 matches they'd choose. One would be on Fox Sports 1, the other on Fox Sports 2, I'm not sure what happens to the third, although in some instances they'll be able to run a double header when there are matches that start earlier in Russia, Donetsk or at BATE Borisov. If that's not available or desirable, perhaps they have another Fox property where they would plan on running the third game since NBC did well with that on the EPL final day. There's still some uncertainty about R16 since up to four matches are running simultaneously, but this still means that virtually all of the UCL matches will be available to US viewers who have access to Fox Sports1, Fox Sports 2 and WatchESPN either on TV or online (most DISH and DirecTV and millions of cable subscribers) without the monthly "Plus" package, which really encourages newer US fans to continue forming alligences with one of the big clubs.
Based on this week, one can assume that the third game in the FOX portfolio will go to Plus and the various RSNs.
Good analysis but a small correction: The Round of 16 is spread over 5-week period (1 week off in between the 2 legs) so there are only 2 matches per day. For the past 2 years, the matches have simply been on FoxSports-1 & FoxSports-2 (1 each). If ESPN is to get into the action, it will simply be a mirror of one of the matches on FS. As far as espn3 is concerned, if the Playoff Round is any indication, it is simply a mirror of the DirecTV overflow matches (channels 480-487). This really hurts DirecTV in my opinion as these were exclusive properties for them. Finally, the "loser" in all of this seems to be Fox Deportes as it seems that ESPN Deportes is getting the first choice of matches involving Spanish teams. Its safe to say that at this point we can expect the English teams to be on the 2 FoxSports channels; ESPN Deportes gets first choice Spanish team; Fox Deportes gets 2nd choice Spanish team; FoxSoccer-Plus & FoxSports Net get the best non-Spanish/non-English team match; espn3 & DirecTV get the overflow. Obviously, this is put in very general terms and the draw for the group stage will determine a lot of the details. SA www.soccertvblog.com
Yup. As I alluded to in another post, Direct TV's CL coverage was something I once envied as a Dish subscriber BUT this ESPN3/ESPN Deportes basically even things up in my mind. And the HD quality looks very good on my Xbox and Watch ESPN apps. And as I alluded to in another post I hope Fox Deportes shows more Copa Libertaores and Sudamericana matches due to all this Champions League shuffling.
If Fox was more intelligent (and that's a big "if"), they would push harder to get Fox Deportes on more carriers as an HD channel and do that by removing these repeats across channels. That is, often the match on FS+ is the same as Fox Deportes and the various RSNs. They need to follow the NBC model and the model used by BeIn last season and make Fox Deportes a "must have" by (A) adding SAP to all Fox channels and (B) then using Fox Deportes for exclusive content. Right now Fox Deportes is only useful for those who don't get the channel in HD for Libertadores/Sudamericana. And even then I often go elsewhere for those games since I can get HD. Again, NBC has been smart about their use of EPL and BeIN maximized their two stations last season (not looking the same this season). If Fox did the same thing, there might be more of an outcry among viewers for HD and SAP.
I for one don't see Fox letting them have any better than third choice probably fourth and I don't think esp sees that as viable programming especially in the fall. All nfl games must be analyzed at least fifty times before they show leverkusen v Porto.
Well if a tues or weds has 2 prem teams and any of the la liga big 3 then you have a big name in the 3rd match. This is also leaving out the big 2 from the bundesliga and psg.
I think it would be counter-productive for them to allow ESPN2 to broadcast a Big name team while they are trying to get good ratings for their Fox Networks and subscribers to their expensive streaming site. ESPN Deportes and ESPN3 makes the most sense.
Interesting I just noticed something: Did they sublicense the Europa League games to BeIN? Because I just checked Thursday games on my guide and it shows that BeIN will show Tottenham - Limassol game live. What's that about?
Europa League TV rights start with the Group Stage. This round is still on a game-by-game (by home team) system. beIN picked up the Tottenham match; ESPN Deportes will show Villareal v Astana..... SA www.soccertvblog.com
Again ESPN International provided their own English language commentary on 3 games FC Porto vs Lille - Adrain Healey and Paul Mariner Arsenal vs Besiktas - Adrian Healey and Craig Burley Bayer Leverkusen vs Kobenhaven - Ross Dyer and Steve Nichole 3 other games had American host before switching over to Sky / World Feed commentators Tommy Smyth presented coverage of Celtic vs NK Maribor Flavio Pereira presented coverage Apoel vs Aalborg & Athletic Club vs Napoli