Did anyone else get the ESPN FanZone survey abour pro soccer? It looks as if they've decided to actually do more international soccer programming. If you're a FanZone member, be sure to let them know what you want!
=( I just don't watch espn anymore...i get my champions league football on korean webcasts now for free=)
the quality of those korean webcasts is amazing... i felt like i was cheating my work by watching manyoo scrape out that win vs 'gers... i recommend everyone to use those links~
=) ahh ....i see i am not the only one who has tried out the korean webcasts. I was skeptical at first. NOw if they will only show Arsenal then the world would be fine.
Re: =) So Arsenal is getting shafted in Korea as well? *L* The ESPN questions seemed to indicate (to me, anyway) that they are considering some kind of PPV package for European matches, which I would be all over. How hard would it be for them to pull an English language feed from whatever broadcasting companies are already doing a game, and beaming it back for the US? I mean, a CL PPV package? I'd be all over that! It would be better if I could go a la carte and just get the Arsenal matches, but if I had to pay for the whole thing it might be worth it if I knew that I would get every Arsenal CL match, you know?
For Real Madrid CL broadcasts the link is "Turn on your TV to the ESPN2 CL coverage and find that *gasp* Real is on AGAIN!!!"
=) Where the heck did that real madrid fan come from .....I agree with "coach"..go watch espn..since it has become real tv!
Re: Re: =) Sky Sports in England cover every Champions League game live. You would have thought that some US broadcasters would be able to offer the same kind of coverage. Especially since Fox is part of the Murdoch empire too!
Back to the thread. . . If you think ESPN is fixing to get serious about real football, you are right. Their own, extensive internal research shows that the core audience, M 18-34, is watching and paying attention to soccer, more than ever. That attention is drawn mostly to EPL, but is also being grabed by MLS. Take a look at the crowd at the recent Fire games and you see the shift taking place from Suburban families, to Young men 18-34. What really gets ESPN juices flowing is that the demographic is pan racial and pan ethnic. It is grabbing bunches of Hispanic, along with Ethnic White, but also is now bringing in Afro American. MLS has a huge advantage over EPL and the Euro leagues by being able to showcase American players, and those include Afro-American players like Beez, Cobi, and Big Zak. They would do well to make sure they get as much face time as Donovan and McBride. Bottom line, the future of soccer on American TV is all upside. Advertisers love it because it offers the most bang for the buck. Up to now NASCAR enjoyed the same dynamic, but it is becoming too expensive, and advertisers are looking for an alternative. Prediction: There will be an All-Soccer channel, soon.
Re: Re: Is ESPN actually listening? There already is: GolTV. I was wondering if everyone got that Soccer-Specific FanZone survey or if it was just those of us who are somehow tagged as soccer fans?