...suddenly; no TV for the Jamaica match? ...i thought ESPN2 had this one live; wtf? its sad that we have to beg for TV coverage of the National team.
It was never official. Once they set up the Agrie game, the jamaica game disappeared from the planning schedule. If it were home - like Canada - there would be no excuse. But away games have regularly been an issue. So I don't know how much is the USSF/Disney's fault and how much is the Jamaicans. And TV problems aren't unique to the US. All of Ireland's games are on PPV now.
We only got the away qualifiers this past go round. Away matches, especially friendlies early in the cycle, have never been on TV.
...i know i watched some away friendlies, one against Belgium on Fox and one against Russia on PPV; but anyway its a CONCACAF foe; AT LEAST TAPE DELAY for the Jamaica match, and i for one think PPV is acceptable too!
We could still hear a PPV announcement about the Jamaica game it definitely isn't out of the realm of possibility.
A question for you media experts: Is picking up an away friendly something that is beyond the scope of say, Fox Sports World? Is there any chance they might try to pony up for these kind of matches in an attempt to compete with the indifferent Mouse? Someone page Rupert on this...
My understanding is that only ESPN/ABC have rights to broadcast US games in english. It's an exclusive contract, so contracts would have to be changed before FSW showed any US games. That's my understanding anyway.
no true really...well sorta true... fsw has shown gold cup matches in the past that have included the us national team, and they are supposedly showing the usa/canada match tape-delayed. not sure how it works, but i know that FSW has shown numerous us matches over the last few years...so realistically they may be able to get the jamaica coverage of the match and then show it on tape-delay with a voice-over on the play-by-play by bretos or hopkins.
The game may, and likely will, still be on ESPN/ESPN2 and they may have decided, because of some conflict that has arisen, to seek a tape delay slot and that time has not been decided yet. I got info from inside US Soccer that the only friendly that would not be on ESPN/ESPN2 would be the Canada match and that was something to count on. We will just have to wait a bit and see.
The game just got moved to 7 p.m. to allow more Jamiacans to attend. ACC Hoops on ESPN and NHL on ESPN2 at that time, so tape-delay would be our best bet, I would assume. http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/columnists/sfl-tino12jan12,0,7688661.column?coll=sfla-sports-col See bottom of article.
In the past Radio Jamaica has regularly carried broadcasts and webcasts of their national team (and of course it is in English). The commentators are, in my opinion, the best west of the UK. I have read that the Jamaican federation has been suffering major economic problems, and are in a state of disarray, having failed to live up to the success associated with the 1998 World Cup, so it is possible that even their broadcasting arrangements have collapsed, but most likely we will be able to listen to quality live audio coverage. The feeds from Radio Jamaica have historically been pretty high quality MP3/Shout! rather than RealOne or WindowsMedia. If available, you will be able to link from our site. http://www.socceraudio.com/other.htm#Jamaica
....yeah i listened to Radio Jamaica for a USA friendly a few years ago, the one where Chris Albright scored a late equalizer on his first USMNT touch. The Announcer WERE top notch!!! I am hoping for PPV and/or tape delay too.
I remember listening to that match as well. The match announcers were good and the sounds from the crowd were fun to listen to as well. I'll definately be listening again if that is the only option, but let's hope it shows up on television sometime!
now that the Canada friendly is history; i hope we get info on live or tape-delay coverage of this match; PPV would be fine by me!
It is very sad the the US Soccer Fed does not have the national team matches shown on US TV. I hope they can do a better jobs. (Are you listening, the president of the federation?) In the worst case, they should have it on PPV.
do you think espn will consider to air the game on the last minute? one or two days prior to the game.
This is an away game. It is not always the USSF's fault when there are problems broadcasting away games. I don't know if that is the case now, but it's very important to know where to point fingers before you do so. Given that the Jamicans just changed the date a week ago, how would you feel if the USSF had worked hard to get the game on in the afternoon, then not been able to change their plans when the kickoff was moved to the evening? Do you have any clue of the ratings fishing gets? Three to four times what Soccer Saturday gets and just about 100,000 shy of what MLS Cup got. Plus, ESPN owns BASS, so they are pushing their own product, not someone else's. When they are getting 700,000 people per week to watch it, they have kind of earned the right to put it on ahead of other things. And guess what women's billiards gets? They averaged a .53 for their ESPN broadcasts. The highest rating for MLS last year on cable was a .31. It's easy to blame when you don't have the facts. I would love to see this game on TV as much as anyone, but the ratings soccer has drawn, the fact that it's an away game and the busy soccer schedule this year might make this game a non-starter. After all, when the Fed decides to spend it's TV money, they might not be able to get eberything on TV. Maybe they'd rather buy time for the Confed Cup or a higher profile game than a midweek game with Jamiaca.
.....sounds more and more like PPV for this match, which is fine by me....i paid $20 for the Canada match, i'll pay the same for this one too!!!
...suddenly; no TV for the Jamaica match? cmon, f*** ppv, this is our country, we live in it and damnit show us in an event where a sport representing the US play in another country. look, 20 bucks is 20 bucks dont settle for something that should be given free in the first place (how do you expect Jack Edwards on TV again)
Thanks for the facts about what MLS draws relative to other "sports" on ESPN. But do you have any figures for comparable USMNT friendlies on ESPN? It seems to me those would be the more germane figures, but AFAIK they could draw as poorly as MLS.
Non World CUP / Brazil / Euro, similar to MLS #'s. ie Jamaica is not a big draw. A quick rant here, but why does it take BS members so long to figure out that soccer ratings (ex World Cup) still stink! When they don't stink, ESPN will show more games! Every MLS game is a time share buy bought by SUM! ESPN has no economic interest. ESPN is a network that is out to make money, something that is not capable on a rating of .31 or less!!!!!!! Yes MLS cup was a success, but we still have a long way to go.