As you may have seen from some of my other messages, I'm moving from North London to Malibu in the next few weeks. It sucks that I have to give up my season ticket at Highbury, but it will be great to be on the beach and in the sunshine. Anyway, I need some advice on a few things... What TV service should I get? As you can imagine, my top priority is getting the most football possible. I think that Charter Cable is the provider in that area, and their digital service includes FSW. I'm figuring on cable since I need high-speed internet for my work. Does anyone have any insights to Charter's service? Do they have all the EPL PPV games? Also, I see there are numerous satellite providers in the US (we only have Sky here in the UK). Any opinions on whether I should be getting cable or satellite? Any comments on HDTV? Any good football pubs in the Malibu/LA area? The only footie pub I've been to in SoCal is the Press Room in Santa Barbara. It's great that they open for all the games (even at 4am), but it's a bit of drive from Malibu. Anybody know of anything a bit closer? Are there any active local Arsenal supporter groups? Half the fun of watching football is watching it with other supporters. None of my mates will be interested in 7am Saturday get togethers, but I was hoping that there were some footy mad folks out there. Any other football related tips relating to living in SoCal?
Malibu is definitely going to be a step up on the weather front... I'm in Seattle, myself...but I have to give my endorsement for DirecTV--especially the DirecTV with Tivo receivers. Being able to record two shows simultaneous is pretty brilliant. And it's especially terrific out on this coast where the games sometimes start at 4:30am. It comes ready to store up to 35 hours...but with a little bit of computer know how you can even quadruple that. Cable has competing DVRs (much like the Sky one)...but with the exception of this new Moxio brand that is in a few test markets, Tivo blows em away. http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/imagine/TIVO.dsp You won't have access to Gol TV...which has La Liga and apparently scored the Amsterdam tournament...but you'll be able to get Fox Sports World, the EPL PPV package, blah blah. Hopefully Gol TV might be addred next season. And I must note that DirecTV had no troubles with the penalty shootout in the England v. Portugal game.... I'm capable of talking TV....but I'll let someone else address the specific So. Cal. questions.
Welcome to the left coast VVV. You may miss your season ticket, but I think you'll like the SoCal weather. I also endorse DirecTV with the TiVo option. Records every Arsenal game automatically for me. A few other resources: * soccertv.com: Oliver Tse's web site has good listings of all soccer broadcasts on any channel in North America. * socceraudio.com: likewise listings of webcasts available. * http://seattlepitch.tripod.com/publist/: listing of pubs that show games. * arsenalamerica.com: you probably know this one One more thing. Prepare to be dissapointed by Champions League coverage in the States. We only get 1 game per matchday on ESPN. Most, by not all, Arsenal CL games are carried on Setanta PPV, so you can see in your local pub.
I have Charter and isn't a big fan. From all I've heard, the DirecTivo combination would be a great way to go (with DSL for your broadband - I'd check with http://www.dslreports.com/ for possible choices). Particularly, if they have some type of footie package like they do with baseball. There was a thread here a bit ago about a pub where folks tend to watch games. Sorry I can't recall the thread now. If I recall correctly, that one is much closer to you than Santa Barbara. I haven't been able to come up with a place for myself in the Long Beach area yet. Welcome to Southern California, by the way. It's great to finally have someone here be nearby.
Obviously I don't live in California, but the best place to watch football in Los Angeles is at The Fox & Hounds pub, 11000 Ventura Blvd in Studio City. The owner Gary Richards used to play for QPR, Marlow Town and Wycombe Wanderers in the 80's. He always gets the games on...be it Premier League, Serie A, La Liga. Ive got friends in Beverly Hills, and they sometimes go to watch fooball here. (Unfortunatly they're not Arsenal fans). Otherwise there is a mad Arsenal fan called Dave Przybylinski, on this board under his surname. He lives in Oceanside, if you ever happen to meet up with him for a game, please buy him a pint from me.......
Yes, Dtv with Tivo is your best bet, but if you want GolTV, you've gotta go for Dish Network, they also offer a built in DVR. The interface isn't quite as pretty or user friendly, but if you want Serie A and La Liga, it's the only game in town. The Fox and Hounds is awesome as well, plenty of Gooners to enjoy early games with.
Visit Setanta.com and click on TV Schedule. Then click on North American Venues and key in you zip code. Follow up with the locations as you see fit. Alternatively, you can visit foxsportsworld.com and scroll through the pub guide. I think soccertv.com also has a section on soccer friendly pubs. I am sure that you will find something.
Thanks Rick I can always use a good pint. You will want to go with DirecTV or one of the satellite providers in order to get the EPL package. FSW will certainly have most of the games on. With digital cable you can get the ones not televised on Pay-Per-View. Remember that a 12pm game will be on at 4am our time and the typical game will start at 7am or close to that. It's good and bad the good is you still have the whole day to do stuff, the bad is you will be exhausted. We'll locate some local pubs for you as well. Malibu isn't too far from LA, but depending on traffic it can take some time to get there. If you come down towards San Diego I certainly will show you around and even take you surfing if you're up for it. I hope you didn't give up the season ticket and only passed it on to someone like Rick or others who can certainly find takers for each game. I will see about Pubs and other info for you. If you want to take in an LA Galaxy game just to see what the MLS is about, I have season tickets and you can come to any of the games you'd like. My wife won't mind staying home. David P.
Based on the repsonses, I guess that going for satellite is the play over digital cable. Looks like DirecTV/Tivo is the preferred choice and that you all seem pretty happy with that combo for catching the most footie. Is Dish Network even a consideration (even with GolTV)? I'll be setting up a killer home theater in my new beach pad in Malibu, so maybe I'll have to arrange some early Saturday morning Arsenal beach parties. It won't be the same as being at Highbury, but it will have it's advantages. Thanks all for the help.
You should consider but for me I just find from pure TV watching role DirecTV w/ Tivo is far better then DISH. DISH does have a DVR that is more like a digital VCR so it lacks intelligence. I do wish DirecTV did have GolTV but I am not sure how much I would watch it. I don't have time to follow the other leagues that close to watch the games but you might want that. Plus I don't speak Spanish so any thing that was not a game would not be much use to me.
Actually, you can do some pretty good searches with the DISH DVR. I've had mine for a year and a half, and I couldn't live without it. GOL TV is an excellent option, which DirecTV doesn't have, plus with DISH your receivers do not need to be connected to a phone line, even the one with the DVR. It's very convenient if you decide to move a TV where there isn't a phone jack within 20 feet or so. DirecTV is just anal about the phone thing.
I would suggest the ******** & Bull Pub on Lincoln Ave. in Santa Monica. It is more convenient from Malibu, carries all available games, decent fry-up and always full of supporters. Likely to meet a fair number of gooners there. (btw, the BS censoring feature will not allow me to use the first name of the pub. suffice to say it starts with a C, rhymes with mock and is another name for a rooster. whatevs.)
You don't need a phone line for DirecTV after the initial setup so that is not really an issue. Tivo will remind you every once in a while if you don't call after X days but it never disables anything. I don't have mine connected, just do when I know there is an update. When you say "searches" what do you mean? With Tivo if say Friends which, normaly was on from 7 to 7:30 was really 7 to 7:45 it would know. When Scrubs was moved from Thursday to Tuesday it knew, I did not have to change the recording. Does DISH do that yet? (I know it will someday, just not palyed with it in a while). Always looking for cheaper/better, and if DISH can deliver I will make the switch but so far in the past that has not been the case.
You can also search for pubs on my website at www.soccerbars.com. (And if you do visit one of the bars, feel free to offer a review via the feedback page on that site, as a guide to other fans).
There are 3 main places to watch games in the greater LA area. Fox and Hounds in Studio City and C**k and Bull in Santa Monica were both mentioned. They each charge $10 for most games. Cup finals and CL may be $20 however. There is a bar in Hermosa Beach called The Underground that is in its 2nd year of showing games and they do not charge a cover charge. They only carry EPL games. No sentanta games which are usually the cup games and CL games. However, Fox and Hounds and CnB carry all of them. For atmosphere. C**k 'n Bull is probably the best and Fox and Hounds a fairly close 2nd. Gary at the Fox and Hounds is an ardent Arsenal supporter. The added benefit of his place is he also carries la Liga games as there are a number of Real Madrid and Barca fans that go the bar. Fox Sports World is a must. Sometimes games are shown or rebroadcast on Fox Sports Espanol as well. There is also a nationwide radio football show. Type in key word World Soccer Weekly. You can listen via internet Monday nights and Wednesday mornings and the pair, Nick and Steve (Liverpool and Chelsea fans, and English) will also have a show on Fox Sports World on Fridays in a few weeks. C**k and Bull is the closest to Malibu.
This is a bit south, but I recommend it, because it's always filled with ex-pats - http://www.britishdominionsocialclub.org/They even used to allow smoking when I lived there, because it's a private club (even after the smoking ban went into effect), so beware or enjoy - depending on how you feel about that....
thanks, I didn't know there was a place in Garden Grove. I was dating a girl down that way and she used to get pissed off my having to leave at 5:30 AM or 6Am to catch the live 7AM games in LA. But you said its a private club? So can someone off the street just go in or do you have to apply for membership first? Maybe I should read the website but I'll admit I'm being lazy.
$3 for matches if you join their football viewing club $10 if you walk in from the street Everybody is welcome.......