How much longer does GolTV have the rights to La Liga? I seem to remember Oliver mentioning that GolTV had the rights for two more years. Is this correct Oliver? Or are the right still being worked out?
Oliver hasn't posted anything to the contrary, so I assume this is true. Gol TV needs La Liga because it sells subscriptions.
I hope so. The season starts later than the EPL, so we might have to wait until the season is closer.
Yes indeed, we have it for at least 2 more years, 2004/2005 and 2005/2006. And obviously with expectations of renewing it. Cheers, Constantino GolTV, Inc.
Great to hear. Last year was my first chance to watch La Liga consistently. One thing I was wondering about though. Is there any chance that GolTV might show more matches featuring the 2nd tier teams like Atletico Madrid and Sevilla? I understand that Real and Barca have the largest international following but my favorite part of the Spanish league is the incredible depth of skilled players and only getting a few chances to see guys like Fernando Torres a few times a year frustrating.
That's why Goltv sucks. They monopolize the rights of La Liga in the U.S., but do not show all the games. I mean, they don't show the matchups like Sevilla x A. Madrid, but since they own the exclusive rights, they prevent any other carriers from showing it. They buy the rights, but do not show the games. As long as there are games that they buy but do not show, this is true. Does this sound familiar?
Its not like there is massive demand for La Liga in the U.S. unfortunately. If GolTV didn't cary the games they'd probably be on ESPN Deportes or FSW, neither one of which would provide the same level of coverage. So GolTV is a very good thing for American fans, I just think they could spread the coverage around some.
You mean like what FSW does with anything Man U, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and Newcastle matches? You mean like what Setanta has done tying up the rights to the SPL? You mean like what ESPN does with their one-match-per-matchday Champions League? To be honest we get like four La Liga matches each week and Barca and Real can't play in all four. I thought we got a good variety of La Liga matches from GolTV and the same for Serie A, too.
I seriously and respectfully take note of your comments. I, more than anyone else, understand how passionate people are about soccer. Although I directly decide about GolTV's programming, can't always show my beloved Peñarol. We've been showing 3 to 4 La Liga games each week. Moreover, one week we showed up to 7. Usually, 3 go in any given weekend. To pinpoint what I think is the cause of you comment, there are usually 2 issues. a) The most obivous, is that in a soccer network (or any sports network I guess), there is a balancing that must be done with the content. Some viewers may want other leagues, and in fact they do. Also, most games are played on the same day (Sat. or Sun.) and usually in a rather small period of time. b) Even if there were enough space in a network's grid, there is a cost issue. A network pays an amount for the rights, but there is also the production costs. This includes the transportation from the source (signal generation, uplink, satellite space, downlink), and the in house production (staff, voice overs, edits, graphics, etc.) For example, the official provider of La Liga, usually beam up to the satellite the 4 main or most important games. To get others, one needs to contract "ocassional" satellite space, which renders the game production much more expensive. Good news is that with the advance in technology and digital signals, it's getting closer to the day when it'll be cheap enough to bring from Europe a bunch of games and to be able to deliver them on demand to viewers home. Most obvious example is plain internet-streaming. With convergence and a few more years and bandwidth, you should be able to contract a Spanish Passport, or Italian Passport, and watch whatever match you want. We have a project like that on the table, but it's a bit premature right now to implement it, I don't see this happening for at least 12 more months. Constantino GolTV, Inc.
The question is, why doesn't GolTV let other carriers (Fox Sports Espanol, Univision, etc.) carry the la Liga games outside of the 3-4 that you guys carry each week? In other words, you don't carry the Sevilla x Atletico Madrid, yet you don't let the other carriers show that game, why? The fact is, there is no way you are going to show every game of la Liga in the U.S.A. As long as you get the exclusive rights but you don't show every game, while your exclusive rights prevent other carrier from showing them, you are every bit as guilty as what the whiners have accused ESPN of doing. A little bit of history: in the past 6 months, some whiners in the UEFA forum have been whining about ESPN2's coverage of the Champions League. The whining is mainly about: 1) ESPN gets the exclusive rights of the CL in the USA 2) ESPN deliberately does not show the games 3) Since (2), ESPN does not let other carriers to show the games Of course (2) is not a true statement. ESPN2 shows 14-16 games per season. And even if (big IF) (2) is true, (3) is not true either. The other games are forked over to Setanta and ESPN Deportes. Of course, what the whiners mean is really: Since ESPN gets CL's exclusive rights in the USA, but they show only 1 game per match day. They don't show the other 7-15 games, but don't let a channel that these whiners have on their basic/digital cable package (e.g. Fox Sports World, NBC, TNT, etc.) to show them. Of course, since Setanta is close-circuit, while ESPN Deportes is not widely available, they don't count. The rebuttal to this type of insane whining is basically what Kevruth said in this post: "You mean like what FSW does with anything Man U, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and Newcastle matches? You mean like what Setanta has done tying up the rights to the SPL? You mean like what ESPN does with their one-match-per-matchday Champions League?" Basically, every carrier that holds an exclusive rights of an event does the same thing: skip some of the games and do NOT let other carriers show them. THAT'S WHAT EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS ARE ABOUT!!!!! FSW is guilty of that, Fox Sports Espanol is guilty of that, GolTV is guilty of that. No matter how Constantino tries to justify, GolTV is not going to show every la Liga game, so your la Liga coverage fits into the same mode of CL coverage on ESPN2: you own the exclusive rights, do not show some of the games, but prevent other carriers from showing them. These whiners basically are shooting blanks by blasting what is essentially the definition of exclusive rights.
I think there is somewhat of a difference here, though, Rangers. GOL couldn't possibly show all games, since many are concurrent. Yes, the same can be said about ESPN's CL coverage, but they don't even attempt to maximize the number of matches they broadcast. ESPN simply broadcasts the very minimum allowed in their contract with UEFA. GOL doesn't do this, they show several, and they try to pick the best matchups. They'd have to be moronic to give other broadcasters rights to La Liga games, particularly ones that run concurrent to the games they are broadcasting, since it would only cut into their viewership. But ESPN doesn't need to do this to show more CL games, they just need to broadcast other games on other matchdays.....but they don't. I think there is a difference.
I am not a La Liga or Serie A die hard, but I think GolTV does a very good job. The fact that they show live matches most all day on Saturday and Sunday is great! I am more of a Premiership fan, but GolTV does a much better job with showing Live soccer than FSW does. I wish I could see the EPL the way GolTV shows La Liga and Serie A. Look, we live in America, or most of us do. We should be lucky we do not have to pay crazy amounts of cash to watch the La Liga games. GolTV should keep up the good work.
You don't think GolTV broadcast all the games available on each timeslots? do you? There are at least 4-5 timeslots on each la Liga weekend (2 on Saturday, 2-3 on Sunday), and don't forget, GoltV doesn't televise all the la Liga games live, because they have to televise Serie A games too... Even when DirecTV Latin America, and later DirecTV Para Todos, broadcasted the full package la Liga a few years ago, they didn't do all the games live. At least 5-6 games were on delay. In other words, this is a poor excuse to defend Goltv while they commit the same sin as ESPN2. You mention ESPN2 televise the minimum (of CL) while GolTV televise several. That defense doesn't get GOlTV off the hook. As long as there are games that they own the rights but skip, they are every bit as guilty. Whatever being accused of ESPN also applies to Goltv. And as far as sublicensing the rights of the games to other carriers. ESPN does even better than GolTV, because they sublicense the games to Setanta, and that's where they make the real money out of the contract, instead of relying on ad revenue on ESPN2. As far as ESPN2 doesn't broadcast the CL on the other match day, how is it different from Goltv doesn't broadcast the la Liga games during some of the live la Liga timeslots?
Its different because they don't broadcast the very minimum on a non-PPV outlet. Honestly, Rangers, I know you know the difference you are just being stubborn to make a point, which is fine, but don't tell me you don't see the difference.
I don't care about that difference. Because I accuse Goltv of not televising the games and do not let other outlet to televise. This is the same accusation that the whiners accuse ESPN2 of. Here, there is no quantification of "the games". So as long as there is ONE game that GoltV owns the rights, do not televise, and do not let other carriers to televise, they commit the same sin...
jeez... want more spanish soccer? go to spain! you're lucky you even get any! GolTV's aim is to bring the biggest variety of soccer to america that they can. they have italian, spanish, mexican, guatemalen, honduran, bolivian, uefa cup, amsterdam preseason tournament, etc... Plus all the news and informational programming. This is SO much more soccer than 4 EPL, 2 German, 2 french and 5 billion infomercials a week. GolTV is doing what they can with the time given to them. There is simply more demand for Real and Barca games than there is for sevilla and atletico. GolTV needs to do what attracts the most viewers for their few slots. Also what you may be overlooking is that the only reason GolTV has exclusive rights is because no one else bought them. La Liga may have offered rights for only portions of the season, but that is doubtful. and if another network were to offer GolTV enough money to carry the matches that are not currently carried by them I doubt they would say no, but no one else is interested. The are not out to "keep you from seeing second teir spanish sides". They are in it to make money by showing the largest variety of soccer currently available in the states, and are doing a DAMN good job. [hint]I personally love GolTV, and would love to wear an official GolTV T-shirt to prove it [/hint] Keep up the excellent work Constantino!
Geez, what a relevation!!! Tell me which one of these is not true? 1) ESPN has the American exclusive rights of Champions League because no one else bought them... 2) If another network were to offer ESPN enough money to carry the (Champions League) matches that are not currently carried by them I doubt they would say no. As a matter of fact, that's what Setanta, the Greek channel (Antenna Satellite) and Israeli channel have been doing. 3) ESPN is in it to make money by showing the largest variety of sports to the American audience, and are doing a DAMN good job. As a matter of fact, they are doing a damn good job making money just by owning the CL rights in the U.S.A. See, whoever tries to defend Goltv's coverage of la Liga, the same reasoning can be used to rebute the bashing of ESPN's coverage of the Champions League (from three particular whiners: BocaFan, MiamiAce and Kotto Bass). You guys are really doing a good job of thinking of the reasons to shut up these whiners.
I don;t find what ESPN does with champion's league to be such a travesty. contrary to most people here's beliefs, ESPN is not out to get soccer. soccer simply is not as much of a moneymaker as "world's strongest man" competitions, plain and simple. soccer is still mostly a fringe sport so the networks try and make money where they can. About the only soccer ESPN is interested in carrying is the world cup. but they have to carry MLS because of SUM. the minimal amount of soccer they have is because they have to have some to be able to get access to the world cup. but come on people. they are trying to make money. if it makes more money sense to show 1 champion's league game rather than 16 then that's what they are gonna do. Now, i think it would be great if they showed all of the games but there truly is not that big of an audience for it. Real, Man U, Arsenal, Barcelona, Ajax, and chelsea are just about the only teams that are worth showing on american tv because they are the only teams that will grab a good amount of viewers and therefore sell ad space. sure we love soccer, and the networks may employ people that love soccer too, but for the most part, it's all about money and what will make them the most. that's the world we live in so why whine about it?
I think where Rangers is missing the point is that the rights package offered GolTV was for only four matches per round, not every match. They only receive the matches that are offered in that package. It's like the previous Premiership package. It didn't include all 380 matches, only 185 and then only the ones offered by the league. Lest we forget that two seasons ago ESPN had the package and off-loaded the worst available match in the package to FSW only because ESPN needed to recoup money from something they weren't showing anyway. GolTV can only air what is given to them and that there is only one La Liga package available. They don't hold back and show everything. Don't be mad at GolTV. Be mad at La Liga for not offering additional match packages to North America like the Premiership has finally done.
As Constantino noted, one weekend they offered as many as 7 la Liga matches: "Moreover, one week we showed up to 7." So I don't think they have a limit on the # matches. Absolutely false. ESPN has never offloaded the Champions League proper to Fox Sports World. As far as I know, among American channels, only Setanta and Israeli Channel has televised the CL in recent years. Starting last season, ESPN has started an ethnic targeting model, by offloading the relevant teams to the ethnic channels (e.g. Greek teams, Turkish teams), but I don't know whether the games actually appeared on the Greek/Turkish channels. What you have seen on FSW were the Champions League qualifying round, games that do not belong in the ESPN contract. Champions League qualifying belong to the clubs themselves and FSW negotiated directly with the clubs.
I think kevruth was referring to La Liga, which FSI DID sublicense from ESPN two seasons ago. With ESPN not yet ready to launch ESPN Deportes, the La Liga rights they held were stagnating and FSI ponied up for a "third choice" game every week. No Real Madrid or Barcelona, and rarely if ever Deportivo or Valencia. More commonly Celta Vigo (who happened to have a good season and finished fourth) and Malaga. I don't think FSI had the wherewithal to get Real and Barca without losing a ton of money. It seems clear that FSI does not want to sublicense Champions League because it's a money loser whether live or delayed. UEFA Cup games have a decent chance of featuring Celtic, Rangers, or a La Liga side, and are sold individually through agencies so they are cheaper and "less" money-losing to show.
Me bad. I never thought ESPN as the la Liga channel. I only think ESPN as the Champions League channel, thus the package meant the CL package...
Well, we do have rights for the entire package, and could show an entire round if we chose to do so. However, to show games 5, 6, 7, 8, etc. it's considerably more expensive than to show the top games. Because, for obvious reasons, those same games are equally more atractive worldwide. So, if any network in the world, wants a specific game other than the first four (and if they have the rights), they need to pay more productions costs. That's not the only reason why GolTV doesn't show more games per weekend. The most important, is programming grid balance. However, I think I understand Rangers' point, which is not why GolTV tries to balance its grid. I think the point he makes is why if we have rights for more games, we don't chose to re-sell or sub-license them. It's a good point. After all, it's like an airplane carrier. Empty seats are lost forever. (Not exactly, there's a residual value in the archive of that game). The issue is, in my humble opinion, that Fox or ESPN (or any other network) have even much more balancing and work to do than GolTV in balancing their grids. They need to decide Sevilla x Atletico against the 15th re-run of the 2003 World Poker Tournament. And I perfectly understand them. It would be easier for us to accommodate such games, not for them. In fact, on thing we have been doing since aproximately 5 months ago, is showing "Fresh" games during the week. Those are "first round" games, that's the first time they're shown in TV in USA. So, you may get 2 from Series A and 3 from La Liga during the weekend, but 2 more from each league during weekdays. But again, I think the ultimate solution is a technological one. When a technological AND commercially solution arrives (I believe technologically is here and in very very short time commercially as well), then we could show a La Liga passport, and you will log in, or order VOD, or something similar, and watch the game you want. We indeed did re-sold some games during last year to Telemundo, I recall a few Barcelona (from Spain) ones. But, as far as I've learned in the market, there's no demand for the extra games to be bought out there. Those games are MORE expensive (for the production issues I mentioned), so you can imagine that they are even less feasible of being "balanced" against x-games, strongest man, etc. Last, but not least, GolTV is still a startup. We reach shy of 5 mill. subs, and we are very possitive of achieving 8 mill. by year end. But until we reach 15 mill. or 20 mill., one of our most important "sales pitch and marketing" assets is that we have such fantastic Leagues. In case (very improbable) that another network could "balance" their grids, and show interest in the 4th game of La Liga, AND in case they could make money with it (even more improbable), I'm not sure it would be wise for GolTV to sublicense that game, until the amount of subs GolTV and the sub-licensing network have are similar. And today, we are very concious that we are still a very small network, and, an independent one. Hope it helps, and that you didn't sleep halfway of my post. Constantino GolTV, Inc.