Stop with all these crappy other 2nd rate sports. There are more than enough good futbol stories to go around. MORE FUTBOL, even if it's USL, MISL, South African league ... MORE FUTBOL!!!
It's FOX Sports World, not FOX Soccer World. I say, give us more. I want European hockey and basketball, Japanese baseball, CFL, squash, you name it.
speaking of cfl who has the U.S broadcast rights to the cfl after fsw didnt pick them up again?? -howie
"This is FOX Sports World, NOT 'FOX Sports Soccer'" - as explained to me by a former FOX Sports Int'l executive in December 1997. If anything, FOX Sports World is currently carrying too many unprofitable soccer products that have absolutely NO chance of generating any advertising revenue for the next 10 years. The "losers" include French, Dutch, and German leagues. NewsCorp uses FOX Sports World as a "tax-management" vehicle when it airs Rugby (Super 12 and Australian Rugby League), Darts (Las Vegas Classic), Curling (M&M Skins Game), Aussie Rules Football, etc. The only soccer FOX Sports World needs to buy is English Premier League, and to a lesser extent, MLS. Everything else is a waste of money. A-League and MISL pays FOX Sports World a fee of around $15000-$20000 per game for air time, so that's another source of revenue.
Another "soccer fan" advocating less soccer on TV. Brilliant. The usual lament: "It doesn't make any money." So, let's never show it and that way we can be assured it will NEVER build an audience and make money. TOTALLY BRILLIANT IDEA! Listen, soccer is their bread-and-butter. It's the only reason anybody watches it. And that "former FOX Sports Int'l executive" had better never forget it.
Hi Oliver Since we aren't all cfo's , perhaps you can explain in layman terms what exactly you mean when you say <<"tax-management" vehicle>>
its not rocket science to know that FSW exists solely due to the English Premier League... mostly catering to the expat community who are willing to pay to watch their beloved footie... add a couple of fringe leagues and mls for the "home" crowd and you have a channel surviving... FSW.... So dont knock rugby, cricket, darts (a favorite) when FSW shows them... because without the draw of the paying expat crowd... you would not have FSW..... so your welcome Cantona----------
They can only replay the same ManUre match so many times...besides, YES will be showing it a few times too. Personally, I enjoy their Rugger and Aussie Rules coverage. The rest of the stuff they carry are in the middle of the night or when I'm at the office so I could care less.
You'd be surprised how long Dutch and German soccer have aired in this country (pushing a decade now for Dutch, even more for German). There are not enough expatriates living here to justify Dutch and German companies supporting the broadcasts. Which is partly why Champions League doesn't generate revenue (live start times that don't work for most people, the fact that Latinos tend to watch more soccer than anybody else in this country, and the general lack of interest from the public also being factors). FSW survives because there are enough Brits and American Liverpool and Man U fans that Carlsberg, Nike, British Airways, Guinness, and World Soccer Shop get value out of advertising on it. Note that FSW needs to sell two PPV games a week to make the cost of airing EPL work. MLS is a home product with favorable start times and almost exclusively Americans playing, and so will naturally sell itself better than any other soccer product. For some sponsors, there is also a tie-in to the National Team. IMO, an all soccer channel will NOT survive in this country until the Men win the World Cup. That's still probably 2-3 World Cups away so... If NewsCorp didn't hate them, I'd actually say the NHL would be a good fit for FSW (USA ONLY of course). Obviously FOX and FX would have to want the rights enough to pay up to $125 million a year.
Re: Re: ONLY Futbol ... NO Rugbish, Cricket, Darts ... Wow, that should qualify as the "overstatement of the year". So USA will win the World Cup in 2014 (2 WCs away) or in 2018 (3 WCs away)? So, how many WCs away will a country like Holland, Sweden or Turkey first taste their WC triumph? If FSW is interested, there is enough international hockey running around to make FSW an international hockey channel. I sort of remember FSW showing some international tournaments before. Was it the World Junior or something? I've also seen Swedish Elite liga on American TV, probably the International Channel, the one that shows Serie A Sunday afternoon. However, with even the NHL getting dismal ratings in the U.S., international hockey would probably draw worse than the French league...
I hate to tell you guys this, but in the small town where I live (pop. 16,000) there are only a handful of adults I know who watch soccer, and over 60 who play and watch rugby. Guess why they get FSW? It's a good idea for FSW to be diverse in what they offer, you know. There's a reason why the network's name is Fox Sports World and not For Soccer Weenies. It's not like you're able to watch every single match they show. And if you can, I can guarantee you won't be able to when you're parents make you move out of the basement.
Oh man Japanese baseball and Euro basketball would rule the school. It'd make my sports nerd-dom complete.
Japanese baseball would be way cool. Also the Asian equivalent of basketball champions league would rock.
What is this baloney about Japanese baseball? They should be showing the J-League! I'd love to watch those Japanese kids tearing up the turf. Let them take Fox Sports Waste off the air. I couldn't care less if some Rugby-loving backsides from Appalachia are left high and dry. As long as they leave Fox Sports en Espanol alone. Outside of some baseball and motor races, it's got futbol, futbol, futbol almost all the time. Viva Fox Sports en Espanol!
More Latinos watch soccer in this country than any other group by a country mile. Advertisers know they can reach Latinos through soccer. Which is why MLS believes they are what will make the league financially viable. Why else would NETWORKS like Univision and Telemundo want La Liga Mexicana, the Mexican National Team, and FIFA championships, and pay over $100 MILLION in total to televise them?
America One has the main contract. They didn't broadcast as much as before. Hard for me to get FSWC since I would have to pay an arm and a leg just to get it.
CFL also aired on a startup cable channel called The football network, which primarily airs lower division college gridiron
Just one person, but a neighbor of mine was complaining to me about not being able to watch Rugby World Cup matches, so I informed her of FSW's coverage and she added the channel that day. FSW is smart to diversify. Hey, I hate the fact that for the last month every weeknight is dominated by rugby coverage, but it's only one month every four years. I think any of us footies can handle that for the privelege of seeing world class soccer on a regular basis. And we are still getting PLENTY of soccer on the weekends, even with the RWC. People will invent stuff to bitch about, I swear.
If you have time to watch every single soccer broadcast Fox Sports World shows in a given week, THEN maybe you'd have something to complain about. (Of course, I'd question your time-management skills.) I'd like to see more highlight shows, but those are more difficult/costly to produce. I could do without "Moto Plus" and shows like that, but that's nit-picky. Frankly, I can't wait to watch curling, and I was amazed how entertaining darts can be.
MORE other sports, less reruns of soccer games I've already seen. This past month with the RWC was the best month of FSW since I've been watching. Bring on the Japanese baseball!
riverplate, how is it that you think you can pretend to be of the world and at the same time be so close-minded and ignorant of the rest of the sports world?