Soccer on Television

I just wrote a letter to the sports editor at Deseret News asking that they list soccer in their daily TV Listings. Here is a copy of that letter:

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Dear Mr. Schneider,

Is there any way that the sports section could list soccer games on television? I know I've asked you this before and you told me that the guy who creates the list goes to a certain website and downloads the list of games on TV. Here is a link that has all the soccer games listed for the day/week: http://www.soccertv.com

For example, today there are over 70 soccer games being played on television. Not one of them is listed on the Deseret News Sports on TV section. I can see that posting over 70 games a day may not be feasible. But how about posting the ones that can be watched by everyone, with our without cable/satellite.

Here is a partial list of soccer games on television today and tomorrow that can be watched for free by anyone who has a television set and rabbit ears (all times are Mountain):

1) Futbol de Mexico - San Luis vs Tecos (Galavision 2:00 p.m.)

2) Futbol de Mexico - Jaguares vs Chivas Guadalajara (Azteca America 2:00 p.m.)

3) Futbol de Mexico - Atlante vs Pachuca (Galavision 4:00 p.m.)

4) Futbol de Mexico - Tigres vs Pumas (Telefutura 6:00 p.m.)

5) Futbol de Mexico - Monarcas vs Club America (Azteca America 6:00 p.m.)


Tomorrow's listings:

1) Futbol de Mexico - Toluca vs Monterrey (Univision 11:00 a.m.)

2) MLS Soccer - New England vs Dallas (Telefutura 1:00 p.m.)

3) Futbol de Mexico - Santos vs Cruz Azul (Azteca America 3:00 p.m.)

4) Futbol de Mexico - Atlas vs Queretaro (Galavision 3:00 p.m.)

For a newspaper that is trying to reach a growing Hispanic market I would think that you would jump at the opportunity to begin advertising that you now list soccer games in the sports section.

I understand that feelings between Real Salt Lake and the Deseret News are sometimes heated (and I can't always blame the paper because RSL's FO has been less than professional in many of their dealings with you and the government) and that there is a general anti-soccer sentiment among some of the writers and public but that should not curtail the sports section from listing soccer games readily available to most viewers in the Wasatch Front. As I read the postings at www.bigsoccer.com most soccer fanatics love to watch Mexican league soccer and will do so even though they don't understand the language.

If the problem is budgeting, that there is not enough money to hire someone to spend the 10 minutes it takes to collect the data I am sending you, I'll gladly volunteer to do it for free. I just think it's time that the sport of soccer crawled out of the back bedroom in this community and was acknowledged and respected as a sport.

Thanks for taking the time to read this e-mail. But, as you can tell, I do have strong feelings about the sport of soccer. If I can be of any service let me know.

(Poqui Moqui)

 

I got a reply from Dave Schneider today and he said he was not aware that there were so many soccer games on TV. He said he forwarded my e-mail to two staffers who will look into the possibility of including soccer in future TV listings. He was very positive so I am hopeful.