Thank ESPN for showing Man UTD rangers 2 Nov. 4

While it is great that United v. Rangers will be shown on ESPN next week, I still have MAJOR issues with ESPN's coverage of the Champion's League. First, the ONE GAME that they show per match day is usually not one of the better games. Second, they have announced that if circumstances require, they will drop a game to show something else. I'm looking forward to the launch of ESPN Deportes, so that there I can see numerous matches EACH matchday. Also, I HIGHLY recommend uefa.com Action. For 40 bucks, you can watch delayed replays of EVERY SINGLE Champion's League game. Sure, you need a broadband connection and shell out a few bucks, but it is well worth it. Plus, they will also be showing UEFA Cup and EURO 2004 matches as time goes on. ESPN sucks.

 

ESPN's coverage on the Champions League on Matchday 4:

Man U x Rangers
Lazio x Chelsea
P. Belgrade x R. Madrid
Club Brugge x AC Milan
R. Sociedad x Juventus
Monaco x Deportivo la Coruna
B. Munich x O. Lyon

there is another game on Wednesday evening that ESPN hasn't listed yet. I suspect it would be Celta Vigo or Inter Milan.

Another ESPN coverage on the CL on the same matchday:

Man U x Rangers
Lazio x Chelsea
R. Madrid x P. Belgrade
Arsenal x D. Kyiv
Celtic x Anderlecht
Monaco x Deportivo

The first coverage, which is Latin-team heavy, is for Latin America. The 2nd coverage, which is British team heavy (all 5 British teams are there), is for Asia.

Now, is it ESPN's problem or Americans' problem?

ESPN has absolutely no problem making each match day a fiesta on TV, IN MARKETS THAT APPRECIATE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FOOTBALL, not in a market that CL football draws worse than WUSA...

You should place the blame solely on Americans.

 

That is the problem. Since there is not considered to be major interest in the US, they only show one game per matchday. I would be curious, however, to see the ratings of their standard programming between 2:30 and 5:00 on any Tuesday or Wednesday afternoon. I might venture to say that while most fans of the Champions League may be at work, that those matches would still fare better than, let's say the Horse Racing forum that I've seen, depending on the game. But while I agree that there isn't enough domestic interest in European football over here, I think that ESPN could, if they're not going to do a better job of bringing the Champions League to the US, afford to sell the American broadcast rights so that a channel, such as Fox Sports World, might be able to take the next step in putting some football of the highest class onto American television.

 

The folklore is that their regular afternoon program fillers, Strongest Men Competition, Cheerleaders, Drag Racing, etc., get considerable higher ratings than CL soccer.

I am always amazed that people from foreign countries would assume that CL would draw better than horse racing. What make you think so? I mean, do you think the more Brits will watch our major league baseball or the NFL than your local horse racing?

For people who didn't grow up on that sport, who have absolutely no interest in that sport, why would they be interested in Man U x Juventus? Just like why would a Brit be interested in Cubs x Mets?

They have been sub-licensing the CL games to another carrier for a year or two, and you don't know that?

The carrier is called Setanta. All Man U, Arsenal, Rangers, Celtic, Galatasaray, etc. games have been available on Setanta on every match day. You don't know what you've been missing...

What's Setanta? Close circuit TV, $20 per pop in pubs. And ESPN has been making a nice profit by sub-licensing these games for close circuit showing, instead of begging advertisers for money on a 2 hour slot that no one watches.

How long have you been in America? You are an expat in this country not very long, am I right? Instead of bashing ESPN's coverage, I suggest you find out what's available on what channels first. As a matter of fact, living in Orlando, you are very lucky. You have easy access to 8 games per match day in your location...

Remember, real fan in the U.S. don't rely on ESPN USA for soccer...

 

I suppose the point is moot anyhow. I am a regular at a local pub where I view most matches. Although, to be honest, I think that your perception that there is little to no interest in football may be a bit off. There seems to be a growing interest in the sport. Of course, American football, baseball, and basketball are still the dominant sports here, but soccer is, I think, becoming something that more and more Americans are taking an interest in. It will probably never be what it is everywhere else in the world, but it is no longer some unknown sub-sport.

In any case, I am looking forward to the game next week. I think we may be in for a bit more drama than the last outing.

 

This has been addressed 20943093 times in this forum.

The problem is not that fans in the U.S. are indifferent to soccer. Look at the support on the USMNT, especially in the J/K World Cup. You can't tell me Americans are not interested in soccer. Besides, MLS, although a niche sport, is widely available all over TV.

The problem is that CL is a foreign competition, that Americans can't identify with. Right or wrong, America has already had an extremely strong sports culture that we don't have to identify with foreign teams. That's why an MLS Cup final can easily outdraw the CL final, or Arsenal x Man U, in this market.

Although these sports are the dominant sports here, how much foreign baseball/basketball have you ever seen in the U.S.? There is absolutely no interest in the U.S. in foreign competitions, even in sports that we are crazy about. Examples? the Carribean World Series, South American Championship basketball, Mexican college gridiron football, Japanese baseball, etc.

Soccer fans have it hard? you have absolutely no chance to follow your team if you follow Boca Juniors basketball...

Yes, that's possible. In other words, we'll get more coverage of the USMNT, MLS, World Cup, Gold Cup, etc., competitions that American teams are involved in. Champions League is still a foreign competition a continent away, no matter what...

People here have always confused about snubbing a foreign competition (CL) with snubbing a sport.

 

ESPN is the channel for live champions league matches in Australia too.

Do you americnas get the same commentators? : tommy smith and some other dude.

Also how are the picture qualities? here its pretty poor, we proberly get the same picture as you.

 

we get tommy smith and some english (i think) guy too. picture quality is pretty poor, but as long as i get to watch the matches, i am happy.

 

Is the Arsenal game on ESPN tomorrow as well. I know a bar that shows games on ESPN if you change the chaneel yourself, but its doesnt have direct tv or anything like that. For anything else its an hour drive round trip!!

 

I have a pretty nice image, its a LatAm feed though

 

Brian, as someone who has viewed ESPN's Champions League coverage for any length of time in both the USA and Australia, it's exactly the same in terms of pictures and commentators.

And on my TV, I never seem to have any problem with the quality of the picture. In my case, I just started wearing glasses some months ago, but maybe it could be your TV... my wife and I have a new TV in our bedroom, too.

Absolutely vital for 6:30 a.m. kickoff-time viewings.

 

I knew it!

 

Luckily, Mario, I'm lurking and posting in from work. Been a long day for me...

 

i bet it was a long day, its 420 am here in El Salvador!

 

Not as long as yours! But having said that, I'm off at the local newspaper at 12:30 a.m. (and it's 9:30 p.m. now)... glad I had that early-afternoon nap.

All in all, we get three, sometimes four Champions League games a day here on ESPN Int'l's Pacific Rim affiliate. And usually, the games being aired are pretty good ones, although tied in with contractual obligations with teams in the leagues connected via ESPN's global affiliates.

For reasons such as these, I have no regrets about making the move to this country.

 

You have to let people know where you are first. ESPN is available all over the world.

 

Here in Jamaica we get both the US ESPN & ESPN2 and the ESPN Latin America coverage so can get most of the CL games. Plus the English pub gets the games on Setanta via Satellite.

For those in the US & Canada check out www.soccertv.com for when matches from almost everywhere are being shown.

BTW. Does anyone know who Tommy Smith is (he's not the Liverpool legend for those in Europe) other than being Irish. He seems to have very little grasp of anything to do with football. And if he says "bulges the old onion bag" again I may have to get violent with something!!

 

It still gets me; it's like discovering something genuine for the first time.

Watching ManU-Rangers, just the sight of a player with the ball, moving across the green, no helmet, no pads, just fluid movement as other players converged and diverged, and the ball was passed around -- this is sport. This is what real sport is all about.

Maybe others feel this way about baseball, basketball, etc. I know I never did, and I grew up here, with parents who grew up here.

It happens here, too, especially when I se the game on a soccer field, without the borrowed gridiron.

It's like having pizza for the first time all over again.

 

ESPN has televised all sorts of soccer. Excluding US National Team/World Cup, which are time buys and bartered time slots (in return for MLS telecasts), MLS has done the best at about 200,000 people per telecast. That doesn't say much.

Every bit of soccer coverage that has done well here was an EVENT save for the following: US National Team? Fine, patriotism. EPL? It sells enough beer and PPV to work on FSW. Slightly less so for Brazilian, Argentine and Scottish soccer.

Everything else is either principally targeted at Latinos (including Serie A, La Liga, Champions League) or there are not enough people to make it viable in any form.

And LeBron James is cool. So there.

 

Of course not, the commentator on ESPN is NOT Tommy Smith, but Tommy Smyth.

 

First, I absolutely disagree that MLS gets no coverage or HYPE in the mainstream media.

MLS Shootout, ESPN, ABC, Fox Sports Net, Fox Sports World. In fact, MLS is the league that enjoys the most extensive coverage in the U.S. Which other league in Europe or South America that you can enjoy such a high % of coverage on channels generally available on cable?

There is actually an MLS audience in the U.S. And this audience is leaps and bounds bigger than the audience of EPL, Champions League, Serie A, etc. Is that a surprise in the U.S.?

As far as CL is concerned, I've said that many times, it's a FOREIGN product. Foreign product doesn't sell here. ESPN has had better coverage (2 games/match day) several years ago, and they stopped it. Why?

Imagine, if you could have got as many CL games on TV as MLS games, on multiple outlets, there wouldn't have been any complaint on CL coverage in this country...

Yes, because there aren't enough Americans watching European soccer. Most of them prefer the MLS. Sad, sad, sad ...

 

Well I'm sure most of you know by now that after the 1st of the year we won't be getting any CL matches on ESPN in the United States.