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Posted Mar 30, 2009 8:15PM By Michael Cardillo (RSS feed)
Filed Under: European Soccer , Soccer , UEFA Champions League
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This dropped out of the sky Monday, the fact that Fox Soccer Channel won the American rights to broadcast the UEFA Champions League starting next season, edging out ESPN -- the self-proclaimed 'Worldwide Leader in Sports.' Fox Soccer hasn't made an official statement, but ESPN has apparently confirmed the deal.
The ramifications for the American soccer fan could pretty large -- namely because ESPN is currently available in almost triple the homes compared to FSC. Granted the games are usually on during the middle of the afternoon in the States, but these certainly cuts down on the number of eyeballs on the games, meaning Fox must have blown UEFA's doors off with its bid.
For Fox, this has to be considered a major power play to get FSC on more homes in the country. It'll be a lot easier to convince carriers and soccer fans to add the channel now that it's home to the two biggest non-World Cup entities -- the Champions League and the Premier League.
Monday's out of left field announcement is a good news/bad news scenario for American soccer fans. It's hard to overlook the major fact that ESPN is much more readily available than FSC. Beyond that, it's probably a good thing since it's a network devoted to soccer and will likely develop some original programming around the competition. It'll likely also force FSC to up its production value from the ground floor, which won't hurt.
What this means for the long-term future of soccer on ESPN is harder to figure out right now. I'm guessing ESPN retained its Champions League rights in other markets, like the Pacific Rim. ESPN is already committed to the 2010 and 2014 World Cups, but beyond that, who knows? It's a safe guess the Bottom Line won't be running scores of a CSKA/Lyon match any time in the near future.
ESPN aired the matches and did have a weekly show on ESPN Classic, but beyond that, the competition was relegated to the back burner. Then again, the mere fact the Champions League aired on ESPN was probably a good thing for the growth of the sport in America. It's odd ESPN, which seemed so gung-ho toward soccer post Euro-2008, would lose these rights, along with striking out on the Premier League. Will ESPN bid for the next World Cup or renew its MLS contract when that runs out?
And if it means more Bobby McMahon in our lives, that's never a bad thing.
Filed Under: European Soccer , Soccer , UEFA Champions League
This dropped out of the sky Monday, the fact that Fox Soccer Channel won the American rights to broadcast the UEFA Champions League starting next season, edging out ESPN -- the self-proclaimed 'Worldwide Leader in Sports.' Fox Soccer hasn't made an official statement, but ESPN has apparently confirmed the deal. The ramifications for the American soccer fan could pretty large -- namely because ESPN is currently available in almost triple the homes compared to FSC. Granted the games are usually on during the middle of the afternoon in the States, but these certainly cuts down on the number of eyeballs on the games, meaning Fox must have blown UEFA's doors off with its bid.
For Fox, this has to be considered a major power play to get FSC on more homes in the country. It'll be a lot easier to convince carriers and soccer fans to add the channel now that it's home to the two biggest non-World Cup entities -- the Champions League and the Premier League.
Monday's out of left field announcement is a good news/bad news scenario for American soccer fans. It's hard to overlook the major fact that ESPN is much more readily available than FSC. Beyond that, it's probably a good thing since it's a network devoted to soccer and will likely develop some original programming around the competition. It'll likely also force FSC to up its production value from the ground floor, which won't hurt.
What this means for the long-term future of soccer on ESPN is harder to figure out right now. I'm guessing ESPN retained its Champions League rights in other markets, like the Pacific Rim. ESPN is already committed to the 2010 and 2014 World Cups, but beyond that, who knows? It's a safe guess the Bottom Line won't be running scores of a CSKA/Lyon match any time in the near future.
ESPN aired the matches and did have a weekly show on ESPN Classic, but beyond that, the competition was relegated to the back burner. Then again, the mere fact the Champions League aired on ESPN was probably a good thing for the growth of the sport in America. It's odd ESPN, which seemed so gung-ho toward soccer post Euro-2008, would lose these rights, along with striking out on the Premier League. Will ESPN bid for the next World Cup or renew its MLS contract when that runs out?
And if it means more Bobby McMahon in our lives, that's never a bad thing.
Paul Marin -19 is one thing, 20 is a whole other matter. It gets even worse if they win the UCL. *groan*. 
05/18/2011.MU fans naah cough, but all a unuh a vomit?-Lazie 1/11/2015
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