DISQUS

Its don't see ESPN going after all 6 or 7 packages that the Premiership provides rights to world wide week in and week out. The 12pm Saturday game just won't fit ESPN 2's schedule because of college football and basketball and that is a game that can always license out to Setanta or FSC. There are up to 4, 10am games a weekend that are shown here in the States with 2 live and 2 on tape delay usually later in the day. Those games can be shown on FSC or Setanta as well. For me the dream ticket would be for ESPN to get the 7:30am game and the 1st choice 10am game on Saturdays. FSC getting the 2nd choice game at 10am, the noon game, and split the other 10am game with Setanta during half the year like they do with Nascar. . I would love to see Setanta get out of the pub business and go after the Old Firm games live on weekends and the 3rd choice Prem Game, followed by the Championship at noon, and finishing out the afternoon with either the French League or Dutch League.

Sunday's I would be happy with ESPN 2 getting the double header on Sunday Morning, allowing FSC to show more Serie A games and either the French or Dutch league which ever one Setanta doesn't go after.

If GOL keeps up with the German League in the morning and La Liga with the rights to show 3pm or 4pm La Liga Games they would be pretty golden. I have to say would be perfect for ESPN 2 to pick up the early La Liga game that they can show on Deportes as a lead up to the Mexican League Games that I am pretty sure they show late in the afternoon.

I just don't see the Prem ever being shown on the flagship ESPN Network as SportsCenter in the Morning along with College Football Gameday or the new College Hoops show they are doing in the morning ever being dropped for the Prem. And absolutely forget on Sunday's where SportsCenter, Outside the Lines, the Sports Reporters, and the NFL Pre-Game show during the fall months along with more coverage of Sportscenter when football season is going on.

I am in the club that wants to see the Prem shown on ESPN 2 because it will grow the game with 90 million household clearances compared to 30 million or so that FSC has.

Lets look at the programming that is shown this weekend on ESPN 2 starting at 6:30am until noon on Saturday. I say 6:30am because that would allow ESPN 2 to do a good solid one hour pre-game show if they were to go after the 7:30am and one of the 10am games on Saturday.

6:30am - World of Saltwater Fishing
7am - Going Coastel
7:30am - Beat Charlie Moore
8am - Day on the Lake
8:30am - Fishing Show
9am - Bassmasters
10am - Bassmasters
11am - SporstCenter

Look at what is on from say 8am to 1pm on ESPN 2 this Sunday. which would provide the ability to show a 1/2 hour pregame and the 8:30am and 11am games.

8am - Offshore Adventures
8:30am - Fishing Adventures
9am - Going Coastal
9:30am - Spanish Fly
10am - Beat Charlie Moore
10:30am - Auction Block
11:30am NHRA Race Day
12pm - Lucal Oil Pro League Tractor Pull
12:30pm - Women's College Gymnastics.

What ESPN has to really ask themselves is while those shows don't draw great ratings they do provide a lot of advertising because there are a ton of Fishing, Outdoors, and Car Company that sell their products .

I just wonder does the lack of commercials during the run of a soccer game make it worth the 100 Million or whatever it will cost to prise the Premiership Rights away from FSC.unless they can get real top notch corporate advertisers that want to sponsor the pre-games, half time, and post-game shows and in this current climate of not too many big companies wanting to spend money.

My question is if Disney does make a play for the Premiership would the move their fishing programs to ESPN Classic if indeed there is that rule that ESPN Classic can only show 10 hours of live sporting events a week.

Very interesting topic!

If ESPN is going to dip its toe into broadcasting the Premiership it will be on ESPN 2 as I just don't see the network pre-empting the Saturday Morning Live SportsCenter and College Football Gameday in the fall months as well as the Sunday Morning Live SportsCenter with the highlights from Sauturdays, Outside the Lines, the Sports Reporters, and most importantly the 2 hour NFL pre-game show during the fall as well.

The game start times in Europe especially if ESPN 2 goes after the 7:30am and 10am games on Saturday's and the games on Sunday Mornings and Monday afternoon don't go head to head against baseball and football here in the States. ESPN broadcasts baseball on Sunday Nights with a game of the week and their college football and basketball coverage doesn't start till noon Eastern on the weekend. I don't see ESPN having any interest in the noon Saturday Game because there are so many college football games and basketball games going on from September to March. The 11am game on Sunday might be an issue but most of the time ESPN 2 shows oddball sports like bowling and Janet the Spider Lee playing pool on Sunday afternoons.

One rumor that I have read that I would love to be confirmed or denied is that when ESPN signed deals with the different cable companies across America a rider was put in that ESPN Classic could only show 10 hours of live sporting events a week protecting Comcast and other local cable companies that also have sports networks that they own and operate from having to compete with more ESPN live sports programming. I have read on forums the idea of ditching the ESPN Classic idea and turning the network to ESPN 3 but that would be severely hampered if they could only show 10 hours of live programming a week.

One thing to think about when pondering if ESPN 2 were to make a move for the Premiership Rights is would they move their hunting, fishing, outdoors, and fitness shows that do really well in terms of selling commercials/advertisements to an ESPN Classic which doesn't get as many eyeballs when ESPN can't make as much money with the Premiership because the cost of the rights and lack of commercials built into the game on the weekends.. As much as I could care less about those hunting, fishing, outdoors, and fitness shows they do make money for ESPN because companies in those industries buy up time during those shows to hawk their wares and would they be willing to do so on an ESPN Classic which has moved to digital cable from basic cable the past couple of years since ESPN 2 is on most basic cable systems.

I would really love to know if it is true that ESPN Classic is limited in how much live content they can show on ESPN Classic because I could see the people at ESPN rather putting soccer on ESPN Classic than ESPN 2 just because of the lack of money making opportunities there is in selling soccer here in the states without the commercial time to work with since ESPN 2 is in more homes and the network can make more money selling Bows, fishing lures, and workout videos than they would with the limited amount of c ommercial time available during an Premiership game.

Just smething to chew on!

I first got into the Prem in the end of hee 99-00 season before there was a Transfer Window. I loved that teams could wheel and deal in November as it was a big deal that Robbie Folwer was leaving Anfield for Leeds if I remember right. Someone can look that up. I can understand that teams would probably would spend way too much in transfers but there was something exciting about in the middle of December that a move is being made. I can unnderstand capping the movement of players by March 15 or something as that gives almost 2 sold months of having the same squad and beccuase it seems guys get hurt during Feb as the season keeps grinding on.

Anyway bring back the open transfer season to the Premiership as it really has taken a bit of my personal enjoyment as I liked guys moving aroud in September, October, November, December, and February..

How does the leagues in Europe get away with this transfer windows anyway with the whole restraint of trade talk I always hear about?

One of my favorite topics to rant about!

I am pretty sure that Nielsen Measures DVR viewership as long as the person watches the program within 7 days of its intial airing.

Some poster on Bigsoccer.com posted the following when I brought up the idea of converting ESPN Classic to an ESPN 3 or ESPN World in this thread: http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t...


ESPN Classic (U.S.) will NEVER become "ESPN3". And I do mean NEVER. Not in the next 10 years, 50 years, or 100 years.

Why not?

COX, Time Warner, and Comcast all insisted on a "no conversion" clause in the current carriage agreement they did with ESPN, Inc./Walt Disney Company.

The "no conversion" clause prohibits ESPN Classic (U.S.) from carrying live programming beyond a handful of hours (i.e. less than 9) each week.


The guy throws out a bunch of other stuff which is pretty interesting even if his delivery was a bit snarky. Hopefully, Chris will ask someone from ESPN when he does another interview if it is true that ESPN signed deals with the different cable operators like Cox and Comcast who have cable sports stations they own and operate that ESPN are limited in the amount of live sports coverage they can show on ESPN Classic.

I have to say if you watch ESPN Deportes the production values of SportsCenter and presentation overall is much better than FSC. Imagine if ESPN did get the rights to broadcast Premiership Games in Europe and the States what kind of features, highlight packages, and heightened production values we would get as viewers? It would be cool if they had embedded reporters in Spain, Germany, and Italy along with of course England who do pieces for SportsCenter that is devoted to soccer.

Anyway, it will be fun to see how the TV Rights issues of the different leagues shake out in the next couple of years. Especially how much more ESPN will get into the soccer broadcasting game with English language rights here in the States as its pretty obvious that they are more than dipping their toe into broadcasting domestic league soccer from Europe...................

Just give me something to watch on Saturday and Sunday Mornings from 6am to 9am as neither FSC or GOL have anything on but Paid Programs. I hate waking up on Saturday and Sunday Mornings and having no soccer programming to watch.

Here is a story from the WSJ about the NHL and their new website and how they are taking it to the next level with online streaming. You can get a package for 169 dollars a season for all of the NHL Games on your computer.

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB122212448...

Sure Sony was poking fun at soccer fan in that commerical. That said we are also seeing stories on TV about how Kevin Garnett is really into the Premiership, Steve Nash is a Tottenham supporter, and Kobe Bryant making it a point to meet Messi at the Olympics and watch him play for the Argies. US sports fans and the media will always slag soccer but over the past 10 years soccer has really started to make in-roads in our country through MLS and more games from the different foreign leagues around the world being available on cable tv...............................................

GOLTV was added to the Spanish Tier of service for Brighthouse Cable System which used to be a Time Warner Company. I called the help line to ask if it was going to also be added to the Sports Tier which I am a current customer of since the programming is in English and not Spanish and she wasn't even aware that GOL was even on the cable system. I decided to bite the bullet and pay the extra 3 bucks a month to see Real Madrid and Barca games and if it is added to the Sports Tier I will call and cancel the Spanish service. Now I just have to remember channel 913.

I don't let the product placement advertisizing get in my way of enjoyment of watching the game. We are adverised to in all sports and advertising pays the bills along with our small subscription price that we pay to our cable oe dish provider. Hopefully, as the sport grows more attractive advertisers will see soccer matches on TV as a place to advertise that will turn into money for the companies that buy time. The way I think about i it is the better advertisers the more money coming in wich will be mean a better product that will be put on the TV> Regular Euroepean Football has only been beamed to our shores here in the states in the last 10 years or so.

I will be interested in what kind of treatement ESPN will give full blown soccer coverage if they ever sign up with the Premiership or even La Liga or Seria A as the broeadcasts will be a lot better than FSC, GOL, or even Sentanta.

Obviously FSC has a deal with TWI since they are the producers of the Preview and Review Show. I know for sure we have had Tyler call games on FSC before.

Does he post anywhere where he will be calling games for the coming weekend when he finds out his assignment or is there a place on the net that posts the commentary pairs? And is it just me or has Tyler in the past called games solo without a color guy in the booth?

Oh and Gaffer if you get Dermott from FSC back on the interview podcast again ask a follow up about getting the old episodes of the Highlight Show as filler programming? He seemed interested in the idea when you brought that up last year......................

How does FSC pick which feed of the game they are going to air?

I ask because I found a feed online (ARRRRRR!) that had Tyler and Gray calling the United Game and that is different than the two guys calling the game on FSC right now.

I also agree with Chris that Miles and Barton looked way too stuffy in those suits yesterday morning. They should wear clothing that is a bit more casual. Of course Pat Dolan always looks stuffy but it fits his character!

I will be interested to see how today's Sunday Afternoon Wrap Up Show comes off...............................

I think FSC has become more balanced the past year or so in comparison between coverage of the Prem and the rest of the leagues they broadcast. FSC has been showing a ton of classic Barca matches this summer. Will FSC show the league games from this season on delay or is it just the Champions League games on delay that are going to be shown? I have seen an advert for Ronnie coming to Milan aside from the Jose promo. Adding those 2 personalies will make Serie A all the more interesting on and off the field. The Serie A highlight show is a joke when compared to the Premiership Review Show which is top notch. The length of Serie A hinders it because it really doesn't allow you to get a feel for all the teams in the league like the Premiership version.

It will be interesting to see how FSC's schedule looks in comparison now and in 2 years time when all the different TV rights are up for bid.

Won't ESPN Deportes want to throw their hat into the ring when all of the different rights packages come up for bid among the English and Spanish leagues?

The days of the Olympics being for amatuers has been over since 1992 and even before then it is widely thought that countries throughout the world would kickback monies to the athletes competing. When people like stonyk and Bryan SF say only amatuers should be in the tournament are you saying that only 14 and 15 year old schoolboys should be competing since a lot of players sign contracts making them professionals when they are 16 years old? The Olympics is about the best of the world playing the best of the world. If it were up to me I would allow all ages to compete in the Olympic Soccer Tournament...........................

Mookie,

There will be more Fulham games scheduled in the next couple of weeks. Neither FSC or Setanta have announced their respective 10am live games as well as the other 2 games that air at 10am one of which is live on Setanta Sports Extra and the other that airs on few hour DB usually after the Italian League Game. Most weeks we get 7 to 9 of the Prem Games here in the States so I wouldn't sweat it because Fulham will be definitley be featured more................................

Did you catch Blatter's comment during his take on Ronaldo being a slave where he said he thinks that players should be able to buy out their contract if they want to move somewhere else? Talk about a move that would totally shake up the world of football since all of the big clubs with money could just run even more roughshod over smaller clubs who develop players who aren't making much money by buying those players out and moving them to their club. What happens when a team develops a young superstar that isn't making much in wages since he is on his 1st pro contract and a bigger club comes swooping in offering to cover his buyout and moves him to the club? The way that Blatter was talking the player would just be able to buy out his contract and there was nothing said about a transfer fee between the clubs.

Man talk about the rich always getting more and more richer!

I am just thinking but it isn't it a given that most of Man U's games that aren't listed will be on Setanta? Because unless there is a game between the other big 3 or maybe Liverpool/Everton or Arsenal/Tottenham during the 10am ETZ slot here in the States Setanta will usually will pick United over the other 3 of the Big 4. I counted 6 games (8/17, 9/21, 10/4, 10/18, 11/8, and 11/22) on FSC out of the 14 weeks worth of games the schedule shows so far for United.

Thank God for p2p programs so I can get my Red Devil fix on the weekends they aren't airing on FSC........................

I love the idea of running classic EPL Review Shows in chronological order as it would get over the history of the Premiership to people that might only have been watching for the past couple of years. It can't be that expensive to get the tapes from TWI. I even remember when Chris asked the executive at FSC during one of the podcasts interviews about getting the old Review Shows said he thought it was an interesting idea that he would look into it. Those hour long shows would provide awesome filler programming when their isn't much going on during the summer months or they could even air a block in the morning instead of the paid programs.

I don't know why FSC can't try to get the rights of some of the different club highlight videos or documantaries that are only available to people in Europe. Each club comes out with an occasional DVD/Videos Tapes of their best players, goals, and season in review. The shows can range from that movie on Chelsea that aired this spring and has ran a couple of times this summer to Manchester United the 99 Treble to the 1996 Tottenham Hotspur season in review I know I would be watching.

FYI the ESPY nominations were just released and ESPN is doing a Best MLS Player Award with Angel, Beckham, Donavon, Emillio, Donavon, and Blanco for the award. Cristiano Ronaldo is up for Best International Male Athlete with Kaka, Manu Ginobilli, and Rafael Nadel.

I had to hand it to Foudy on the wrap up show at 7pm on Sunday for breaking down Torres goal for Spain. She did an awesome job with the telestrator. Watching the flow of the game I didn't realize how many passes Spain made before prising open the German Defense to get Torres in on the attack. Sure it was awkward with her starting to count the passes and stopping halfway through but that said the rest of the call was really well done.

And I agree with you that ESPN being heavily handed in the promoting soccer would be awesome but I think at some point Johnny American Sports Fan would start to get their knickers in a bundle if ESPN constantly was pimping soccer across all their platforms especially if it was looked at as a detriment to american sports. There are some people that started to dig poker that became sick of it where they won't watch anymore after ESPN shoved Poker down people's throats for the past couple of years.

Using ESPN Classic or turning it into ESPN 3 where Soccer is a prominently featured sport all year long is something I definitley see ESPN doing in the future. I would be perfectly content with an ESPN 3/International that did soccer on the weekend afternoons as well as during the week with the NHL and MMA being two of the other featured properties as the other anchors to the network. Three sports that are truely international in flavor none of which that are covered as heavily as they should by ESPN given the restraints of ESPN and ESPN2.

Call me a Premiership Snob but when I am watching a game I like my commentators from the UK. The accent works for me as does the cadence at which they call the game and knowing when to let the game breath and let the crowd provide the sound of the game. Like people have posted hearing a guy from England calling baseball or gridiron would just be weird! I am a sucker for a English accent when I am watching Golf, Soccer, and F1.

I agree with Kartik that Gray was unprepared for anything that wasn't Premiership or one of the top sides in Europe however what he lacked in preperation he more than made up with it in personality and passion.

I hope in the World Cup that ESPN uses 3 or 4 commentary teams one of which is an american team that is dedicated to following Team USA around. I think it is important to have American's calling Team USA's games. I really hope ESPN continues to build up the World Cup throughout the next 2 years Team USA as well as the rest of the world.

England fan,

Just a guess but I think that the Premiership Clubs rather get paid an appearence fee for a friendly away then force their home fans to buy another ticket. Some of the mid to lower end teams in the Premiership don't have full stadiums when the games mean something. I think its a way for clubs to build their fanbase in other parts of the world as well as through Europe. I am sure that some Everton and West Ham fans will come to America on a jolly to see their team and take a vacation at the same time.

I enjoy reading Kartik's posts as he provides a lot of well thought content to this site! I don't agree with all of it but I like reading his opinions in agreement and in disagreement.

Keep the posts of any length coming, bro......................