Al Jazeera may not bid for Premier League TV rights in the United Kingdom and Europe after all, according to a report this week on the Football Economy website.

The website quotes a source at Citigroup who revealed that:

“The bidding process [for Premier League TV rights] will potentially have more twists and turns, making the process more complicated to analyse. In general, though, the direction of travel is favourable to BSkyB. The move to pan-European rights, if that happens, would raise the barriers to entry into the auction while reports of Al Jazeera’s non-involvement, if confirmed, suggest the bidding process will stay rational.”

If Al Jazeera doesn’t bid for the Premier League rights in the UK/Europe, then it makes you wonder if the network will instead focus on trying to win the US TV rights to the Premier League for the 2013-16 seasons. Those rights will go into bidding this summer with FOX Soccer expected to mount a serious bid although there are rumors about Univision being very interested in acquiring the rights.

What do you think? Is the news this week a smokescreen? Will Al Jazeera mount serious bids in the United Kingdom and United States to acquire the rights to the world’s most popular league, the Premier League? Share your opinions in the comments section below.

In the past few years, FOX Soccer has been accumulating an ever-growing number of TV rights deals to bring most of the best soccer leagues in the world to a US audience. FOX Sports winning the bids to broadcast the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup tournaments was a crowning achievement. But it’s quite possible that FOX may not be done quite yet.

This spring, the bidding for the TV and Internet rights to La Liga for 2012-13 and beyond will be finalized. GolTV currently owns the rights and sub-licenses some of the games to ESPN, but the hot property of Barcelona and Real Madrid games could entice both FOX Soccer and ESPN to get into a bidding war for the much-coveted rights. Then again, both parties may want GolTV to do the heavy-lifting and come in afterwards to scoop up a sub-licensing deal to show select games on its network.

Whether FOX Soccer gets the rights to La Liga or not, the network has built an impressive roster of soccer leagues and tournaments for viewers to watch across FOX Soccer, FOX Soccer Plus and FOX Soccer 2Go. They include the English Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, League Cup, Championship, Serie A, Ligue 1, Scottish Premier League, FA Cup, CONCACAF Champions League, England national team, A-League and, beginning next season, Europa League.

When you think about it, there isn’t much that FOX doesn’t have that would be worth adding. Two exceptions are that ESPN has the US rights to Euro 2012 and Euro 2016. GolTV, meanwhile, has the rights to the Bundesliga, where — again — they sublicense some of the games to ESPN. Due to kick-off times, the Bundesliga would clash with Premier League games on FOX Soccer, so I don’t see a good fit there unless the network wanted to broadcast games on FOX Soccer 2Go. The European Championships would be a great coup — but it’s important that FOX doesn’t bite off more than it can chew, particularly with all of the planning that’s needed to get everything ready for World Cup 2018.

And don’t forget that the US TV and Internet rights for the Premier League for seasons 2013-16 will go up for bidding this year with FOX Soccer and ESPN surely very interested in the crown jewel of club soccer TV coverage.

While FOX has been busy gobbling up new TV rights deal including the acquisition this week of the Scottish Premier League, ESPN has been eerily quiet. While soccer continues to be an important asset for ESPN, it’s not clear yet how competitive the network wants to be in bidding for high-profile rights. The network certainly has the cash available, as does FOX — thanks to its parent company. But how much of a priority is soccer to ESPN when the network generates vast sums of revenue from other far more lucrative sports? FOX Soccer, meanwhile, can concentrate on soccer alone. And continuing to build an empire in the lead-up to 2018.

FOX already has a near monopoly on the best soccer coverage in the United States. What’s your opinion regarding this? Should FOX Soccer go in strong to try to win La Liga rights? If that happens, does GolTV go out of business by losing its flagship programming? Or is time for ESPN to get serious about bidding on soccer rights for US viewers? What would a near-monopoly by FOX look like in the United States (i.e. do you think that FOX Soccer may start to change the way that soccer is broadcast across its networks in the run-up to World Cup 2018)? Share your opinions in the comments section below.

I am in a favor of the 39th game (audible gasp). By that I don’t mean each team should play an extra round of fixtures tagged on somewhere in an already congested season that would ultimately imbalance the entire league structure and everything we hold dear about equality, fairness and the unbiased (cough) nature of the Premier League fixture list. The 39th game hoopla seems to have slipped away recently but I wouldn’t bank it not returning in some other guise in the not too distant future if the likes of Richard Scudamore and Ian ‘why can’t the big clubs get paid more?’ Ayre have their way.

If we are ever to reach a juncture when the Premier League must decide between further expansion or a self-imposed isolation, I have what I believe to be a pretty decent proposition for all concerned. Each summer Premier League sides head off into the far flung corners of the world, scrambling for American and, more importantly, Asian currency, hoping to sate the appetite of the overseas fans with a momentary glimpse of their idols. Manchester United spent last summer in the States competing against a host of Europe’s top names in Houston, Seattle and other such places in what were billed as showpiece events for the native audience but attracted little more than a passing glance from those of us in the UK. That was obviously the point. The United hierarchy want the diehard fan from Kentucky to continue buying the latest away strip every 12 months, believing a friendly or two will do the trick.

United are far from alone in this. Chelsea and Aston Villa competed for the Premier League Asia Trophy in Malaysia whilst Blackburn recently flew half way round the world to play an Indian select side. For these teams it is purely a simply a business decision designed to develop their markets in up to recently untapped territories. My proposal is that these pre-season games be developed further into something tangible, an exciting curtain raiser that would have real impact on the league table without compromising the integrity of said league.

The proposal would be this:

At the end of each Premier League season, the 20 teams would be split into 5 groups of 4. Which group each team would enter would be dependent on their final standing in the table. For example, going by the final places for the 2010-11 season the first group would contain; Manchester United (1st), Liverpool (6th), West Brom (11th) and Wigan (16th). Each of the 5 groups would have representatives 5 league positions apart to allow for an even spread. These teams would face off in a semi-final before going on to the final two or three days later. Each 4 team mini-tournament would take place in a different host city around the globe; Sydney, Tokyo etc and be played across the week/weekend of the terminal irrelevance that is the Community Shield. The 5 winners would each receive 3 points, the beaten finalist 1 point and the beaten semi-finalists no points. These points would be added to the league table for the upcoming season.

Here’s why it would work:

1) The obvious financial boon is the reason the 39th game was contemplated in the first place and why it will never truly go away. English clubs would be heavily compensated in terms of TV money, gate receipts and the chance to expand their markets into previously untapped territories. The winning bid from the host city would also be split evenly between the 4 competing sides.

2) The exposure for the smaller clubs. Naysayers pointed out that few in Bangkok might fork out good money to watch Stoke play West Brom in a glorified friendly match but if at least one of the big boys was guaranteed to be in the town each year and real points were at stake this wouldn’t be much of an issue.

3) The likes of Wigan or Swansea would have a real chance to turn over one of the bigger clubs and get a head start in the league that season. Yes, over 38 games the richest clubs usually win out but over a two game series anything is possible and 3 points before a ball is kicked in regular season for a team of lesser means could make a huge difference in terms of relegation etc.

4) Overseas fans outnumber the native fans for many of the bigger English clubs these days and I think it’s time they were truly rewarded for their loyalty and willingness to continue buying the overpriced merchandise. A South Korean Spurs supporter is just as valid in my book as an Arsenal fan from South Wales and would most likely jump at the chance of watching their idols up close in a match that actually meant something for a change.

5) The prospect of points would surely snare a British audience and would act as an intriguing curtain raiser, a chance to watch the new signings in a competitive environment.

6) Fixture congestion is certainly an issue but not a great one. Two extra games tagged on to a pre-season that already involves multiple games, countries and time zones would make little difference. Easing the load could come from abolishing FA Cup replays after the Third Round and using some of the new dates created by the relaxing of the international friendly timetable.

7) The 5 tournaments played over 7 nights in early to mid-August would create a real event to rival anything offered by the NFL or even that of the Champions League in some respects.

The Italians have already stolen something of a march on the Premier League by hosting the SuperCoppa Italia out in Beijing in recent years and there is a danger that if we don’t do something the satisfy the overseas demand for top quality football then someone else will and it may too late by then to join the party. I can’t say that I revel in the idea of a football league without borders that forgets its own culture and beginnings as I believe it is that culture that makes English football so attractive to fans, wherever they may hail from. However, we do not want to be left behind and if there has to be a 39th game, then I’d prefer that it was done right instead of simply plonking a United/Liverpool game in Dubai in the middle of February.

So, Scudamore, there we have it. I don’t really want just a 39th game but a 40th too if possible.

Starting today, the Premier League added a watermark in the bottom right corner of many of its TV and Internet broadcasts (see above example).

Adding the Premier League logo is certainly a move by the league to protect its copyright and prevent pubs in the United Kingdom from using its footage without permission. The move follows a High Court hearing this week where both sides believed they had won. The Premier League released a statement, which read:

“It is clear that the law gives us the right to prevent the unauthorised use of our copyrights in pubs and clubs when they are communicated to the public without our authority.

“We will now resume actions against publicans who are using European Economic Area foreign satellite systems to show Premier League football on their premises unlawfully and without our authority.”

Presumably the Premier League will take action against British pubs who are, in their eyes, illegally showing live broadcasts of Premier League matches that are beamed to the pubs from European transmissions via decoder cards.

Could this mean the end for British pubs showing live Premier League matches that are not being shown by Sky Sports or ESPN? We will have to wait and see, but the Premier League is certainly taking steps to head in that direction.

We all know that Premier League football is far more than the 90 minutes our favorite team plays each weekend. Throughout the week there’s plenty of programming, on television, the Internet and radio, to keep us informed and entertained about our passion. But what if, for a minute, you could pick and choose your dream entertainment guide to the Premier League.

Ignoring the constraints that prevent you from making that dream come true now, what shows would you watch or listen to? Would you watch Match Of The Day and Football Focus? Would you watch Sky Sports throughout the day? Would you listen to match commentaries of Premier League games via BBC Radio Five Live? Imagine, for a minute, the impossible.

With that in mind, I need your help to build what a dream-come-true entertainment guide to the Premier League would look like. I’ve created a calendar and I’ve filled in my recommendations of must-see TV and must-listen radio and/or podcasts. But please feel free to add, edit or delete as necessary. Anything goes as long as it’s not a web page (i.e. don’t list The Guardian or EPL Talk, but you can list specific podcasts and what time they’re usually released). You can include videos, podcasts, TV shows, radio debates, etc.  Whatever you find entertaining and think that fellow soccer fans would appreciate.

The key is to expand the possibilities and add the best-of-the-best even if it’s from a different country than where you live. My goal here is to determine what is the best bits of Premier League-related news and entertainment from around the world, no matter what the barriers are.

So click on the button below to access the interactive calendar. All times are eastern (GMT -5).

You can access the calendar via this text link.

Any questions? Post them below in the comments section.

FOX winning the TV rights for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup tournaments is, in a strange way, a victory for the Premier League. FOX Soccer has built its soccer empire on the success it has achieved with U.S. coverage of the Premier League. That strong foundation helped build FOX Soccer into what it is today, and two years ago helped them acquire the coverage of the UEFA Champions League.

Some soccer fans have been throwing their toys out of the pram as if the ‘FOX Acquires World Cup TV rights’ story is the end of the world. But the real pain point and the reason that many of them are defensive is because they’ve lost their security blanket. When ESPN paid $100 million for the rights to the 2010 and 2014 World Cup, part of the deal was to also cover USMNT and MLS games. Now that ESPN has lost out to FOX, the sweet deal for MLS being lumped in with U.S. Soccer and the World Cup — thereby artificially inflating the value of MLS TV rights — is no more. Now that this MLS season has ended, FOX won’t be covering Major League Soccer. And MLS and U.S. Soccer is now out in the open, and will justly receive whatever TV rights dollar amount the market can bear.

When the current TV rights deal for Major League Soccer expires at the end of 2014, who will be interested in bidding for the rights if the carrot on the stick of World Cup coverage is no longer an incentive? FOX won’t be interested in bidding for MLS given the amount of money they’ve spent on TV rights for the World Cup plus the appalling TV ratings FOX Soccer received for its coverage of MLS. Will ESPN even be interested if there’s no World Cup TV coverage as an incentive to secure a MLS deal? So perhaps NBC and ESPN will bid against each other for the rights instead, or work out a shared deal? The bottom line is that the next two years are critical for Major League Soccer. The top division in the United States needs to produce impressive TV ratings on its own merits on both NBC and ESPN. It needs to prove that it deserves to earn as much as it can without being padded with coverage of the US men’s national team.

Not surprisingly, many MLS apologists are down on FOX Soccer even before FOX won the bid for the World Cup TV rights. They argue that FOX did a poor job of promoting America’s top league. While this is a fair argument, FOX has in the past 12 months significantly improved its presentation and coverage of the league, but TV ratings were still poor. Rather than blame the inferior quality of the MLS product on the field, MLS bloggers prefer to make FOX the scapegoat instead.

It’s time to stop hating on FOX Soccer. Instead it’s time to give them the benefit of the doubt and hope that they make the right decisions moving forward to improve their coverage. Many readers who rave about how incredible ESPN’s coverage is seem to forget how woeful the 2006 World Cup broadcast was by ESPN and ABC (and forget how many Monday 3pm games have been showing up on ESPN3.com instead of ESPN2 recently). In the span of four years, ESPN’s coverage went from laughable to simply stunning. FOX has seven years and a giant head start. The next few years will be interesting times indeed for soccer fans in the United States, and FOX needs to be congratulated for making a significant investment in the sport of soccer. Without them, the soccer viewing landscape in this country would look completely different.

Outside of the TV coverage of the actual matches themselves, what are the things that you can’t live without when it comes to following the Premier League?

For example, what TV shows, radio shows, websites, phone apps, plug-ins, or anything else do you use that are the most important to you — whether they’re legal or illegal? These could be things that help enrich the experience of following or watching your favorite Premier League club. And they don’t have to be things that are in the country where you live. They can be anything worldwide.

Please list your list in the comments section below. The information will be helpful for a project I’m working on, and I want to thank you in advance for taking 30 seconds to share your feedback.

I realize that what I will suggest will border on being sacrilegious in the eyes of English football traditionalists, but here goes: The weekend Premier League football schedule needs to change.

Let me explain.

This past weekend’s matches in the Premier League were very entertaining (except for the Sunderland against Fulham game). But the shame of it all was that we soccer fans didn’t get to enjoy the common experience of watching the same games at the same time. Most of us probably watched Norwich against Arsenal, Swansea versus Manchester United, Chelsea against Liverpool, and may watch Aston Villa against Tottenham Hotspur. Out of the 10am ET games on Saturday, I would guess that the vast majority of TV soccer viewers watched Manchester City against Newcastle. Right?

So that means that the majority of viewers missed watching these games live: Stoke against QPR, West Brom vs Bolton, Wigan versus Blackburn, Sunderland against Fulham, and Everton v Wolves. Those were five games that were largely overlooked by most soccer fans because it’s difficult to watch more than one game at one time.

The shame is that, out of all of the games from this past weekend (other than Chelsea against Liverpool), the two most entertaining ones were Wigan against Blackburn and Stoke City versus Queens Park Rangers.

So here’s my recommendation. Why not spread the Premier League matches out over the weekend to allow TV viewers from around the world the chance to see more Premier League games, thus increasing TV ratings and helping promote the Premier League? Traditionalists will argue that the 3pm GMT kick-off time is done for a reason, to allow football supporters in the United Kingdom to utilize transport (either public or their own) to attend matches (home and away). But the reality is that the three o’clock kick-off is no longer a norm in the Premier League. That ship has sailed long ago.

Taking this past weekend’s matches as an example, here’s how I would have liked to see the matches shown on television:

Friday, November 18:

• Wigan v Blackburn, 8pm GMT

Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote “Tis better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all”. Spanish fans echoed similar sentiments following their recent 1-0 loss to England in an international friendly. It was a brave defensive display by England’s somewhat makeshift lineup missing the likes of Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, Jack Wilshere and Ashley Young. When you read that list of absentees, the lack of potency in England’s attack becomes clear. But Capello clearly played to the strengths of the personnel available. They were compact, stubborn, and very disciplined against the Spanish world beaters who were predictably dominant in possession but lacked real creativity in the final third. England got their chance and took it resulting in a somewhat surprising win.

International breaks have been largely uninspiring and, though this match will quickly fade from memory, it has sparked considerable debate. Many in the English and Spanish press have greatly criticized Capello’s tactics as being ultra conservative and unadventurous. Certain Spanish pundits proudly stood behind their squad stating ‘we would rather play beautiful football and lose, than play as defensively as England did and win’. Make no mistake. This was a friendly. But there was no shortage of reaction. The debate has become philosophical in nature.

Who defines what is ‘football’? Perhaps the Spanish are the current writers of history as they are the most recent victors on the world and European stages. Therefore, Spain and Barcelona’s slick passing, intricate, possession based style rules the day. Though I would argue that Barcelona’s defensive tenacity from top to bottom is their biggest difference maker.

I often hear pundits use the phrase ‘they’re a good footballing side’. Of course, I understand their opinion. They are referring to teams that keep the ball on the floor and try to pass their way through opponents using technical ability. But that phrase has always struck me as a strange one. For example, every team in the Premier League has earned the right to play at that level regardless of their style. Each team takes to that green pitch and plays on the same stage. The manager uses the tools at his disposal and comes up with a strategy to beat the opposition. If Barcelona’s personnel were not so technically gifted, they would play a different way.

Is it not the diversity of footballing styles that makes the game so interesting? If every team played the same way, would it not become predictable? Fortunately teams are made up of individuals with differing talents based on physique, training, footballing background and culture. I think that is one of the reasons why the Barclays Premier League is so attractive to viewers. There are so many different styles of play. Even recent Premier League history is filled with successful teams of differing styles: the free flowing attack of Arsenal’s Invincibles, the impregnable rock that was Mourinho’s Chelsea, the counter-attacking dominance of Ferguson’s Man United with Cristiano Ronaldo.

Many people would like to see Barcelona play at Stoke City’s Britannia on a cold, wet Tuesday night… well except for Stoke. Though this is often said in jest, it speaks to the curiosity of viewers and pundits in the clashing of styles, environments, and cultures within the game. So I do not reject the ‘Lord Tennyson’ view of football as it is an opinion. But for me, it is the differing philosophies that make the game great.

I invite you to share your opinions on some of your favorite teams of the past and their unique footballing philosophies.

Something happened this past weekend that made my day.

I decided to take a long walk Saturday. It was a beautiful day in South Florida. A picture-perfect day. Blue skies, 76 degrees fahrenheit and a cool breeze. It felt so good to get out and walk for about an hour through a quiet, wooded neighborhood.

The hidden truth about living in South Florida is that it’s too hot to be out for long periods of time for six out of the 12 months (May through October are usually obscenely hot and humid). So on such a wondrous day in November, I was surprised to see only five people on my one hour stroll. Three of them were dog walkers, while the only people who were outside walking for pure pleasure were a young boy and his grandmother.

On my way home, I stopped in a Super Target store to pick up a few items for dinner. And suddenly I realized where everyone was. On my walk, it was a ghost town. Inside Target, there were large crowds of people, walking aimlessly around the store. If you want to find America, go shopping.

What made my day though was what happened when I turned down one of the aisles and saw a complete stranger wearing a Manchester United shirt. Where you live, seeing a Premier League football shirt may be a common occurrence. But where I live, in suburbia (outside West Palm Beach), it’s a rarity. I can see one if I go to my local park filled with soccer fields, or if I go to a local soccer game. But I hardly ever (if ever) see one while shopping.

The bloke wearing the Manchester United shirt didn’t notice I was staring at his shirt as I walked past him, but I wanted to look on the back of his shirt to see if there was a name plastered below his shoulders. And there was. Rooney. I smiled and blurted out “Rooney, Rooney” to him. He turned and gave me an awkward “Ahh, yeah.”

While I’m not a Manchester United supporter, seeing a complete stranger wearing a Manchester United shirt in a large store where Americana shopped was a beautiful sight to see. It tells me (not scientifically) that Premier League football is creeping into America’s mainstream. Slowly, but surely, the invasion is happening.