That’s a great idea for a blog post. I’ll write something up on that topic in the near future. Thanks for the suggestion.

Cheers,
The Gaffer

To further expand The Gaffer’s hypothesis… Imagine how different GolTV might be if FSC were to raid it (again), this time for La Liga or Bundesliga to replace Premier League programming.

Or could NewsCorp even just say, “Screw it!” and pull the plug on FSC? That’d be one way to get Stupor Sunday Plus off the air I suppose…

ESPN, Inc. is applying the “bear hug” on Setanta Sports Ltd.

In my opinion, ESPN, Inc. is telling Setanta the following:

Either ESPN buys out Setanta now so that Setanta doesn’t have to raise more cash in a capital market that has either topped or is about to top, or ESPN will roll over Setanta 1 or 2 years from now, when Setanta will have trouble raising cash to keep itself running.

I predict that ESPN, Inc. will buy out Setanta within 12-18 months.

You had to bring up the Kansas-Depaul
game. Well the answer will be yes.

A EPL game of the week on ESPN will have bigger ratings then an average NCAA BB game. Duke v. NC no. Also, the EPL game would have to be a big four team or team with a well known name attached to it.

The time slot is no problem. Either the EPL Monday night game or the early game on Saturday interferes with nothing on the ESPN schedule. US domestic rights on ESPN won’t be that expensive either. THe EPL should want to get their game on, they should almost give it away. Think of the jersey sales in Nashville!

First off at the risk of offending some people on this blog I will tell you New England’s tastes in culture, politics and sports are totally unlike the rest of the nation. I wouldn’t base anything nationally on Boston even though the media often times makes this mistake. College Football is a good example. It’s a relatively minor sport in the Northeast but is massive in the rest of the country. So massive that it is the only sport that rivals European Football in England for its ability to not only be well supported but to weave its way into the cultural landscape of the nation. the NFL and NBA may have more viewers than College Football, but the fans aren’t passionate obsessing about the games all year and what recruit each team is bringing in between the seasons. It is truly a cultural phenomena.

Secondly, basing popular support for sports on jersey sales is just plain dumb. I totally agree with MJ. Jersey sales are limited in College Sports and in fact college sports fans more often than not dress nicely to the games, wearing a polo shirt with let’s say Blue and Gold (For Michigan for example) to the games rather than a jersey.

Thirdly, ESPN cannot and will not take the weekend rights to the PL or any other Euro league. They just can’t do it. As I’ve said before far more people watch a MAC football game or a mid major college basketball game than the Premier League. That is just reality. I wish it weren’t so, but it is. Central Michigan has more TV viewers in this country than Manchester United. Those of us on EPL Talk may not want to believe it but it is true!

For Lou, since you are a DePaul grad, do you really think ESPN would have had more viewers with let’s say the Liverpool-Reading game Saturday instead of DePaul-Kansas? IMHO their is no way at all they could ever have more viewers for a EPL game than a game involving Kansas or any other school of similar stature.

I just don’t see any way ESPN shows the EPL here, but as someone said above the highlight package would be a good idea for them.

ESPN should not reduce it’s commitment to MLS, that would be a mistake. MLS will be more valuable to it in the long haul, real long haul.

Also, ESPN obtaining rihgts does not exclude FSC. The NFL rights are shared by various networks and FSC will most likely still show the Lions(pun intended) share of the matches.

Great news. I know most here will not think so.

Part of this is because you can’t get college merchandise with the player’s name on the back; it’s illegal under NCAA rules.

I will guarantee you that college basketball is more popular than soccer in this country, I don’t care what league or country you’re talking about, that’s just a fact.

Since you’re in Boston, let me ask you this. I would wager that you see far more people wearing Red Sox hats, jerseys, hoodies (any merchandise) and Patriots gear than you see wearing anything from Man United or Real Madrid, is that right?