Fox Sports International sent me a package last week to promote Fox Soccer Plus. You can watch me open the package to reveal what’s inside. It definitely took me by surprise.
The package is part of a marketing campaign called Fox Soccer Plus Rowdies. The aim seems to be to inform potential advertisers about the availability of Fox Soccer Plus and how 62 million plus people in America want soccer.
While Fox Soccer Plus isn’t available on most TV providers in the United States, I have to say hats off to Fox for putting together a package that definitely will open people’s eyes to the growth of the sport in this country. Plus some of the videos on the Fox Soccer Plus Rowdies site are pretty humorous.
What do you think of the campaign? Do you think it’s a good idea and will it be effective? Share your feedback in the comments section below.
I could purchase Fox Soccer Plus, but I refuse to do so for same reason I never purchased Setanta: the cost of $15 per month. If they were to lower their cost to $5 per month, they would get at least 10 times more subscribers and thus make more money. For $15, or even $10, however, forget it. A poor business decision by them, I’d say.
I think the more important question, especially for DirecTV subscribers, might be this: Who’s willing to put up with more ads for ProActiv, Who Are Ya Designs, and various Debt Settlement agencies if it means not having to pay that extra $15/month? Because I’m probably going to cancel my subscription to FS+ between the FA Cup Final and Round 1 of the 2010-11 EPL season, and I think Fox could make more money with FS+ by just making it a regular Sports Pack channel.
I never thought of doing that, Dave–brilliant! After the cup finals I’m cancelling fsc, then re-subscribing for round one of the new season. US fans want their football, yes. However, we want it as an affordable package deal, in true high definition, and and better programming. ESPN if you’re listening… time to start an ESPNsoccernet channel in HD.
Are there currently no ads such as Proactiv on the FSP channel? If not, then I agree that I’d rather watch the same ads on FSC if it made the channel free. Otherwise $15/month is way too much for me.
Ads have started creeping in to FS+ in the last week or two, but for the most part, they’re just showing highlight reels and promos where the ads would normally go. They would have an easier time selling those spaces if FS+ were available to every Sports Pack subscriber on DirecTV and Dish (which probably numbers in the millions), rather than the 50K to 60K hardcore fans shelling out $15/mo.
Of course, they could also let Google sell those ads. Witness how one person got an ad on Fox News over night for a mere $1,300…
http://slatev.com/video/how-i-ran-ad-fox-news/
Hell, I just want DirecTV to start broadcasting FS+ and FSC in HD (any update on this Gaffer?)! Personally, I don’t have a problem with $15/month, especially since I watch these channels far more than about anything else. And why are people uptight on the stupid commercials? Folks, buy a DVR and 30 seconds of Fast Forward gets your right through half-time.
Personally, I’ll be cancelling all of my DirecTV and moving to Dish if I can’t get these channels in HD at the start of the next EPL season, when it is clear 90% of the originial broadcasts are HD and just downgraded by DirecTV…
CA, no update unfortunately. It’s gotten very quiet in DirecTV land.
Cheers,
The Gaffer
Switch to Dish!
i have the basic directv package called family which is $29.99 add $10 for two of my boxes they charge add $10 for hd add $7 for dvr add $14.99 for fsp and add $3 for taxes and im looking at $75 a month not bad. fsp is important because i love soccer and rugby. by the way does anyone know including the gaffer when fsp is going to be in hd.
This whole “new” promotion smacks of “whoops we really stepped in it” to me. I would bet that the $15/month scheme has been a complete failure and only now are they seeing that most of the cable providers are just not interested full stop. FOX has made a complete hash of this whole thing. Please ESPN buy the lot and show Murdoch how to run a business.
I’m already paying a ridiculous amount to DirecTV each month for a full suite of channels, HD access, DVR service, MLS package, etc. An additional $15/month represents a 10% increase in that monthly bill – a percentage that’s even higher for people not already getting the Premium pack, DVR, HD, and so on.
They (both Fox and DirecTV) are high if they think I’ll pay $15 more per month for a single NON-HD channel — ad-free or not. I might pay it if I could drop the overall sports package and get a “soccer” package for that $15 (FSC, FSP, GolTV, UEFA Mix – with HD where available). But asking $15 for FSP by itself, given its current programming and SD feed, is nuts – my hope is that their pricing model is currently just a holdover from the Setanta arrangement.
I agree with others that there’s an opportunity here for ESPN to step in and take what they’d doing with ESPN Soccernet online and put it into a channel. Their HD EPL games look gorgeous…
Amen JD! $15 per month for a “Soccer Pack” is an awesome idea!
The closest I think we will get to a soccer channel sadly from ESPN is ESPN3.com. I don’t think they would be willing to take say ESPN Classic and making it HD and putting all soccer content on it. If they were going to do that I think they would have done it by now and used it for the World Cup, but maybe if the US does well and ratings keep going up on EPL and MLS matches they will do it right before the Euros.
Gaffer, can you provide us with videos of you opening regular mail also? Junk mail, bills, that sort of thing.
Absolutely. I can even do the same for all the spam e-mail I get
Cheers,
The Gaffer
I’ve recently moved and am new to DirectTv. I’ve been planning for a few weeks now to cancel FSP once the FA Cup Final has been played. And I’m undecided on whether or not I’m going to sign back up for the 10/11 season, simply because I can not justify paying any amount of money for a channel that is not presented in HD. It’s bad enough that they blast me in the face whenever they can that this game or this show is presented in HD on FSC–which is complete Tomfoolery, as Gaffer has pointed out–but to actually have to pay a premium price for it is to much for me to handle.
Any word on when or if Comcast will offer Fox Soccer Channel Plus ?
No news yet. But with Comcast, it’ll probably be on a region-by-region basis in terms of their decision whether to add it.
Cheers,
The Gaffer
they’ve outright lied to me before so take this with a pinch of salt, but in the Atlanta region, they told me it was being added to the sports tier by early May
And here in Chicago, I was told that there were “many new” HD channels (which may or may not(!) include FSC HD & FS+) coming with the rollout of xfinity, which is apparently scheduled for May-July.
They typical BS corporatese-runaround answer I just got today from DirecTV:
“Thanks for writing.
I completely understand your concern regarding the availability of Fox Soccer Channel and Fox Soccer Plus in HD. While we are unable to comment on upcoming programming decisions, we are always reviewing our programming options to make sure we bring you the best possible TV experience.
We value your opinions about our programming, so I have forwarded your request to DIRECTV management, who review every suggestion, inquiry and complaint for trends from our most important customers to determine what channels should be considered…”
Lame.
I could care less. Fox needs spend more of an effort getting their product -Fox Soccer Plus on more systems and its bastard child foxsoccertv up to a quality that is worth viewers paying their hard earned money for. Otherwise, what’s the point of going after advertisers.
Until FS+ goes HD, there isn’t much reason for it with foxsoccer.tv. But despite, the unprecedented amount of EPL matches, foxsoccer.tv has too many issues as well. The video quality needs to be significantly increased and the buffering issues near permanently resolved. I get too nervous every time it starts to buffer again… wondering whether I’ll need to reload the page of a live event.
Foxsoccer.tv is so close to being the greatest thing that the bugs and video quality really become frustrating. The service has the programming, but the channel isn’t a winner if the viewing experience is muddled with buffers and 20″ pixel resolution.
Does subscribing to FS+ give you access to FS.tv as well?
Seems strange to spend an extra 15 on FS+ when you can just get FS.tv and get the same matches + the ones not on tv. If you have the bandwidth you could have 4 matches on your computer all at once plus the FSC match on tv.
Denilson, FoxSoccer.tv is not available for free to Fox Soccer Plus subscribers. It would be $14.95 for FoxSoccer.tv on top of the $14.95 you pay for Fox Soccer Plus.
FoxSoccer.tv has the quantity, but the quality of service so far has been lacking at times.
Cheers,
The Gaffer
Is there any way to get this message to the folks in charge, and even more importantly, for them to LISTEN!! I have been paying through the nose for years for FSC, Setanta and now FSP because I love the beautiful game and I wanted it all. But this cannot last. At the start of the 10/11 season I will have to decide between the sports pack and FS+ and I will have to miss some games weekly and I do not relish the thought. JD’s idea of a soccer pack seems to me a reasonable solution that would garner more customers than the present set up.
Ive got no problem with $15 a month for FS+.
Think what you blow $15 on a month.
However uverse doesnt offer FS+.
Im gonna give them till mid summer or Im back to directv.
Any news on uverse picking up FS+, Gaffer?
Hey does anyone know the situation for this Sunday’s Rome derby? FSC has it listed live for the 2:45pm EST slot, but as of today the game has been officially moved to 10:30am EST. I really hope they still decide to show this live, because it would be a shame if they didn’t.
Going after advertisers when FS+ isn’t available to the vast majority of soccer fans doesn’t make sense. Foxsoccer.tv has major quality issues as well. Fox needs to make sure their products are first class and available to subscribers before going after potential advertisers. Most cable subscribers cannot get FS+.
I am a FSC + subscriber because Direct TV convert me over as a Setanta subscriber. Per usual I will drop the subscription at the end of the season. I am not willing to pay for the Direct TV sports package to get FSC and lot of other station I have no interest in and a separate $15 for FSC Plus next year. No HD – No $15. Direct TV should have one soccer package (plus a separate MLS ticket) at a flat rate. It is really not worth $15 for one or two EPL games a week.
Fox soccer plus had totally ruined my game watching experience! Setanta used to show ALL Manchester United and Chelsea games. I so wish it wouldn’t get substituted by the FCPlus. Now, when the title race is at its peak, Fox soccer plus is offering me all the other games of the Premier League except for the most important ones. Shame on you!!!
It’s disgusting and wrong that they air big matches on Plus and most people dont have it. liverpool vs chelsea this weekend, give me a break! thats should be on FSC or ESPN, fox pisses me off.