Keeping track of all of the ways that soccer fans in the United States can watch the sport on television suddenly got very confusing in the past week with the addition of ESPN2 to the Premier League TV rights package, as well as the glittering array of Champions League matches being shown across Fox’s TV networks nationwide.
As each day passes, we’re learning more about the coverage and all of the little details that are incredibly important to soccer fans. Two of the biggest questions that EPL Talk receive are about the EPL on ESPN 360 and HD on GolTV.
Here are the answers, as well as additional news and analysis about ESPN:
Is the EPL Coming To ESPN 360?
Unfortunately, we don’t have good news to report. An ESPN spokesperson has confirmed that no Premier League games will be shown on ESPN360 this season, which is discouraging news for soccer fans in the United States who would prefer to watch the Saturday morning and Monday afternoon games online instead of on a television set.
Presumably the broadband rights for those two timeslots have gone back to Fox Soccer Channel. However, the recently relaunched FoxSoccer.tv site currently doesn’t have the games that are being aired on ESPN2.
When is HD Coming To GolTV?
According to a spokesperson from GolTV, the Miami-based TV network are currently investing in the technology to get upgraded for HD delivery, which should happen sometime in 2010.
All Eyes Will Be On ESPN2 This Weekend
Probably the best thing that ESPN could have wished for was Burnley to upset Manchester United so as to make United’s game against Wigan this Saturday even more crucial.
And that’s exactly what happened.
It’s not unusual for Manchester United to have a slow start to the season, but on one would have expected Sir Alex Ferguson’s side to slip up against Burnley on Wednesday night in a shock 1-0 defeat. With two lackluster displays in a row, the pressure will be on Man United more than usual this Saturday when they play Wigan Athletic in a game which will be televised live by ESPN2 at 10am ET in HD.
Manchester United will not only be the center of attention Saturday. Wigan Athletic will be a difficult team for United to break down and will be pushed to their limits at times. It’ll be interesting to see how Wigan manager Roberto Martinez will tactically line up against United. Without a doubt, it’ll be a massive test of his abilities to try to outthink Ferguson.
Lots of attention will be focused, too, on ESPN2 — what will their half-time analysis be like, will they run scores from other Premier League games across the ticker during the game (hopefully not), how will their pre-game analysis differ from last week, and more. The game will certainly be intriguing to watch for several reasons.
And don’t forget about Monday’s game between Liverpool and Aston Villa, also on ESPN2 (3pm ET).
{ 31 comments… read them below or add one }
Gaffer, any news about the availability of GolTV on cable, other networks. It’s currently available on my Time Warner Cable in North Dallas but only the Spanish channel as part of one of Spanish packages!
not sure if this helps, but in my neck of the woods the website makes it look like GolTV is only part of the hispanic package, but when you order the “sports package” you actually get fox soccer, gol, along with nhl, nfl, mlb and nba networks. only 7 bucks.
David, if that doesn’t work, try contacting GolTV directly at info@goltv.tv
Cheers,
The Gaffer
Hmm, really disappointing about ESPN 360, thanks for following up though Gaffer.
Does foxsoccer.tv show the games live or can you only watched them taped delayed? They talk about black outs, but where would there not be a black out in the United States if Fox Soccer is all over the country? Why then pay for a broadband service if you can’t watch the games live?
Gaffer once again thanks for the info although i have a feelinh HD for goltv will take longer to come. Cheers
Thanks for the update Chris:
We all can’t wait to see what ESPN does with some time to prepare a pre/post game show and halftime filler.
Thought 360 would be a problem due to broadband rights being a seperate deal but most of us have DVR’s anyway.
For me, I look forward to updated scores being run from other games. Live look ins would be nice to, but that’s another issue. Maybe it’s an American thing, and I know some people do not want to see a score of a delayed broadcast, but I like being kept informed and see no reason to remain unaware of other action. Leads to more excitement.
I am an American and I disagree. I love not having any information giving during games and am tickled pink that ESPN dropped the news-ticker for most of the EPL game last Saturday. I wish they would do that permanently! I DVR most of the games during the weekend and watch them without any knowledge of the outcome. It makes it much more exciting in my opinion!
My guess is ESPN will show results from the other EPL games on their ticker since they won’t be showing any other games on their network airing at a similar time.
Let’s just hope the ticker isn’t permanent. It was so nice to see an ESPN game without the ticker (or have it only pop-up every 20 min or so). With all the info available via hand-held devices, internet, and even ESPNNews, the sports ticker has outlived its day. There is no reason to include it on any broadcast anymore. Fans that want scores or updates during a game can get them much easier than they ever could in the past.
Somebody, somewhere, needs to create a ‘death to the ticker’ website / petition. It is old, outdated technology that hurts the viewing experience in today’s age, especially while watching a game in glorious HD.
I agree about NOT displaying scores on the ticker. For example, I am an Arsenal fan and will watch the game this Saturday on Setanta at 10am. I also want to see Man U (hopefully lose) at the same time. So I DVR the Man U game and watch after the Arsenal game. Knowing the score to another game would take the fun out of watching the game I recorded.
What about Goltv in Canada? They showed the Real Madrid – Toronto game in HD but then the HD channel disappeared again.
So far foxsoccer.tv has been a real disappointment. I don’t understand why Fox would outsource a great source of revenue to a company that can’t even provide good information to a dedicated fan base. I actually chatted online with one of their customer service lads. “More information coming”, with repeated reference to a magic date of August 23rd. Fox will never expect to keep up with ESPN if they can’t push out games in a timely manner online. As of Thursday we are still waiting for the Liverpool/Stoke game to be available.
Will they play the game lives ever or will they only be recorded versions to watch? I don’t see the point of their service if this is their plan for the U.S. market.
Foxsoccer.tv removed the Liverpool/Stoke game from the schedule. According to the chat I had, it won’t be available due to technical issues.
Death to the ticker! I love it! I’ll check on the availability of the domain name.
I have to admit, I don’t really care much for ESPN360. Watching games online is still a very unsatisfactory experience for me. Despite DSL, a fairly new and good computer, and even a new chair for my desk, it’s just not comfortable to sit there for that amount of time while watching poor quality, small pictures. Once that improves, and especially if I could get it connected to my tv, which is in another part of the house, then maybe I’ll pay attention to it again.
do you have a fairly new and large TV?
i think the best part of 360 is plugging your laptop into your TV and watching the game that way. Just like the “real” thing.
No HD of course.
Yes, death to the ticker!! Why does ESPN persist on using this obnoxious ‘eye candy’. The one important reason I subscribe to Setanta is the purity of the broadcast; just simple, wonderful football, no busy whoosh graphics, CGI wipes, etc. To witness this sort of sports-broadcast torture, just take a look at current NFL broadcasts; numerous crazy graphics, ‘1st & Down’ splashed across the screen, oh, yecch!! Call me old fashioned, but thank the British gods for providing a minimalist, nonsense free presentation of the football…..ESPN, please listen!
What are you talking about, Boring? Setanta always showed other scores in by the scorebox. On the final day of last season, I was pissed because they kept showing updates. I love how reality is skewed. Fox is the stupid graphics company (not really FSC. I mean Fox). And how come nobody complains about the World Soccer Shop ad that takes up FAR more space than the ESPN ticker?
ESPN’s ticker, in the 28-58 style that they used it, was not intrusive, and it was only on for 30 seconds at a time.
/rant
Not everyone has a tv,as of now i’m enjoying watching the epl on hd @ home…but next week i’ll be moving back to my dorm room and no epl on espn360. is a FAIL
I don’t think ESPN will be showing the other scores on the ticker…but they will have the ticker. The ticker is a necessary evil, everyone just needs to live with it. In past interviews with Derek Rae, they said they would stop giving away scores to games. Despite what everyone thinks, the people running the soccer broadcasts at ESPN know what they’re doing now and know what us fans think.
Btw, just saw today ESPN promoting their soccer coverage. Looks like it’s going to be Premier League Saturdays (and Monday) and La Liga Sundays. Hopefully someone took the time to upload it on YouTube.
Disappointing about ESPN360. I dont have a DVR and will not be able to watch the games Saturday morning so 360 is perfect for me to watch the replays.
Amazing they wont show the EPL games they air on ESPN2 considering they show Serie A, Bundesliga, the Dutch League, Coca-Cola Championship, and soon La Liga games I assume. Also believe they show games from Portugal.
I’m pumped for the ManU game! Check out the commercial ESPN is running with Seven Nation Army…can’t freaking wait!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gc-RRAxPNOY
That commercial is excellent! I bet tons of people who see it will want to check out “the best soccer in the world”. And they will get hooked.
I remember my first experience with EPL. It was not only the quality of play that drew me back, but the excitement of the crowds, the chanting, the passion, the history, etc.
Saturday. ManU in HD!!
i sent an email to FSC asking about HD and below is the reply i got….
FSC is targeting January, 2010 as the date to offer select programs in high definition (HD) where rights and access to HD feeds are available, including the UEFA Champions League, Barclays Premier League and Serie A
Will the game on saturday be in HD on ESPN2. That is the question..
i believe it is in HD, you wanna bet
For Li Liga fans, it looks like La Liga will be on ESPN2 on Sundays beginning Sept 13.
(Schedule as of 8/20/09 via ESPN Deportes website):
Sept 13 at 11 AM ET
Sept 20 at 1 PM ET
Sept 27 at 1 PM ET
http://espndeportes.espn.go.com/sports/tvlistings/deportes/schedule?date=20090913&network=02&sport=all&country=united%20states
La Liga (typo)
I work for the aforementioned network and all I can say is that there will be a production team on the games for Saturdays, definitely. I’m not 100% sure on the Monday games, but the obvious reason that there was nothing produced last weekend besides a 15 minute pre-game was just because it was so last minute. But just like all of you, I’m excited to see what they do with the broadcast.
you can download the 30 sec ESPN Promo for EPL and La Liga here. It’s in HD.
http://skpd-hd-football.blogspot.com/
No HD for 10:00 ET Saturday games unless TWI/Sky have just started producing some of those games in HD.
Personally, I would also expect ESPN to reveal scores at least during halftime since they will only ever have one Saturday game per week this season. On the Champions League, they did generally hide the one game which both US and Australian English-language viewers would get on tape delay, but not the other games.
Some day, it will likely be possible to watch all the games by a DirecTV mix channel/red button/etc. as it is in Australia. At that point, the debate over scores/highlights should end, as it has for the NFL.