Sky Sports often make a fool of themselves by hyping their own programming to such an extent that they can hardly ever live up to their promises. But, they recently released a new promo in the United Kingdom which caught my eye because it’s extremely well done, irreverent, creative and conjures up great memories of childhood.

So, take a gander at the above video to see how Sky Sports is promoting its upcoming season of soccer. And to see what Martin Tyler, Richard Keys, Andy Gray and other pundits get up to.

Thanks to EPL Talk reader John Griffin for the news tip. Send your tips to thegaffer[at]epltalk[dot]com

Sky Sports’ Andy Gray broadcast the UEFA Champions League final on Saturday and will work with Fox Soccer Channel this summer as a World Cup analyst. Earlier this week Andy joined me to talk about both events, giving us an overview of which nations he sees as strongest ahead of the finals in South Africa.

Fox Soccer Channel is adding Sky Sports personalities Andy Gray and Richard Keys to its summer coverage of the World Cup, according to Multichannel News.

The move is surprising because few anticipated Fox would feature such high-profile talent to host its World Cup program, “Ticket To South Africa,” especially since Fox Soccer Channel will not be showing any of the games. Four years ago, during World Cup 2006, Fox Soccer Channel hosted a similar show from its studio in Los Angeles and included talent such as Cobi Jones, Christopher Sullivan, Bobby McMahon and Nick Webster in its build-up and analysis of that World Cup.

In 2010, “Ticket To South Africa” will feature Richard Keys in his customary role as host of the program (he also hosts Super Sunday in England for Sky Sports) which kicks off on June 10, the opening day of the World Cup and will be broadcast live each night after the final game of the day concludes.

Alongside Keys will be a familiar face (and voice) to both US and British soccer viewers, and that’s Andy Gray – the Scottish co-commentator who is best known for his role alongside Martin Tyler on the preeminent Premier League matches. During Euro 2008, ESPN hired Gray to provide expert coverage of the tournament.

Together with Keys and Gray will be pundits Christopher Sullivan and Warren Barton. The article in Multichannel News is vague in terms of whether Gray and Keys will be conducting their part of the show from South Africa, but the story does allude to the fact that some FSC personalities will be at the World Cup.

Complementing “Ticket To South Africa” on Fox Soccer Channel will be a new program named “Passport To South Africa.” According to Multichannel news, the nine-episode series of 30-minute studio talks shows will focus on the 32 nations competing for the FIFA title, breaking down each country’s group, how it qualified and its chances to take home the crown.

While “Ticket To South Africa” will analyze each day of the World Cup and preview the next matches, “Passport to South Africa” will debut January 18 at 9:30 pm ET and will feature in-depth analysis, features and predictions from FSC’s commentators, including Sullivan, Barton and Bobby McMahon, plus special guests.

A key piece of news regarding both programs is that they’ll both be recorded in high-definition. Does that mean that Fox Soccer Channel may be available on DirecTV or other satellite or cable providers in time for the debut of “Passport To South Africa” on January 18? We’ll have to wait and see.

What’s your opinion about Gray and Keys being added to Fox Soccer Channel’s line-up? And will you watch the daily program now that these two personalities are included? Click the comments link below to share your feedback.

UPDATE: According to a Fox Soccer Channel representative, Andy Gray and Richard Keys will be in the Los Angeles studio, while there will be a team of Fox Soccer Channel staff on site in South Africa reporting on the World Cup.

Christmas has arrived early thanks to Fox Soccer Channel with the exclusive news that the knockout stages of the Champions League on FSC and FSN, as well as the final on FX, will feature the two-person commentary teams from Sky Sports instead of the UEFA/international commentary teams.

Some of you observant Fox Soccer Channel viewers may have noticed that Martin Tyler and Andy Gray commentated the Wolfsburg against Manchester United game earlier this week, while Alan Parry and Don Goodman were behind the mics for the Olympiakos against Arsenal match. That’s just a taste of the top-notch commentary you can expect to hear for the remainder of the Champions League season.

This is brilliant news. The quantity and quality of Champions League coverage Fox Soccer Channel has provided so far this season has been exemplary, but the only disappointment has been the abysmal commentating provided by UEFA’s team of commentators ran by Tim White Media Consultancy. The commentating has been so woeful that Tim White and his colleagues have become a running joke on EPL Talk.

Thankfully, Fox has corrected the issue by replacing the feed with the commentator feed directly from Sky Sports which features some of the best experts in the world such as Tyler, Gray, Parry, Ian Darke and many others.

A big thank you to Fox Soccer Channel for listening to its viewers and making the wise decision. Au revoir Tim White. Bienvenue Sky Sports.

American football has its John Madden, but among the media soccer doesn’t have a recognized authority figure on soccer? Or do we? Vote now who you believe is the number one authority on soccer worldwide.

FIFA 09 Preview? We’ve got it here including the official preview, a trailer from EA featuring Maurice Edu and a couple of fan videos showing actual gameplay.

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Electronic Arts must hate the August transfer window. With their FIFA series being released in early September, EA has no time to include the latest big signings such as Robinho and Berbatov. Thankfully updates should take care of the transfer switches.

FIFA 09 is scheduled for release in Europe on October 3, 2008 for the PS3 and Xbox 360. The North America release date is October 14.

The commentators featured in the English-speaking versions will include Martin Tyler and Andy Gray.

It’s pretty sad when two soccer columnists who represent what is supposedly one of the nation’s top newspapers are so incompetent and out-of-touch with reality.
Last November, I called New York Times soccer columnist Jack Bell a wanker for writing an idiotic article criticizing Fox Soccer Channel for broadcasting the Premier League, the world’s most popular sports league. Now Bell is criticizing ESPN for its Euro 2008 coverage.

Bell this time aims his criticism at ESPN’s decision to feature Euro 2008 commentators with British and Irish accents instead of those that are American. Jack Bell backs up his claims by including quotes from sometimes New York Times columnist Greg Lalas, better known as the brother of another doofus, Alexi Lalas.

Here are their inane comments:

1. “ESPN’s decision to import the Scotsman Andy Gray as an analyst has added a whiff of authority and some good insight. But would that insight be absent, for example, if Americans like Shep Messing or John Harkes were at the microphones instead?” – Jack, the answer is a definite yes. I loved John Harkes as a player, but he’s one of the most boring football commentators I’ve ever had the displeasure of hearing. Shep Messing is okay, but Andy Gray is better than Messing by a country mile. Gray’s ability to provide listeners insight into tactics and formations is fantastic as well as his ability to be direct with his criticism, which is so refreshing to hear.
2. “There’s nothing offensive about Derek Rae, the Scottish play-by-play guy. But is he any better than J.P. Dellacamera, the voice of M.L.S. and the U.S. national team on ESPN?” — Again Jack, the answer is yes. How incompetent can Bell be not to realize the world-class commentary that Rae provides and to suggest that Dellacamera could do better? I’m a big fan of JP, but Dellacamera has only recently returned to the game after being out for quite some time commentating hockey matches. Dellacamera, alongside Seamus Malin and Phil Schoen, are three of the best U.S. soccer commentators the country has to offer, but all of them pale in comparison compared to Derek Rae and Andy Gray. In a recent interview I conducted with Dellacamera, he himself admitted that he wasn’t on top of the latest European news since being out of the game for so long.
3. “ESPN has made it clear to its roster of mostly competent American soccer dudes that they need not apply for any job outside broadcasting Major League Soccer games” — That’s a ridiculous and childish statement to make. Rather than to go home and cry to mommy, Bell should realize that American commentators need to improve their work so they can compete against people such as Adrian Healey, Tommy Smyth, Rae and Gray. Would Bell and Lalas be more satisfied if we brought back Marcelo Balboa and Dave O’Brien? Both of them were an abomination in World Cup 2006. And do they realize how many American viewers ESPN and ABC lost because they switched to the Spanish language network Univision for better commentary?

Obviously ESPN knows what they’re doing. ESPN’s Euro 2008, with a few exceptions, has been spectacular and the ratings have been higher than ever. Instead of being so negative in a national soccer column, Lalas and Bell should be embracing the game not ridiculing it.

ESPN and ABC’s dreams have come true. Sunday’s Euro 2008 final between Germany and Spain is a far better proposition for the Disney owned TV networks than Turkey against Russia would have been. With plenty of German Americans living in the United States as well as a massive hispanic population, TV ratings should be high.

Overall, the amount of attention that ESPN has given to Euro 2008 this summer has far exceeded my expectations. The games seem to be a centerpiece of the network’s coverage and has even been the lead story on some of ESPN’s other sports programs.

The work that ESPN has done this summer is to be applauded. Everything from the TV commercials to the broadcast of a different European Championship final each night leading up to the tournament, as well as the way that ESPN has been cross-promoting the tournament on its own shows, has been fantastic.

Inside the studio, the only mistake the network made was hiring Julie Foudy. While she is exuberant on the set, she adds little to no worthy analysis. As the weeks have passed by, she has grown on me, but ESPN would have done better to hire someone who really knows his or her world football and has more passion than Foudy. That person is Ray Hudson.

What struck me this week is that there really isn’t a TV network that football fans love globally. In the UK, many viewers despise the BBC, ITV and Sky Sports. In the United States, Fox Soccer Channel often gets ridiculed. But with ESPN, they have a unique opportunity to produce high quality soccer coverage. They’re experts at production. Plus they have a soccer expert in Derek Rae as well as a hired hand such as Andy Gray.

Derek Rae, especially, has been a joy to listen to this summer. His level of football commentating as well as his knowledge of the game, the statistics and his impeccable gift of knowing how to pronounce difficult words and speak other languages puts him into the top tier of football commentators. While Andy Gray seems to talk down to Adrian Healey a little bit during matches, Gray and Rae strike up a dynamite partnership. Both Scots are still trying to get used to working with each other, but you can tell that Gray has a lot of respect for his fellow countryman.

The big question is where does ESPN go from here? The next World Cup in 2010 still seems far away. The obvious choice would be for ESPN to enter into the bidding later this year against Setanta Sports and Fox Soccer Channel for the rights to show the English Premier League in the United States. FSC’s current contract with the Premier League runs until 2010.

Modern day football coverage is such that the commentators don’t even need to be in the stadiums anymore. ESPN’s Euro 2008 commentators are all huddled in Bristol, Connecticut. Most TWI commentators, meanwhile, broadcast Premier League games out of their studios in west London.

With the world being a much smaller place today plus with the global popularity of the Premier League, this opens up opportunities for football commentators who are interested in working overseas. Gone is the need for commentators to work from the actual stadiums.

What this does is open up mouthwatering possibilities. Imagine if ESPN was to capture the rights to Premier League coverage when it next comes up for bid in the United States.

It’s entirely possible that the American broadcaster would attempt to sign Andy Gray as their lead co-commentator and pundit. When it comes down to it, most people have a price tag and ESPN could be willing to sign Gray to a long-term contract in the future if it makes business sense.

At the same time, if ESPN offered most of the top football commentators in England a chance to live and work in the United States and make more money, many of them would jump at the chance. All it would take is someone like Andy Gray to lead the way and many top broadcast professionals would follow.

Don’t believe it? The last time I spoke with a Premier League commentator at TWI, he expressed his interest in working in the United States and asked that I keep an eye out for any opportunities.

For the exodus to happen, though, ESPN’s TV ratings for football will need to grow and advertisers would need to express an interest in sponsoring the Premier League. ESPN used to have the TV rights to the Premier League in the States, but a lot has changed since this happened. Could the timing be right for ESPN to get behind the EPL?

Share your thoughts on the story by clicking the comments link below.

Soccer fans in the United States watching the Turkey against Czech Republic game were in for a double treat on Sunday. There was the incredible comeback from Turkey who found themselves two nil down but came back to win the match 3-2, which knocked the Czechs out of the tournament. But there was also the pleasure of experiencing ESPN commentator Derek Rae and co-commentator Andy Gray working together.

The two Scots were terrific showing a wonderful chemistry and rapport as if they had been working together for years.

Gray, especially, showed his brilliance and the value he adds to the coverage of matches. His forthright manner is so refreshing. For example, he called out Hamit Altintop for pretending to be injured so the ref would stop play and the Turkish right back could not be caught out of position. Gray also explained how the Turks had a tough time finding players to pass to in the middle of the park because of Czech Republic’s five man midfield, and how Turkey would need to resort to different tactics such as long balls up top. Within one minute of saying that, that’s exactly what Turkey did.

Gray is a perfect fit for ESPN and American soccer fans. The way that he’s so naturally enthusiastic about the games makes you want to watch them. Plus, I find myself listening to the commentating more closely. I’ve learned something in every match I’ve watched so far where Andy Gray has been co-commentating.

Rae meanwhile has been his usual self, which is a huge compliment. His knowledge of the facts and figures regarding players is impressive and he always adds credibility to ESPN’s coverage.

Derek Rae feels like such a natural fit alongside Andy Gray that you have to wonder whether Rae deserves the chance to move up the ladder and land a coveted spot with TWI to bring coverage of Premier League soccer to a worldwide audience. I’m sure Rae feels comfortable living in the United States, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s offered a bigger and better opportunity in the near future.