Taking my kids to a friend’s birthday party on Saturday morning, I had the sudden realization that perhaps the best place in the world to watch weekend soccer matches on TV is the United States. Well, at least the Eastern Time Zone
in the U.S.
Why?
- I was able to schedule my DVR to record the best matches of the day from the Premier League, Serie A, Bundesliga and La Liga. Viewers in the United States and other countries are spoilt by the number of live matches on each day compared to the UK, where very few matches are televised live on Saturdays.
- I knew that no one would spoil the results for me. Being at a social event in a typical suburbs in the United States, I had no concern that an American friend or stranger would blurt out the result from any of the matches from that day. This is something that would never happen in the UK. If you tried recording a match on a Saturday with the intent of watching it later in the day after you returned home, it’d be almost impossible to avoid knowing what the scoreline was. Football is so pervasive in England. The results are mentioned throughout the media and it’d be rare if you didn’t encounter a friend or stranger talking about the results or scoreline in public.
- The times when the matches are played are very convenient. If your partner or family wants you to do things on a weekend, it’s pretty convenient to squeeze in one or two matches on a Saturday morning and then still have plenty of time to do whatever you want to do during the weekend. Sure, it’d be nice to watch matches during primetime on a Saturday night if you lived in Asia, but what would you missus say when you tell her you want to watch Hull against Stoke City instead of going to the cinema and dinner for a Saturday night out?
Sure, the experience of watching soccer on TV in America could be improved with better analysis by presenters and HD broadcasts, but at the end of the day we should appreciate what we have and where we live. It could be a lot worse!
What do you think? Which is the best country in the world to watch weekend soccer matches? Click the comments link below and let us know.
[display_podcast]
I would put Canada – eastern time as well – right equal with the U.S. as far as availability I guess the question would ocme down to how much extra do we have to pay to watch the matches…
Certainly not in this country, for some reason J Sports have moved today’s London derby to a channel that never shows Prem matches normally – and I don’t have it!
“Sure, it’d be nice to watch matches during primetime on a Saturday night if you lived in Asia, but what would you missus say when you tell her you want to watch Hull against Stoke City instead of going to the cinema and dinner for a Saturday night out? ”
- Wouldn’t happen here as they only televise what they consider to be the ‘brand names’
Point 2 is important yes – I just watched Arses v Barcodes on tape, not a chance in ten million Jp tv or radio would spill the beans on scorelines – NHK-BS have paid heaps for the rights to show live games but don’t even bother broadcasting ‘em til days afterwards!
Live games available in Sweden today:
14:30 Chelsea – Tottenham Hotspur Premier League Canal+ Sport 1
15:00 Roma – Napoli Serie A Canal+ Sport 2
15:00 Kalmar FF – GIF Sundsvall Allsvenskan TV4 Sport
16:00 Sunderland – Manchester City Premier League Canal+ Sport Extra
17:00 Bayern München – Hertha BSC Berlin Bundesliga ViasatSport 1
17:00 Aston Villa – Liverpool Premier League Canal+ Sport 1
17:30 Bröndby – FC Köpenhamn Danska SAS-ligan ViasatSport 2
19:00 Numancia – FC Barcelona Primera Division TV4 Sport
20:30 Fiorentina – Juventus Serie A Canal+ Sport 1
21:00 Saint Etienne – Lyon Franska ligan ViasatSport 2
21:00 Deportivo La Coruna – Real Madrid Primera Division TV4 Sport
For a grand total of around 60 USD in subsribtion fees per month. I do see your point of watching games in the morning though.
I’m in the Central time zone , and love the timing of EPL matches. I frequent an Irish Pub in Minneapolis that opens in time for the first EPL match of the day, has full bar service by 8:00 AM and an all you can eat breakfast buffet by 9:00. Saw the London Derby at 7:30 today, had a few Guinness and some breakfast with two friends, and was back home by 10:00 AM with the entire day still infront of me.
@The Gaffer RE: Fox Sports (Australia) On Demand
The internet On Demand part of Fox Sports (Australia) is a ripoff, we get on their television network plenty of live EPL games for a similar monthly fee (I assume) to what you pay over in the Land of the Free.
This weekend from the EPL we got: Everton v Pompey, Arsenal v Chelsea, Chelsea v Spurs & Villa v Liverpool all live on the main channels and the other four Saturday games on the “interactive viewer’s choice channel.”
The only problem with watching the Premier League here down under is that most games kick off at Midnight, 2AM and 5AM AEST.
so at wht time exactly will the matches begin. i live in IOWA which is central time zone ….and o would like to know the conversion….as to when can i watch the matches.
it would be great if got..
thankyou
Not having lived in another country but having spent lots of time in Germany I can only say for sure it's better in the US than in Germany (!) Unless you are a Bundesliga fan, which I am. We only get 1-3 Bundesliga matches/weekend on GolTV, and the Konferenz on Sat1Welt, instead of the option of seeing them all via Premiere (if that's still the case in Deutschland, not sure.)
So seeing as how my favorite leagues are the Italian & German, I'm pretty happy. 4-6 matches/weekend of Serie A (I live in the US w/DISH Network, but also have Canadian ExpressVu.) Plus GolTV carries 4-5 La Liga matches/weekend, and Setanta carries Ligue 1 which I check in on now & then. I wouldn't miss the EPL if it went away, but I'll cry my eyes out if they take away RAI, TeleLatino or whoever has the rights to the Bundesliga in any given year.
Yes, we are blessed in the US. It also helps to have a nice DVR (ViP722 from DISH) to record two matches simultaneously and three DVD recorders, so I can watch at my leisure. Plus my wife and I both play soccer & like watching it on TV so I don't have to make excuses to watch. She & I watch together.