The Record (Bergen County, NJ)
04-11-2009
ESPN's loss is gain for Fox, U.S. soccer fans
By STEFAN BONDY, STAFF WRITER
Date: 04-11-2009, Saturday
Section: SPORTS
Edtion: All Editions
Champions League match days are a test of a soccer fans resourcefulness.
Since UEFA made its money-driven decision to hold every game at the same time, viewers have taken to the Internet, to local bars, to a neighbors house with a better cable package all with the hope of catching moments such as Emmanuel Adebayors bicycle-kick goal, or Lionel Messis weekly display of brilliance.
Given its limitations and this countrys general soccer apathy, ESPN has done a good job of accommodating. The Bristol, Conn., company shows Champions League games on four channels, and broadcasts every game live on ESPN360.com
But things could be better (at least according this griping fan forced to a soccer bar Wednesday).
ESPNs love affair with Manchester United is understandable, of course, because ratings make the decisions, and the Red Devils are like the Yankees soccer fans either love them, or despise their money-driven success.
Last years final between Chelsea and United drew more than a million viewers to ESPN, justifying the current overload of EPL teams on live telecasts.
Its the same reason ESPNDeportes viewers have gotten a heavy dose of Real Madrid and Barcelona, according to ESPN spokesman Mac Nwulu.
'We can only have one live game at a time,' Nwulu said. 'And English-speaking fans tend to watch the English Premier League teams.
'The Spanish-speaking audience tends to watch the Spanish teams.'
But language barriers should have been broken Wednesday. Instead of showing an intriguing Barcelona-Bayern Munich matchup, ESPN2 went with the Liverpool-Chelsea yawner (its the fifth consecutive year these teams were paired together in Champions League).
And after passing on Barcelona (the best team in the tournament), ESPN Classic didnt replay the game at 5 p.m. because, according to Nwulu, it was contractually obligated to show the 1964 Masters golf tournament.
ESPN Classic aired the Barcelona game a day later.
The tournament may be easier to watch next year, when Fox takes over and vows to broadcast 48 live Champions League matches and 79 delayed on either Fox Soccer Channel, Fox Sports Network or FX.
The deal was announced earlier this month, and will end ESPNs 15-year broadcasting rights of Champions League games in America.
'We tried to go forward with it and we made a proposition to UEFA, but they decided to go with another proposition its the way these things are,' Nwulu said. 'You make deals that make good business sense. But we did indicate interest in getting it back.'
This is good news for soccer fans. ESPN lost to a company with its own soccer channel. For now, however, we are stuck with the juggle.
This weeks schedule tells a familiar story:
Live on Tuesday (ESPN2) Chelsea vs. Liverpool.
Live on Wednesday (ESPN2) Porto vs. Manchester United.
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E-mail: bondys@northjersey.com
Keywords: SOCCER, TELEVISION
Copyright 2009 Bergen Record Corp. All rights reserved.
