Champions League final to air on FOX

[stationless listener]

http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/...ague-final-to-be-broadcast-live-on-FOX-021010

I know that most likely most people here don't care about it. However, this is another example of how the sport is slowly but increasingly taking on a greater role in US television. Some of you already know that the FIFA World Cup final will be on ABC again. The factor of coming close to the World Cup is the only explanation that makes sense to me. How else do you try to promote this than through piggybacking on the promotion leading up to the start of the World Cup?

This news takes the exposure of the sport on American television an even greater step further. Yes, the Murdoch empire does have interests in other countries where they show the UEFA Champions League final but now they feel that they're ready to put it on an actual US OTA network.

As for the date of the match, I read that FOX is now able to broadcast the Baseball Game of the Week for May 22 on the 7pm hour, which would clear up the space to air this event.

The very special prime time windows are Saturday May 22 and Saturday June 26, and they are two of MLB on FOX’s four interleague dates this season. The match-ups on both dates are compelling, and regional coverage begins at 7:00 PM ET/4:00 PM PT. May 22 features a four game slate: the defending World Champion New York Yankees battle the cross-town rival New York Mets, the Boston Red Sox travel to Philadelphia to take on the defending NL Champion Phillies, the Chicago Cubs visit the Texas Rangers and the Detroit Tigers head west to take on the defending NL West Champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

Link: http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/02/0...udes-two-interleague-games-in-primetime/41032

So an opportunity presented itself for FOX. Still, it is a major move on their part and a big risk. I guess they think they will be able to improve on the numbers ESPN had for last year's CL final since it'll be on the weekend.

 

[DToTheJ]

One other (if not additional) reason I believe Fox would air a live soccer event is that these days, one of the cable channels that Fox runs is entirely devoted to soccer, FSC (Fox Soccer Channel; formerly known as Fox Sports World). You can bet there will be a lot of cross-promotion with FSC.

 

[Studio20]

Ol' Rupert didnt expect ESPN to cross the pond and take some of the Barclays games for Saturday morning over here AND over there. It was only a matter of time before some of the games appeared on FOX over the air here. I mean, they put down money to air the old World League (American Football) games here which no one on either side cared for.

FSC now needs to go HD.

 

[JayR]

FIFA World Cup Opening Ceremony

Some of you already know that the FIFA World Cup final will be on ABC again.

Yet the opening ceremony is only seen on Univision...

:

 

[justpassingthough]

Re: FIFA World Cup Opening Ceremony

Some of you already know that the FIFA World Cup final will be on ABC again.

Yet the opening ceremony is only seen on Univision...

:

Does anyone have information on what percentage of American soccer fans are Spanish speaking? Certainly recent immigrants from Mexico, Central and South America follow soccer much more than native born Americans, since we don't have a culture of soccer here. The opening ceremony on Univision may be the best way to serve this audience...

 

[stationless listener]

Re: FIFA World Cup Opening Ceremony

FSC now needs to go HD.

Dish already made a deal to carry it. They picked it up starting yesterday. Fox and Directv are still in negotiations, along with separate negotiations with several cable companies. Fox will wheel out Fox Soccer Plus on March 1, in HD. It remains to be seen who will carry it.

Yet the opening ceremony is only seen on Univision...

Well, nobody is perfect. But you get to see the prematch on every game. Plus, the ESPN networks is sending an advance team to South Africa, including ESPNews. So you might see a bit of the OC there. It's better than nothing.

 

[MarcB]

It's just like MLS Soccer. I don't know about TV Coverage, but the games of the New York Redbulls are only carried in Spanish on Univision's WADO 1280 AM, which is primarily a Spanish language news and talk station, but also carries The NY Mets Baseball team in Spanish.

On the other hand The Boston MLS Team The New England Revolution gets TV Coverage on CBS's TV 38 WSBK. (Show on COX Sports TV Channel 2 in Connecticut).

 

[Studio20]

It's really sad. We Yanks are used to seeing the Best of The Best on our turf. The NFL, strictly American, so its the best worldwide...MLB, again as a league better than any other countries leagues... The NBA..while I don't watch, its considered the best..and the NHL, Canadas sport, still the ultimate pro hockey league.

Soccer-Football. Man, I just can't watch the MLS after a diet of Barclays or UEFA...While I'm not a soccer aficinado I do appreciate the game, but the stateside game is so second division to whats overseas. There was one west coast MLS game that had a decent crowd last year, and ESPN did what they could to make it ..um...major league...otherwise, it's just so slow and pedestrian.

Maybe thats why soccer hasnt caught on with the masses. We have to have the best in our front yard, or we don't watch it. Pretty provincial, I admit.

 

[stationless listener]

It's just like MLS Soccer. I don't know about TV Coverage, but the games of the New York Redbulls are only carried in Spanish on Univision's WADO 1280 AM, which is primarily a Spanish language news and talk station, but also carries The NY Mets Baseball team in Spanish.

NYRB games are carried by Madison Square Garden network, or MSG, and MSG Plus. MSG Plus, btw, is the "FSN" for New York when they air games of the Champions League on Tuesdays.

It's really sad. We Yanks are used to seeing the Best of The Best on our turf. The NFL, strictly American, so its the best worldwide...MLB, again as a league better than any other countries leagues... The NBA..while I don't watch, its considered the best..and the NHL, Canadas sport, still the ultimate pro hockey league.

Soccer-Football. Man, I just can't watch the MLS after a diet of Barclays or UEFA...While I'm not a soccer aficinado I do appreciate the game, but the stateside game is so second division to whats overseas. There was one west coast MLS game that had a decent crowd last year, and ESPN did what they could to make it ..um...major league...otherwise, it's just so slow and pedestrian.

Maybe thats why soccer hasnt caught on with the masses. We have to have the best in our front yard, or we don't watch it. Pretty provincial, I admit.

Well, think about it. 90% of all the professional soccer leagues in the world would be classified as "second division" when compared with the more established top divisions in UEFA. Most teams would have trouble beating the big-named teams. However, consider that teams from Brazil and Argentina, which are poorer than the US, manage to compete against the best of Europe and have won many Intercontinental titles. Money alone can't explain it.

Two things come to my mind:

- Culture. When a nation has been at it for a long, long time and cares about it the most, then the interest is maintained even through the bad eras. It's the difference between treating the sport as a religion vs. treating the sport as another entertainment option. My favorite anecdote is reading how there are even 3rd division teams in Germany where not only people show up to watch but show up in big numbers. Teams like St. Pauli and Lokomotiv Leipzig get good crowds, even though they're in the lower leagues.

- Professionalism. This is where MLS has not helped. Team names like Real Salt Lake, FC Dallas or DC United, which "borrow" from established UEFA clubs, make the league look like an afterthought with casual spectators. Don't get me started on Red Bull NY, named after its sponsor and owner.

Anyway, it is a slow process and there will be more awful days ahead but if people would start rallying around their teams like they do in Europe, regardless of how they do, then MLS has a chance.

 

[stationless listener]

Whether you care for it or not, the match-up is set for the big finale:

Inter Milan vs Bayern Munich
Time: 2:30 PM ET FOX on-air time
2:45 PM ET match kick-off
Venue: Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu Stadium
Date: May 22

Link: http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/...ague-final-to-be-broadcast-live-on-FOX-021010

Not the match-up I would have liked to see but that is how it is going to be. I think Bayern will win it, unless Inter scores first.

It would be interesting how local affiliates, especially in the Northeastern area, would treat this.

 

[upstate29651]

Yet through it all, soccer remains the most insufferably boring game on the planet!

G

 

[DToTheJ]

As for the date of the match, I read that FOX is now able to broadcast the Baseball Game of the Week for May 22 on the 7pm hour, which would clear up the space to air this event.

The very special prime time windows are Saturday May 22 and Saturday June 26, and they are two of MLB on FOX’s four interleague dates this season. The match-ups on both dates are compelling, and regional coverage begins at 7:00 PM ET/4:00 PM PT. May 22 features a four game slate: the defending World Champion New York Yankees battle the cross-town rival New York Mets, the Boston Red Sox travel to Philadelphia to take on the defending NL Champion Phillies, the Chicago Cubs visit the Texas Rangers and the Detroit Tigers head west to take on the defending NL West Champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

I just realized they're shifting their weekly baseball games to primetime on what happens to be the final Saturday of the sweeps period. Slick.

As far as advertising for the Champions League final, and cross-promotion, I saw an ad for it on - of all networks - Fox Business.

 

[stationless listener]

Starting next week, the Fox media empire will begin extended coverage of the Champions League final, concluding with the big event on May 22. From this article: http://www.livesoccertv.com/news/832/champions-league-final-live-on-fox-soccer-channel/

Champions Week on FSC, presented by Gillette, features highlights from each round of the 2009/10 UEFA Champions League plus full-length match replays, beginning with a group stage showdown featuring Inter Milan and FC Barcelona on May 17 at 3 p.m. ET. Both epic quarterfinal battles between Bayern Munich and Manchester United will air on Thursday, May 20 at 1 and 5 p.m. ET. Expanded coverage of the UEFA Champions League Final will air on Sky Sports News as well as on Fox Soccer Report, with Jeremy St. Louis reporting all week from Madrid.

Additionally, the exclusively-produced half-hour program Road to Madrid premieres Tuesday, May 18 at 8 p.m. ET and traces the journey that brought Bayern Munich and Inter Milan to square off for European soccer’s biggest prize. The show features background information on the two titans – who have combined to win six previous European championships – and their quest to earn the first “treble” by any club from their respective country.

On May 22, FOX and Fox Soccer Channel viewers will be treated to four consecutive hours of live UEFA Champions League Final coverage in high-definition, beginning with a 90-minute pregame show on FSC at 1 p.m. ET. Host Eric Wynalda – a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame – joins former England and Newcastle United defender Warren Barton and respected analyst Bobby McMahon live from Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu Stadium to set the stage for the Bayern-Inter showdown.

At 2:30 p.m., coverage moves to FOX, where pre-match commentary from Wynalda, Los Angeles Galaxy Head Coach Bruce Arena and host Curt Menefee of FOX NFL SUNDAY leads into the clash between these German and Italian giants. After a winner is crowned, Fox Soccer Channel recaps the action with a half-hour of analysis and coverage of the championship celebrations.