Fox Soccer Continues Push To Be First Name In USA Coverage
The USA bid to host the 2022 World Cup has some powerful allies including former President Bill Clinton, who governed the country back when it last hosted the event in 1994.And, as excitement builds for the crucial day of judgment on Dec. 2, when FIFA makes the decision for both the 2018 and the 2022 tournaments, Fox Soccer Channel is making its own bid -- to be the go-to name for soccer coverage within the United States.After winning a major victory by acquiring the rights for the best Champions League matches over ESPN, a giant player in televising sports in the United States, Fox began consolidating control of the TV market by launching Fox Soccer Plus in March 2010, a sister network that also focuses on soccer. It owes its programming to Setanta Sports USA, which signed off air when Fox Soccer Plus launched.These victories were important for Fox Soccer Channel, as was the long needed move to high definition broadcasting. It signalled the intent of the parent company, News Corporation, to become a serious, if not the serious player for broadcasting soccer in the USA.Fox Soccer Channel has further good news for fans of USA soccer, and fans of soccer living in the USA in general. It announced, and has been advertising heavily for (on its own airtime, it has to be said) a program called Decision Day 2022, and a sister program called D-Day Minus 1.The first will air on December 2, 9:30 AM EST as live coverage of the announcement, although coverage will begin that day at 8:30 with a program entitled "Team USA: Journey for Glory." D-Day Minus 1 airs the Wednesday night before at 9 PM EST. All the programs are set! to unde rgo heavy rotation over the following days. A full list of times is available here.Although the name indicates its obvious market as the US soccer fan, the 2018 coverage will also be shown on FSC via Sky Sports News' coverage of the event in England. But the real target of the event is the USA fan, as evidenced by a panel of USA soccer legends, including Eric Wynalda and Cobi Jones. Both men were on the US 1994 World Cup squad.Keenly aware that the US market for soccer is strongly Latino, Fox Deportes will also be broadcasting the event. Even though the coverage risks a certain cheerleading element, it shows how seriously Fox is taking soccer in America.ESPN is the main rival to Fox for soccer, but is clearly notpublicizingthe event as heavily as Fox. They have relegated the coverage to ESPN3, refusing to drop regular shows such as SportsCenter and First Take from the first two of their channels. ESPN Deportes, the Latino-focused channel, will not be airing the event.Perhaps it is more accurate to say that ESPN was a rival, but is now waning to an afterthought. While Fox Soccer Channel has the luxury of focusing only on soccer, there used to be a question of which channel would become the best destination for fans of the beautiful game in the USA. Now it appears the question has been answered.For a while, some people hoped that ESPN would step up its efforts, mostly due to its greater accessibility and HD programming. FSC has answered the second issue, and its recently displayed determination should help convince fans in America to switch to their programming. Coverage of baseball, basketball, and Gridiron football, not to mention ice hockey and NASCAR will be preferred on a network like ESPN. You can be sure it won't happen on FSC.Related posts:
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