[kingb71]

I wonder what this means for Canada then?
Will we see games on:
A) Fox Sports world Canada?
B) Roger's Sportsnet?
C) Setanta?

Below from here:
http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/story/9398128/FSC-wins-U.S.-TV-rights-to-Champions-League

NEW YORK (AP) - Fox Soccer Channel beat out ESPN for right to the European Champions League starting next season, adding the top club event to a lineup that already includes the English Premier League and Italy's Serie A.



FSC didn't make an immediate announcement, preferring to wait until documents were signed with the Union of European Football Associations. ESPN, which had held the rights since the 1994-95 season, confirmed the switch.

"We have been informed by UEFA that they are moving ahead with a new partner in the United States," ESPN said in a statement Monday. "We made a strong bid that we believe would have helped continue the year-to-year growth of the UEFA Champions League in the United States."

ESPN and ESPN2 are available in 98 million homes and have broadcast Champions League matches in high-definition this season, while FSC reaches 34 million households and has not yet started hi-def telecasts. Also, FSC allows many top Premier League games to be telecast by Setanta Sports, which is not available on many cable systems.

UEFA, European soccer's governing body, announced March 11 that Fox will replace ESPN as the Champions League pay broadcaster in Central and South America next season under a three-season agreement.

ESPN averaged 255,000 households for 27 telecasts last season. Manchester United's victory over Chelsea in last May's final was ESPN's most-watched Champions League telecast, with 798,000 homes and 1,097,000 viewers.

ESPN has rights to the 2010 and 2014 World Cups and U.S. national team games through 2014. It shares Major League Soccer rights with Fox and other networks.

 

[Boca Junior]

I would imagine that Setanta will still continue to show their share of games, but the rest depends on who is willing to buy the Canadian rights from FSC. I just can't imagine FSWC will shell out the money. They've been cutting back for the last couple of years.

But it could be bad news for TSN if Setanta takes the whole package and gets exclusive Canadian rights to the Champions League. They might then air some on Rogers Sportnet since they already have an affiliation with them.

The TV soccer landscape sure changes fast around here.

 

[kingb71]

My uneducated guess is Setanta will get the bulk of games with 1 given to either FSW or Sportsnet or 1 each.

 

[NB Josh]

I think Sportsnet and Fox Sports World will each get a game a day, like TSN/TSN2 do now, and Setanta will get the rest, like they do know. Fox Sports World should get games at little to no price, like I assume they do for Serie A, as well as the Argentine and Mexican leagues. They need this to get even with Gol TV.

 

[kingb71]

Gol TV seems to be going downhill ever since MLSE bought them. We used to be guaranteed a Barca & Real Madrid game each weekend, lately we haven't seen that.

 

[becks]

I hope Setanta gets most of the games so we don't get the crap like we did this year with Rogers were they show curling instead of the Champions League games

 

[kingb71]

That was TSN not Rogers & that happens every year around this time, the Champions League is on the alternate channel.

 

[becks]

^It's both of their faults since Rogers is the only provider to not have TSN2, and it doesn't happen every year because in the past everyone had access to the TSN alternate feed (before it became TSN2)

 

[Boca Junior]

Gol TV seems to be going downhill ever since MLSE bought them. We used to be guaranteed a Barca & Real Madrid game each weekend, lately we haven't seen that.

They only bought them last week, and it hasn't been approved by the CRTC yet, so I think it's a bit of a stretch to blame MLSE for them not showing Barca or Real Madrid games.

 

[Boca Junior]

I think Sportsnet and Fox Sports World will each get a game a day, like TSN/TSN2 do now, and Setanta will get the rest, like they do know. Fox Sports World should get games at little to no price, like I assume they do for Serie A, as well as the Argentine and Mexican leagues. They need this to get even with Gol TV.

I'm not sure why FSWC would get a game for little or no price. They are owned by CanWest/Global and only have an affiliation with FSC. Canwest have been looking to off-load the channel for a while now so I doubt they will be willing to shell out the kind of money it will require to get a Champions League game.

Mind you, Setanta has money woes of it's own so who knows what will happen next.

 

[PlayitSimple]

It looks like Setanta will get the CL rights for Canada. I posted this question on a soccer board and received a reply from someone who has contacts in the broadcasting industry, his info has been reliable in the past (for the most part). Here is what he said:

I understand that Setanta Sports Canada is the only serious bidder for the UEFA Champions League in the Canada market for the 2009-2012 contract cycle.

Setanta will have the option to sublicense matches with Italian or Spanish commentary to the TeleLatino Networks: TLN and TLN en Espanol.

Setanta appears to be snatching up everything of value in Canada, EPL, F. A. Cup, Euro/WC qualifiers and now Champions League. It looks like soccer fans in Canada are soon going to have to pay a premium to watch some games, like they do in Europe where most of the stuff is on Pay-TV.

I see Setanta keeping first choice of matches then sub-licensing a match or two to TLN and perhaps Sportsnet picking up a match as well. Now hopefully this deal with Setanta, if true, will result in more matches being shown here in Canada which has not been the case in the past with TSN.

Canwest have been looking to off-load the channel for a while now

What is your source for this, I have heard nothing about Canwest trying to sell FSWC?! I hope they do because they have reduced the channel to almost nothing, aside from Serie A (for those interested, I am not) there is nothing else of significance on that channel. I think if this is true then Telelatino should try and buy it, they had a license for a soccer channel so why launch from scratch when you can buy one already on the air, ready to go. Sticking point would be a licensing deal with Fox, apparently that is the reason TLN never launched their soccer channel. They couldn't come to an agreement with Fox for FSC Canada.

Looks like the soccer TV landscape changes from year to year in this country, time for some stability so us fans know who is showing what!

 

[kingb71]

They only bought them last week, and it hasn't been approved by the CRTC yet, so I think it's a bit of a stretch to blame MLSE for them not showing Barca or Real Madrid games.

If that's the case, then how come they managed to get TFC games in the schedule so quickly then?

It's too bad that UEFA CL is going to be shown on Setanta next season, I hope they don't raise the price either.
Fact of the matter is, the viewership numbers are too low. When arguably the world's best soccer club competition is out ranked by curling...

 

[Boca Junior]

If that's the case, then how come they managed to get TFC games in the schedule so quickly then?

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showpost.php?p=903901&postcount=1


I can only assume GolTV had already obtained the rights to certain games, possibly sub-leased from CBC.

 

[NB Josh]

I agree that it sucks that the games will only be on Setanta, if that is true. I won't pay $15 for the channel, no matter what they air. I really hope Sportsnet gets one game from them, which wouldn't surprise me.

As for why I thought that Fox Sports World could get games for a reduced price, was because I believe they do the same with the Serie A, I don't have any evidence besides that I don't think FSWC would pay a lot for rights to the third biggest league in the world now. There is no way that TSN paid ESPN a lot for rights before.

 

[Andrew1]

This year we've had the best Champions League coverage ever. Two matches on TSN (unless you're with Rogers) plus one on Setanta. Also Setanta usually show other matches later on the same day. But when it comes to soccer coverage in Canada it is not unusual to take a leap forward one year only to regress the next.

I don't have Fox Sports Canada because all it has is Serie A. But if they got CL I could see myself ordering it some months to get particular matches. Last year I got it in specifically for the UEFA Cup Final. I don't mind paying $2.30 or whatever it is for a specific match I want to see. But I'd like to see CL coverage remain the same or have a match moved to Gol TV. If Setanta were to be the exclusive provider it would be rubbish as they can only show one match live - I'm guessing it'll always involve ManU or Liverpool - so like with their coverage of internationals we'd be getting most matches same day or next day after we know the result.

On the subject of Gol TV and Spanish matches. As I said in the other thread they're not showing as many live La Liga matches. I doubt it had anything to do with MLSE's impending purchase but it is strange we've had excellent coverage throughout the season only to see it reduced in the final three months of the season. I'm guessing it's because the Brazilian league just started and Gol TV has decided it has priority over La Liga.

 

[NB Josh]

Chris Zelkovich from The Star, is saying that Sportsnet will get Canadian rights.

 

[PlayitSimple]

Chris Zelkovich from The Star, is saying that Sportsnet will get Canadian rights.

Looks like you didn't read carefully, here's what he actually said:

Most likely, the series will switch over to Setanta Canada, with Rogers Sportsnet picking up a package similar to what TSN had

Like I said Setanta will get the rights then sub-license some matches to Sportsnet & TLN. The question still to be answered is how many matches will each channel show?

 

[NB Josh]

I'm actually sure that that's not what it said when I read it, yesterday afternoon. I didn't think it mentioned Paul James getting fired either, so maybe it was updated. Or maybe I did mis-read it. Either way Sportsnet will get some games and Setanta will get the rest, no matter which one actually buys the rights.

In the US Fox Soccer Channel, FSN and FX will air games. The final will air live on FX.

 

[PFD]

Paul James got fired?

 

[NB Josh]

Sportsnet and Setanta have bought the rights to the package. Sportsnet will air over half of the games. So that probably means that we may get coverage similar to TSN/TSN2's for digital subscribers, with split coverage.