Is ESPN Ready for the Premier League? Is the Premier League Ready for ESPN?
Some of the biggest news around the English Premier League this summer had nothing to do with players, or even outrageous transfer fees. It was the changing balance of power among the league's broadcasters.
In close succession, ESPN made an aggressive play for a package of Premier League rights and Irish outfit Setanta Sports collapsed, leaving ESPN as Sky's lone remaining competition. But how will ESPN present it? Though ESPN has had experience showing soccer in much of the rest of the world, an interesting story in today's New York Times asks, "So is it time for British soccer fans to prepare for “soccertainment” when the new season begins in mid-August?"
The story continues:
American involvement in the game has been a sore subject at clubs like Manchester United and Liverpool, where fans objected to takeovers by American owners.In a reference to ESPN’s controlling owner, Disney, the tabloid The Daily Mail joked that the broadcaster might try to rename the F.A. Cup, a venerable English soccer tournament, the “Mickey Mouse Cup.”
With everything related to ESPN’s coverage of the Premier League, from camera angles to analyst comments, likely to be scrutinized for signs of a hidden agenda of Disneyfication, Mr. Chadwick had some advice for ESPN: “There is a strong sense of counterculture in English football. They can’t be too glitzy, they can’t be too showbiz, they can’t be too American.”
Comments
I don’t like to get overly critical about material and sound like just another Net critic.
But that was pretty bad, Joshua.
I’m a huge Setanta USA fan and dove into your piece with great interest because I’ve been looking for information on how Setanta’s financial troubles would impact coverage in the States. But all I got from your piece was misinformation, some cheeky asides about the differences in American and English tastes and a lazy, mindless interface with a NY Times article.
It doesn’t seem like you bothered to check a single fact here. I’d expect better from someone writing for About.com.
Frankly, I think that Dirk is off base and that Joshua hit the nail on the head. Setanta was never a big hit in the US of A. (While ESPN knows the market inside out.)Sounds to me like Joshua knows what he’s talking about and Dirk doesn’t.