When I heard the news that Cristiano Ronaldo was going to
Juve, my second thought was that it would mean greater access to Serie A fans
for all of us. (The first thought, of course, being that they should just award
the Scudetto in August before the season kicks off.) It turns out that at least
for American fans, it is going to work out very well for us. Yesterday, it was
announced that ESPN has purchased the exclusive rights to Serie A beginning
this season. With far more resources than the shambolic BeIN Sports USA, this
means that we will all have far more access to our games. I like to call it the
Cristiano Ronaldo effect.
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| Blessing fans of all Serie A clubs |
The new deal isn’t perfect. They are only going to broadcast
one game per week on television, the other games will be streamed on ESPN+.
ESPN+ is a streaming service they’ve launched with will cost you $4.99 US to
access. The key word there being access. Something many of us didn’t
have with BeIN Sports USA.
When BeIN Sports USA first acquired the rights to Serie A,
most cable and satellite providers did not carry BeIN. And rather than attempt
to strike a deal with them like most channels do, they left it up to the fans.
If we wanted to watch Serie A, we had to pester our providers to pick up their
stupid channel. That took a year for my provider, but when I was forced to
switched providers, the new provider didn’t have BeIN either. And even when I
was finally able to access BeIN, the new provider didn’t have access to the BeIN
Connect streaming options, where most of the games were shown.
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| One day you're IN, the next day you're out. Thanks for nothing. |
Long story short, last year I ended up subscribing to
FuboTV, a streaming service that allows you to record matches. It was a massive
$45 US per month… on top of my internet and cable bill. But hey, I got to watch
the games. That’s not even mentioning the $15 US I pay to have Italian SlingTV
so that I also had access to RAI to watch the games that BeIN didn’t show. And
speaking of which, if cable or satellite is not your thing, it looks like Sling
Orange carries the ESPN channels you’ll need this year and now costs $25 US per
month.
If you are in the United States and want to know when and
where the matches will be broadcast, you can check this list,
compiled by World
Soccer Talk. There are some errors as to games and friendlies that have
already been rescheduled, but for the most part, you can see which games will
be broadcast and on which channels.
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| Massive resources means better access to our games |
This deal is massive for fans here in the U.S. It’s giving a
giant two-footed tackle to the arrogant and uncaring BeIN Sports, even if Serie
A may be treated like a late sub by ESPN compared to other sports. But if we
are lucky, Serie A will deliver and fans will respond, and coverage will get
even better. Until then, this gives all of us an affordable way to access most every
Serie A match this season, whether it be on our TV, on our computers, tablets,
or phones. And for that access, we can thank in part Juventus’ premium signing
this year. It’s the Cristiano Ronaldo effect.
This post inspired by the music of
Black Flag’s “TV Party”
Our next match is
the Trofeo
Santiago Bernabeu
Real Madrid vs. AC Milan
Saturday, August
11 • 21:00 CEST (3pm EDT)