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Need more soccer in HD: any rumors on GolTV?

54K views 303 replies 98 participants last post by  Demolition Man 
#1 ·
I love that between FSC, GolTV, Setanta, and occasionally ESPN/ABC, I get coverage of a lot of great domestic and foreign soccer games.


However it's disappointing that the games are so rarely shown in HD, especially since I know that at the source they're nearly always recorded that way!


I used to subscribe to VOOM back in the day and loved watching the Spanish Premier League in HD.


Does anyone know if GolTV, Setanta, FSC, or any other soccer-themed channel is thinking about converting to HD broadcasts?


FYI I'm on DirecTV, but happy to pick up any provider who's going to cover the big events (Gold Cup, Champion's Cup, Champion's League, Copa Americana, European league games, Euro Cup, etc) in HD.


Thanks!!
 
#2 ·
I'd love to see all those channels go HD, but until the price comes down on production, don't count on it.


I've very happy with the World Cup and MLS once a week in HD. (I Don't get HDnet because I'm on Comcast)


The rumor mill is that all the Euro 2008 finals will be in HD on ESPN, but there is no confirmations. Just that UEFA is producing all the games in HD.
 
#4 ·
WorldSportHD on Dish Network a few days ago showed the biggest soccer match of the season in HD - Real Madrid playing for the championship on the last day of the season - tied with Barcelona - David Beckham playing injured, hoping for one trophy before he leaves.


ESPN2-HD shows an MLS match every Thursday in HD, and HD-Net shows an MLS match every Saturday in HD.


July 21st will be Beckham's debut for L.A. Galaxy playing against Chelsea, and is scheduled to be on ESPN-HD.


I have asked FSC and they have no current plans for HD.


Currently, the market for foreign (non-US/Mexico) soccer matches is already a small niche market, and since HD penetration is something like 10-15%, then the market for foreign HD soccer matches is very small. I say that sadly, since I include myself in that small market...


PS Actually, this is also true even if you change "soccer" to any other sport. The America's Cup sailing event starting Saturday in Spain is not in HD in the US. I'm not aware of any sports event outside the US in HD on any channel other than WorldSportHD...
 
#5 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Flambe /forum/post/0


I love that between FSC, GolTV, Setanta, and occasionally ESPN/ABC, I get coverage of a lot of great domestic and foreign soccer games.


However it's disappointing that the games are so rarely shown in HD, especially since I know that at the source they're nearly always recorded that way!

I love watching (and playing) soccer. Watching soccer in HD is amazing, but stop right here soccer, even top-level, is rarely produced in HD. By my count only the following soccer events are produced or scheduled to be produced in HD, so far:

World Cup

Euro Finals

Olympics

Champions League final

Champions League matches depending on host broadcaster

A lot of English Premiership matches

Important games from Italian, Spanish, German leagues

MLS soccer on HDNet and ESPN2/ABC

South Korean soccer


That's it. A small percentage of soccer games. There is no HD or even SD widescreen soccer production in South America, so don't expect to see Copa America or Libertadores in HD for years. Brazil may have some local soccer in HD one or two years from now, since they are starting digital broadcasts in December 2007.
 
#6 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by ReplayJanitor /forum/post/0


I love watching (and playing) soccer. Watching soccer in HD is amazing, but stop right here soccer, even top-level, is rarely produced in HD. By my count only the following soccer events are produced or scheduled to be produced in HD, so far:

World Cup

Euro Finals

Olympics

Champions League final

Champions League matches depending on host broadcaster

A lot of English Premiership matches

Important games from Italian, Spanish, German leagues

MLS soccer on HDNet and ESPN2/ABC

South Korean soccer


That's it. A small percentage of soccer games. There is no HD or even SD widescreen soccer production in South America, so don't expect to see Copa America or Libertadores in HD for years. Brazil may have some local soccer in HD one or two years from now, since they are starting digital broadcasts in December 2007.

As the technology progresses over the next 2-5 years and equpiment/production becomes less expensive, almost all sports coverage will be switching over to HD for the stunning picture. I think in the next 3 years we will see FSC and others in HD.


Hopefully here in the US we can get more coverage not only the Euro leagues, but the Copa America, Sudamerica, and Libertadores and the South American Leagues. Hell I'd like to see some HD coverage of the CONCACAF Gold cup. Its our own regions championship and I can only get the US games on FSC and any other games have have to watch in Spanish on Univision. Hell, I had to watch the last final on Univision, atleast FSC had US games and Final this year.


With Fox Sports going so "gung ho" into HD Sports (all the RSNs, The Big Ten Network, and upgrading their production facility in Huston) Maybe we'll get an FSC HD channel sooner than we think.


I could see the RSNs that do their teams games in HD passing those to FSC, esp those that are done by FSN RSNs.


A boy can hope, a boy can dream...
 
#7 ·
I think your figures are more than a little out of date.


Most sources now believe HDTV penetration has hit at least 25%, with many predicting a 50% or more penetration by the February, 2009 analog cutoff date.


The Consumer Electronics Association, in late April, said the current HD penetration rate is 25%:

http://www.ce.org/Press/CurrentNews/...l.asp?id=11274

Quote:
Originally Posted by A_Dude /forum/post/0


...

Currently, the market for foreign (non-US/Mexico) soccer matches is already a small niche market, and since HD penetration is something like 10-15%, then the market for foreign HD soccer matches is very small. I say that sadly, since I include myself in that small market...
 
#8 ·
Just to do some MLS research I checked all the teams varying TV networks and RSNs to see who had games done in HD (not by ABC/ESPN/ESPN2 or HDNet)


It would be a major boost if the Spanish Language (Galavision, TeleFutura, and Univision) networks went HD. I haven't been able to locate any info if/when these channels plan to launch HD Services.


All data is based off from the schedules on the MLS/Club site and the TV Station/RSN site.


Team - Networks/RSNs - # of HD games

Chivas USA - FSN West/FSN Prime Ticket - 0

Colorado Rapids - Altitude S&E - 0

FC Dallas - FSN Southwest/KFWD-52 - 0

Houston Dynamo - KTBU/KHLM - 0 (Didn't know that FSN Houston had given this up, really sucks for coverage as these both appear to be low power OTA stations)

LA Galaxy - FSN West/FSN Prime Ticket - 0 (Wouldn't surprise me if this changes once Baseball cools off and Beckham shows up)

Real Salt Lake - FSN Utah/KSL-TV - 0

Chicago Fire - Comcast SportsNet Chicago - 0 (Surprising considering that CSN-MA does DC United games in HD and the new facility that they just built. Plus I swear I saw a game last year on InHD that was a reply of a Fire game that was from CSN-Chicago HD.)

Columbus Crew - Ohio News Network/Columbus Sports Network - 0

DC United - Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic - 6 games remaining (not sure of games already played)

Kansas City Wizards - MetroSports - 0

New England Revolution - WSBKTV38 - 0 (Odd as I thought they had games in HD in previous years from other broadcasters)

Red Bull New York - MSG/MSG2/FSN NY - 0 (Also surprises me because all the Knicks, Nets, Rangers, etc home games are in HD.)

Toronto FC - Rogers Sports Network/CBC/The Score - 0


So not including the national networks of ABC/ESPN/ESPN2 and HD Net, the MLS has a grand total of 6 games in HD the rest of the season (Could have been more total for the season, but not sure what CSN-MA has already done for DCU).


But almost every club has the possibility of going HD. All the FSNs produce other sports in HD, same for Altitude, Comcast SportsNet Chicago, and MSG. Hell, all three of Toronto FCs networks have HD channels and Canadians are much more into Soccer than the US is. Those Canucks are as sports crazy as the Europeans.


Only Teams that are on startup networks and OTAs have a longer road to HD because of costs:

Houston Dynamo - Were on FSN Houston (a sub of FSN Southwest), but these OTAs don't appear to have HD stations/plans.


Columbus Crew - Ohio News Network doesn't appear to have any HD plans and Columbus SportsNet is a startup in their 1st year. I'd give them some time, they might be a possibility.


Kansas City Wizards - Are on an established sports station "Metro Sports," but they appear to have no HD plans.


New England Revolution - I swear they used to be on an FSN New England or NESN, but could be wrong, however, their broadcaster appears to have an HD channel. Not sure about production though.


I really think that if more RSNs and TV networks did games in HD that FSC would get the HD push. That and I'd love to see MLS Direct Kick in HD.


I've also sent feedback to MLSnet.com requesting that they add HD coverage to their TV Schedules. I used the current DC United Schedule, editing in for the CSN-HD, ESPN2HD, and ABCHD games. Hopefully we'll see a better list of HD coverage from MLSnet.com

Edit in:

After doing a bit more reading and research, its possible that Red Bull New York games are being produced in HD by MSG and FSN NY. I know that Wikipedia is not the best source of intormation, but this says that Red Bulls games are done in HD. I'll keep researching.
 
#9 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by fredfa /forum/post/0


I think your figures are more than a little out of date.


Most sources now believe HDTV penetration has hit at least 25%, with many predicting a 50% or more penetration by the February, 2009 analog cutoff date.


The Consumer Electronics Association, in late April, said the current HD penetration rate is 25%:

http://www.ce.org/Press/CurrentNews/...l.asp?id=11274

Just looking over that article quickly, it sounds like that's 25% penetration for HDTVs, not necessarily high definition programming. So maybe 10-15% is about right. I'd guess 10% and rising for HD programming.
 
#11 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by lokar /forum/post/0


"We do not have any plans as HD is prohibitively expensive for a small broadcaster such as ourselves."

This is why it pisses me off when Setanta gets the U.S. broadcast rights to so many sporting events.
 
#12 ·
 http://msn.foxsports.com/name/public/FSC/TV/FSCFAQ

Will Fox Soccer Channel be offering broadcasts in high definition (HDTV)?


FSC is exploring ways of offering some programs in high definition (HD) where rights and access to HD feeds are available.
 
#13 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Posty-McPost /forum/post/0

http://msn.foxsports.com/name/public/FSC/TV/FSCFAQ

Will Fox Soccer Channel be offering broadcasts in high definition (HDTV)?


FSC is exploring ways of offering some programs in high definition (HD) where rights and access to HD feeds are available.

Actually, perhaps I took the following remark from FSC as more negative than it was (perhaps because it was so vague and tentative):

Quote:
Regarding HD, we do have plans for HD for hopefully the near future.

I'm surprised about the negative characterization of MLS HD availability in the long post above - with two HD matches per week, clearly MLS is the leader in HD. The individual regional channels and teams have very little resources, and it is unrealistic to expect them to go HD for several years.


Regarding Latino HD programming, that is unrealistic as well. Latinos in the USA are generally the demographic least likely to have disposable impulse luxury purchase income. Please note I am not making any sort of personal judgement, just realistic facts. With large families, low-paying jobs, and money being sent to poor relatives, it is unlikely that we will see hispanic HD channels for many years. For example, the Miss Universe contest, a latino favorite, broadcast from Mexico, was not shown in HD in the US, despite the obvious benefits of HD for that event.


So, I would not expect much soccer HD, outside of ESPN, HD-Net and WorldSportHD. Perhaps FSC's "near future" means that they plan to shift their PPV offerings (such as the FA Cup Final) to HD - which would make sense, as many of us are unlikely to pay $$ for soccer matches in SD.
 
#14 ·
I was not intending to be negative at all, I was just trying to show that almost every market has the capability to do HD for the MLS regional matches, but choose not to because of cost and low viewership.


I'm very happy about two matches a week in HD (even though I can only get one, damn Comcast) but I just wanted to point out that atleast one team is getting HD from their Home RSN and the capability is there for more.


Then I started my brain wandering about the Spanish channels and other thoughts.


I'm a huge MLS fan was jumped for joy when i heard that ESPN was taking over the production of their MLS coverage and it would be HD.


When you get a taste of something so sweet as the full World Cup in HD or a club game a week in HD, you want the whole pie



Long live the Reds of Liverpool FC, the Columbus Crew, and Fulham FC!!!
 
#15 ·
I would love to have a Telefutura or Galavision station in my area or on cable. I lose out on some weekly MLS games here.
 
#17 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by silentbob1974 /forum/post/0


Is there a reason why MLS matches on ESPN are in HD, but not USMNT or USWNT matches?

The new MLS-ESPN contract only went into effect this year. The US Men's National Team has not played any meaningful matches on ESPN since fall 2005 (games produced by SUM-ESPN, the FIFA WC feed doesn't count). So we don't know yet what treatment the Men's games will receive. My hope would be for all home WCQ's but I would understand if they only did the home games in the hex (2nd qualifying round). I don't expect them to produce friendlies in HD unless they are big like US v Mexico in January. That game got good ratings and would make a great candidate for HD treatment. Keep in mind that before this MLS season started ESPN had only shown one soccer game in HD ever, an August 2005 qualifier from nearby East Hartford, CT.


I can't find anything that says the upcoming Women's World Cup will be offered in HD. This would have to be a pool feed from FIFA. Do the women even play qualifiers? If so, do they make a sound? These won't be in HD until there is a regional rival to the Women's dominance.
 
#20 ·
Thanks everyone who replied. I understand that ultimately it's a matter of economics. I am thankful that we get any coverage of soccer around the world at all!


I just wish that the upcoming Copa America were in HD



BTW - congrats to the US team for taking the Gold Cup.
 
#23 ·
While not HD, you can also watch soccer games on-line for free. That's how I watched most of the ManU games not on FSC last year. I can't get to the site at work due to firewall restritctions, but do a google search for tv ants and click the first link.
 
#25 ·
I honestly don't care about HD as much as I do the audio. Dave O'Brien and Marcelo Balboa are hands down the worst commentators ever. I'd rather have a straight stadium feed of audio only w/o any commentary then listen to the crap they spew out. Sort out the commentary first then bring us our football in HD.


At least FSC usually uses the sky sports feed so we can get good commentary on the EPL matches. Even GolTV's American commentator is better than those other two idiots. ESPN employs Tommy Smyth and Adrian Healey who aren't very good eitehr butI'd rather listen to them than O'Brien and Balboa.
 
#26 ·
I have to agree that most of the US commentators are horrifically bad.


My favorite(?) quote from the World Cup last year was when one of the commentators said that some event (I forget exactly what happened) "turned the game around 360 degrees."


That's the same direction you moron.
 
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