Premier League 2019/20

[gunnar hendershow]

7 minutes ago, Colly said:

You can take a radio with you. Old guy who sits next to me at Newcastle goes to Gateshead too (he's often made the dash to both for a 5:30 kickoff) and will listen to their score updates during.

Ah, that's fair. You'll see that at some NFL games over here with people having Redzone up on their phones. Lot of downtime in those games when you're there in person that's for sure.

7 minutes ago, Colly said:

Do you still get Shaka Hislop too?

We used to have former NBA player and Spurs megafan Steve Nash as an in studio pundit for the Champions League. I believe he also called a match as well. I don't think he was back this year, as far as I know they've stuck him where he belongs with the NBA.

[METALMAN]

for some reason the blackout doesn’t apply to BBC Alba (the Scottish Gaelic channel), so you can quite often find games on it at 3pm on a Saturday, so long as you don’t mind people rabbiting away in a (not so) foreign language.

[Chris2K]

I saw an ESPN show on BT the other day which had Steve Nicol getting very angry at accusations he was biased for choosing Jordan Henderson as player of the year, like, proper ready to walk off the set (well, out of his living room) angry.

They did indeed mention Shaka Hislop was going to be on the show after the break.

[TCO]

7 minutes ago, metalman said:

for some reason the blackout doesn’t apply to BBC Alba (the Scottish Gaelic channel), so you can quite often find games on it at 3pm on a Saturday, so long as you don’t mind people rabbiting away in a (not so) foreign language.

Doesn't apply in Ireland either but we get the lovely luxury of paying for a 3rd overpriced subscription digital channel. All to watch a single 3pm game per week, not of our choosing!

[gunnar hendershow]

5 minutes ago, Chris2K said:

I saw an ESPN show on BT the other day which had Steve Nicol getting very angry at accusations he was biased for choosing Jordan Henderson as player of the year, like, proper ready to walk off the set (well, out of his living room) angry.

They did indeed mention Shaka Hislop was going to be on the show after the break.

That's just how ESPN shows are. It's all people yelling at each other and feigning this incredible level of anger that someone would dare disagree with them.

I can't find it right now but ESPN also produced a listing of the world's best forwards recently that had a Sadio Mané sized hole. And inexplicably included Joao Felix and Griezmann. Their coverage is generally poor. I find NBC does it somewhat better but mainly because they have a narrow focus on the Premier League where ESPN is trying to cover every league in the world basically.

[Szumi]

NBCSN is by far the best American coverage we've ever had for soccer. ESPN is bad, Fox Sports is even worse, and TNT covering the Champions League was even worse. NBCSN is a breath of fresh air

[gunnar hendershow]

1 minute ago, It's Pronounced Zoom-E said:

NBCSN is by far the best American coverage we've ever had for soccer. ESPN is bad, Fox Sports is even worse, and TNT covering the Champions League was even worse. NBCSN is a breath of fresh air

The TNT coverage is a special kind of hell. Fortunately, on multiple occasions they've put the more intriguing matchup over on Univision though which is great. I'm not sure if the commentators are good because my Spanish is not good, but at least I don't have to hear the B/R Live studio show lol.

[Szumi]

I'm thrilled that they've already given up the Champions League rights. CBS have it now, which I know nothing of what to expect. Honestly want NBC to go get the coverage, but I'll take ESPN over Fox or CBS just for ease of watching.

[Lineker]

 

[gunnar hendershow]

11 minutes ago, It's Pronounced Zoom-E said:

I'm thrilled that they've already given up the Champions League rights. CBS have it now, which I know nothing of what to expect. Honestly want NBC to go get the coverage, but I'll take ESPN over Fox or CBS just for ease of watching.

Tbh I think US networks chasing the Champions League as some golden goose is weird. It airs when the entire country is at work with the exception of the final. The timing of games just doesn't work out for it to be anything beyond a competition for the most ardent soccer fans in the country.

[METALMAN]

also about 90% of the tournament is utterly pointless and boring

[gunnar hendershow]

2 minutes ago, metalman said:

also about 90% of the tournament is utterly pointless and boring

What you don't want to watch Olympiacos v. Red Star Belgrade?

[FLiam]

24 minutes ago, It's Pronounced Zoom-E said:

I'm thrilled that they've already given up the Champions League rights. CBS have it now, which I know nothing of what to expect. Honestly want NBC to go get the coverage, but I'll take ESPN over Fox or CBS just for ease of watching.

Do you need a subscription to see the European games on CBS? I've been trying to work out how I can go about ensuring I have as much coverage as possible. 

Was thinking of getting the cheaper Sling TV package so that I have NBCSN, I already have ESPN+ for cup games etc and Peacock are showing the non-televised PL games now. So the only thing I've have left really is CL/EL. 

[gunnar hendershow]

4 minutes ago, Liam Mk2 said:

Do you need a subscription to see the European games on CBS? I've been trying to work out how I can go about ensuring I have as much coverage as possible. 

Was thinking of getting the cheaper Sling TV package so that I have NBCSN, I already have ESPN+ for cup games etc and Peacock are showing the non-televised PL games now. So the only thing I've have left really is CL/EL. 

CBS All Access will have all matches. I'm honestly not sure what they're broadcasting on their networks. It's... Kinda shitty. Select matches will be on CBS and CBS Sports Network. They're not using any other Viacom networks to broadcast games. It's not a great deal and they clearly intend on everyone watching through CBS All Access.

[FLiam]

1 hour ago, damsher hatfield said:

CBS All Access will have all matches. I'm honestly not sure what they're broadcasting on their networks. It's... Kinda shitty. Select matches will be on CBS and CBS Sports Network. They're not using any other Viacom networks to broadcast games. It's not a great deal and they clearly intend on everyone watching through CBS All Access.

So they’ll all be available on CBS All Access? How much is that?

[gunnar hendershow]

51 minutes ago, Liam Mk2 said:

So they’ll all be available on CBS All Access? How much is that?

I think $5.99 and then there's a higher-cost ad-free version.

[METALMAN]

2 hours ago, damsher hatfield said:

What you don't want to watch Olympiacos v. Red Star Belgrade?

Not particularly, but I think the problem is more the Barcelona v Olympiakos or Man City v Red Star Belgrade rather than the Olympiakos v Red Star.

Edited July 29, 2020 by metalman

[Baddar]

I think it improved with the new seedings rule. Instead of the same 8 teams being top seeds almost every season, only the league/CL winners are guaranteed that now. It means there's more chance of groups with at least 3 big teams in. Not ideal then for the likes of Red Star, of course, but they earned their spot like everyone else. 

[METALMAN]

Well it’s the “not ideal for the likes of Red Star where I think the problem lies” I also think it’s quite pathetic that a tournament labels itself as the European Champions League but gives sixteen spots to four countries, leaving the other fifty or so to fight over the other sixteen places.

But then again I’m from a country outside one of the big four (like most of Europe) so I might be biased.

Edited July 29, 2020 by metalman

[Baddar]

Oh I get that. But unless the 16 from the big 4 is changed, groups will always be harsh looking on the smaller teams. 

Plus money talks. Competitive groups are going to be watched by more people than a group of Real Madrid and the Estonian, Finnish and Icelandic champions.