Fox Soccer Channel has announced the details of their Champions League TV rights deal. Here are the most important points to know:
  • Fox will broadcast 31 live and 79 delayed matches on FSC next season.
  • Sixteen games will air on Fox Sports Net on Tuesdays.
  • The final from Madrid on May 22, 2010, will be on FX.
  • Fox Sports en Espanol will broadcast 31 matches live and 63 on delay.
  • Setanta will continue its U.S. coverage of the Champions League under a separate agreement with UEFA, and will televise 94 matches. Fox Soccer Channel will get the top picks.
  • Fox Soccer Channel is considering using the international feed for commentators instead of their own (Fox must have heard your voices; 67% of you voted for the international feed).
  • Its coverage will start with the new playoff round on Aug. 18-19 and Aug. 25-26, 2009.
  • FSC also plans to air pregame and highlights shows.
  • Fox hopes that the addition of the Champions League coverage will “get the network positioned onto more broadly distributed tiers and packages.”
  • Fox plans on adding HD telecasts by the end of this year.

While Fox is the big winner here, the other big winner is Setanta Sports. In World Soccer Talk’s exclusive interview with Setanta Sports from the SportelAmerica Conference on March 16, Setanta announced they were deep in talks with Fox Soccer Channel and UEFA to acquire the rights alongside Fox, and that’s what they accomplished.

More analysis later, but in the meantime what is your opinion regarding the news above? Click the comments link and share your opinion.

Source: AP