beIN SPORT isn’t officially scheduled to launch until August 15, but America’s newest soccer network quietly launched a free online stream today, which will be available until August 15 via its website.
One of the first matches shown on beIN SPORT 1 was a replay of the Manchester City against Arsenal friendly played in China on July 27. While the Gunners lost 2-0, the first live match shown on the network was today’s friendly between Espanyol and Montpellier featuring the well-known commentary duo of Phil Schoen and Ray Hudson. Both Schoen and Hudson, and several behind-the-scenes personnel, made the short trip from GolTV to join beIN SPORT earlier this summer.
A programming schedule will be released by beIN SPORT in the coming days, but — for now — we do know that beIN SPORT will televise the following games via the free streaming service:
- Paris Saint-Germain vs Barcelona (friendly), Saturday, August 4 at 1:30pm ET
- Juventus vs Napoli (Supercoppa Italiana), Saturday, August 11 at 8am ET
Until a programming schedule is made available, tuning in to beIN SPORT is a surprise treat. Right now, as I write this, beIN SPORT is showing a replay of Malaysia XI vs Arsenal from the Gunners rare sojourn to Asia. Other times I’ve tuned in, I’ve seen Barca TV.
As a reminder, beIN SPORT has exclusive US media rights to La Liga, Serie A, Ligue Un, nPower Championship, Capital One Cup (better known as the League Cup or, previously, Carling Cup), Copa America, Copa del Rey and more. Meanwhile, many industry experts are convinced that beIN SPORT will enter bidding this autumn to acquire the US media rights to the Premier League for seasons 2013-2016.
beIN SPORT’s free streaming preview will continue until August 15. The move is certainly to help encourage soccer fans to request the network from their TV provider before the streaming ends, and when the network will only be available via select TV distributors (who have yet to be announced/named).
To access the beIN SPORT free live stream, visit their website and click on the flashing ‘Live’ button near the top right corner.
