UPDATE: ESPN confirmed on the eve of the new season (August 14, 2009) that they have indeed won the TV rights to the Premier League in the United States for Saturday morning early kickoffs as well as Monday afternoon games.
In the United Kingdom, the Premier League has announced which matches will be shown by Sky Sports and ESPN UK. As a result, we can ascertain which matches will be shown by Setanta US, ESPN2 and Fox Soccer Channel in the United States, all of whom have the rights to show the Premier League matches in the U.S. until the end of the 2009-2010 season.
Note that the complete TV schedule for August through November has yet to be announced, specifically the 10am ET/3pm GMT games. But here’s what we know thus far.
UPDATED: ESPN2 games have been added to the schedule after ESPN acquired the rights to the early Saturday morning kick-off and Monday’s mid-afternoon game (ET).
Here’s the TV schedule for viewers in the United States for the Premier League from August until the end of November (all times eastern):
Saturday, August 15:
- Chelsea v Hull City, 7:45am, ESPN2
- Aston Villa v Wigan, 10am, Fox Soccer Channel
- Blackburn Rovers v Manchester City, 10am, Setanta US
- Wolves v West Ham, 10am, Setanta Xtra
- Everton v Arsenal, 12:30pm, Fox Soccer Channel
- Stoke City v Burnley, 2:30pm [delayed], Fox Soccer Channel
- Portsmouth v Fulham, 6:45pm [delayed], Setanta US
Sunday, August 16:
- Manchester United v Birmingham City, 8:30am, Setanta US
- Tottenham v Liverpool, 11am, Fox Soccer Channel
Tuesday, August 18:
- Sunderland v Chelsea, 2:40pm, Setanta US
- Wigan v Wolves, 2:40pm, Setanta Xtra
Wednesday, August 19:
- Burnley v Man United, 2:40pm, Setanta US
- Hull v Tottenham, 2:40pm, Setanta Xtra
Saturday, August 22:
- Man City v Wolves, 10am, Fox Soccer Channel
- Arsenal v Portsmouth, 10am, Setanta US
- Wigan v Manchester United, 10am, ESPN2
- Sunderland v Blackburn, 10am, Setanta Xtra
- Birmingham v Stoke City, Noon, Fox Soccer Channel
- Hull City v Bolton, 5pm [delayed], Fox Soccer Channel
Sunday, August 23:
- West Ham United v Tottenham, 8:30am, Setanta US
- Fulham v Chelsea, 11am, Fox Soccer Channel
Monday, August 24:
- Liverpool v Aston Villa, 3pm, ESPN2
Saturday, August 29:
- Chelsea v Burnley, 7:45am, ESPN2
- Tottenham Hotspur v Birmingham City, 10am, Fox Soccer Channel
- Bolton v Liverpool, 10am, Setanta US
- Blackburn v West Ham, 10am, Setanta Xtra
- Manchester United v Arsenal, 12:15pm, Fox Soccer Channel
- Stoke City v Sunderland, 5pm [delayed], Fox Soccer Channel
Sunday, August 30:
- Portsmouth v Manchester City, 8:30am, Setanta US
- Aston Villa v Fulham, 11am, Fox Soccer Channel
Saturday, September 12:
- Man City v Arsenal, 10am, Setanta US
- Liverpool v Burnley, 10am, ESPN2
- Stoke v Chelsea, 10am, Fox Soccer Channel
- TBD v TBD, 10am, Setanta Xtra
- Tottenham v Manchester United, 12:15pm, Fox Soccer Channel
Sunday, September 13:
- Birmingham City v Aston Villa, 7am, Setanta US
- Fulham v Everton, 11:15am, Fox Soccer Channel
Saturday, September 19:
- Burnley v Sunderland, 7:45am, ESPN2
- Arsenal v Wigan Athletic, 10am, Setanta US
- Aston Villa v Portsmouth, 10am, Fox Soccer Channel
- TBD v TBD, 10am, Setanta Xtra
- West Ham United v Liverpool, 12:15pm, Fox Soccer Channel
Sunday, September 20:
- Manchester United v Manchester City, 8:30am, Setanta US
- Chelsea v Tottenham, 11am, Fox Soccer Channel
Saturday, September 26:
- Portsmouth v Everton, 7:45am, ESPN2
- Stoke v Man United, 10am, Setanta US
- Liverpool v Hull City, 10am, Fox Soccer Channel
- TBD v TBD, 10am, Setanta Xtra
- Fulham v Arsenal, 12:15pm, Fox Soccer Channel
Sunday, September 27:
- Sunderland v Wolves, 11am, Fox Soccer Channel
Monday, September 28:
- Manchester City v West Ham United, ESPN2
Saturday, October 3:
- TBD v TBD, 10am, ESPN2
- TBD v TBD, 10am, Fox Soccer Channel
- Bolton v Spurs, 10am, Setanta US
- TBD v TBD, 10am, Setanta Xtra
- Manchester United v Sunderland, 12:15pm, Fox Soccer Channel
Sunday, October 4:
- Arsenal v Blackburn Rovers, 8:30am, Setanta US
- Chelsea v Liverpool, 11am, Fox Soccer Channel
Monday, October 5:
- Aston Villa v Manchester City, 3pm, ESPN2
Saturday, October 17:
- Aston Villa v Chelsea, 7:45am, ESPN2
- Man United v Bolton, 10am, Setanta US
- TBD v TBD, 10am, Fox Soccer Channel
- TBD v TBD, 10am, Setanta Xtra
Sunday, October 18:
- Blackburn Rovers v Burnley, 8am, Setanta US
- Wigan v Manchester City, 11am, Fox Soccer Channel
Monday, October 19:
- Fulham v Hull City, 3pm, ESPN2
Saturday, October 24:
- Wolves v Aston Villa, 7:45am, ESPN2
- Man City v Fulham, 10am, Setanta US
- TBD v TBD, 10am, Fox Soccer Channel
- TBD v TBD, 10am, Setanta Xtra
- Chelsea v Blackburn Rovers, 12:15pm, Fox Soccer Channel
Sunday, October 25:
- Liverpool v Manchester United, 10am, Setanta US
- West Ham United v Arsenal, 11:15am, Fox Soccer Channel
Saturday, October 31:
- Arsenal v Tottenham, 8:45am, ESPN2
- Fulham v Liverpool, 11am, Setanta US
- TBD v TBD, 11am, Fox Soccer Channel
- TBD v TBD, 11am, Setanta Xtra
- Manchester United v Blackburn Rovers, 1:15pm, Fox Soccer Channel
Sunday, November 1:
- Birmingham City v Manchester City, 11am, Fox Soccer Channel
Saturday, November 7:
- TBD v TBD, 10am, Setanta US
- TBD v TBD, 10am, ESPN2
- TBD v TBD, 10am, Fox Soccer Channel
- TBD v TBD, 10am, Setanta Xtra
- Wolves v Arsenal, 12:15pm, Fox Soccer Channel
Sunday, November 8:
- Hull City v Stoke City, 8:30am, Setanta US
- Chelsea v Manchester United, 11am, Fox Soccer Channel
Monday, November 9:
- Liverpool v Birmingham City, 3pm, ESPN2
Saturday, November 21:
- Liverpool v Manchester City, 7:45am, ESPN2
- Chelsea v Wolves, 10am, Setanta US
- TBD v TBD, 10am, Fox Soccer Channel
- TBD v TBD, 10am, Setanta Xtra
- Manchester United v Everton, 12:15pm, Fox Soccer Channel
Sunday, November 22:
- Bolton v Blackburn, 8:30am, Setanta US
- Stoke City v Portsmouth, 11am, Fox Soccer Channel
Saturday, November 28:
- TBD v TBD, 10am, Setanta US
- TBD v TBD, 10am, ESPN2
- TBD v TBD, 10am, Fox Soccer Channel
- TBD v TBD, 10am, Setanta Xtra
- Aston Villa v Tottenham, 12:15pm, Fox Soccer Channel
Sunday, November 29:
- Everton v Liverpool, 8:30am, Setanta US
- Arsenal v Chelsea, 11am, Fox Soccer Channel
Observations:
- Setanta UK may be dead in the water, and Setanta Ireland may be hanging on by a thread, but the above TV schedule shows what an important role Setanta US plays in providing US viewers with high profile Premier League matches.
- The schedule has been kind to Fox Soccer Channel for Saturday’s 12:15pm kick-off, which in the past I’ve tended to refer to as the “Fox Snoozy Saturday” game because it was usually a less revelant game that was shown. And during a spell of several weeks last season, there were a series of 0-0 draws for the matches featured in that time slot. Because ESPN UK will be showing the 12:15pm ET/5:15pm GMT kickoff in the UK on Saturdays, the Premier League probably wanted to be kind to them and gave them several high-profile matches. As a result, since Fox has that timeslot in the US, Fox will be able to show games that include Man United v Arsenal, Spurs v Man United, Fulham and Arsenal, and several other games featuring Manchester United.
- With Fox Soccer Channel continuing to hold on to the most coveted weekend TV spot — the 11am Sunday game, which always features the highest ratings — they have several high-profile matches to show which will include Spurs v Liverpool, Fulham v Chelsea, Chelsea v Spurs, Chelsea v Liverpool, Chelsea v Man United and Arsenal v Chelsea.
- It’s no surprise that we’ll get to see the Big Four on TV during the opening weekend on August 15-16. Chelsea against Hull City will kick off the new season at 7:45am ET on Saturday, August 15 on ESPN2. On that afternoon, Fox Soccer Channel will show Everton versus Arsenal. On Sunday, August 16, Setanta US will show Manchester United against Birmingham City on 8:30am ET, while FSC will show Spurs versus Liverpool at 11am.
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