ESPN today announced its plans for coverage of the Euro 2012 tournament.
For the first time, ESPN will have pre-match, half-time and post-match coverage of each of the 31 games. The opening and final matches will each have a 30-minute pre-game show, while all of the other Euro 2012 matches will feature a 15-minute pre-game show.
All 31 games will be shown live on ESPN3.com, while ESPN will show 22 live and ESPN2 will show nine live. ESPN Deportes will show 27 of the games live, while the remaining four will be on tape delay. This compares to Euro 2008 where the games were spread across ESPN, ABC, ESPN Classic and ESPN2.
Additionally, all 31 matches will be archived and can only be accessed on ESPN3 through July 31, 2012, and non-exclusively through the end of the calendar year (Dec. 31, 2012). All matches will be available for replay on ESPN3 shortly after completion.
For each broadcast, ESPN Deportes match coverage will begin at 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. ET, while ESPN and ESPN match coverage begins at 11:45 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. ET.
The schedule of Euro 2012 games is as follows (all times Eastern; England games in bold):
Fri, June 8, 12 p.m., Poland vs. Greece, ESPN / ESPN3 / ESPN Deportes
Fri, June 8, 2:45 p.m., Russia vs. Czech Republic, ESPN / ESPN3 / ESPN Deportes
Sat, June 9, 12 p.m., Netherlands vs. Denmark, ESPN / ESPN3 / ESPN Deportes
Sat, 2:45 p.m., Germany vs. Portugal, ESPN / ESPN3 / ESPN Deportes
Sun, June 10, 12 p.m., Spain vs. Italy, ESPN / ESPN3 / ESPN Deportes
Sun, June 10, 2:45 p.m., Republic of Ireland vs. Croatia, ESPN / ESPN3 / ESPN Deportes
Mon, June 11, 12 p.m., France vs. England, ESPN / ESPN3 / ESPN Deportes
Mon, June 11, 2:45 p.m., Ukraine vs. Sweden, ESPN / ESPN3 / ESPN Deportes
Tue, June 12, 12 p.m., Greece vs. Czech Republic, ESPN / ESPN3 / ESPN Deportes
Tue, June 12, 2:45 p.m., Poland vs. Russia, ESPN / ESPN3 / ESPN Deportes
Wed, June 13, 12 p.m., Denmark vs. Portugal, ESPN / ESPN3 / ESPN Deportes
Wed, June 13, 2:45 p.m., Netherlands vs. Germany, ESPN / ESPN3 / ESPN Deportes
Thu, June 14, 12 p.m., Italy vs. Croatia, ESPN2 / ESPN3 / ESPN Deportes
Thu, June 14, 2:45 p.m. Spain vs. Republic of Ireland Gdansk ESPN2 / ESPN3 / ESPN Deportes
Fri, June 15, 12 p.m., Ukraine vs. France, ESPN2 / ESPN3 / ESPN Deportes
Fri, June 15, 2:45 p.m., Sweden vs. England, ESPN2 / ESPN3 / ESPN Deportes
Sat, June 16, 2:45 p.m., Czech Republic vs. Poland, ESPN2 / ESPN3 / ESPN Deportes
Sat, June 16, 2:45 p.m., Greece vs. Russia, ESPN / ESPN3 / ESPN Deportes at 5:30 p.m.
Sun, June 17, 2:45 p.m., Portugal vs. Netherlands, ESPN / ESPN3 / ESPN Deportes
Sun, June 17, 2:45 p.m., Denmark vs. Germany, ESPN2 / ESPN3 / ESPN Deportes at 5:30 p.m.
Mon, June 18, 2:45 p.m., Croatia vs. Spain, ESPN / ESPN3 / ESPN Deportes
Mon, June 18, 2:45 p.m., Italy vs. Republic of Ireland Poznan ESPN2 / ESPN3 / ESPN Deportes at 5:30 p.m.
Tue, June 19, 2:45 p.m., England vs. Ukraine, ESPN / ESPN3 / ESPN Deportes
Tue, June 19, 2:45 p.m., Sweden France, ESPN2 / ESPN3 / ESPN Deportes at 5:30 p.m.
Thu, June 21, 2:45 p.m., Quarterfinal I – 1A vs. 2B, ESPN / ESPN3 / ESPN Deportes
Fri, June 22, 2:45 p.m., Quarterfinal II – 1B vs. 2A, ESPN / ESPN3 / ESPN Deportes
Sat, June 23, 2:45 p.m., Quarterfinal III – 1C vs. 2D, ESPN2 / ESPN3 / ESPN Deportes
Sun, June 24, 2:45 p.m., Quarterfinal IV – 1D vs. 2C, ESPN / ESPN3 / ESPN Deportes
Wed, June 27, 2:45 p.m., Semifinal I – Winners QF I vs. QF III, ESPN / ESPN3 / ESPN Deportes
Thu, June 28, 2:45 p.m., Semifinal II – Winners QF II vs. QF IV, ESPN / ESPN3 / ESPN Deportes
Sun, July 1, 2:45 p.m., Final – Semifinal Winners, ESPN / ESPN3 / ESPN Deportes
What’s impressive about this year’s coverage of the European Championships is the sheer number of games that will be shown on ESPN, the flagship network. As you can see here, previous Euro tournaments were mostly shown on ESPN2 and ESPN Classic.
While ESPN hasn’t announced their final line-up of commentators and pundits for their coverage this summer, we do know that Michael Ballack, Alexi Lalas, Kasey Keller and Steve McManaman will be involved.
What’s your opinion about the coverage plans that ESPN has announced? Are you pleased or disappointed? Share your opinions in the comments section below.
