This weekend will be a turning point for the English Premier League in the United States. For the first time in history, all ten Premier League matches will be available live to U.S. viewers.
Typically soccer fans in the United States have been able to see as many as eight live games out of the ten matches each weekend. In the past, we missed a couple of the live 10am ET Saturday games because there weren’t enough outlets available to show the games. But now with the demise of Setanta US and the relaunch of FoxSoccer.tv, the broadband service from Fox has picked up the slack and plan on showing as many as four live games in the 10am ET slot all at the same time on different Internet streams.
So, for example, this Saturday soccer fans in the United States who have access to Fox Soccer Channel and FoxSoccer.tv will be able to see five games all at once: Chelsea v West Ham, Stoke v Aston Villa, Burnley v Wolves, Birmingham City v Everton (only on Fox Soccer Channel) and Bolton v Wigan. If you’re a FoxSoccer.tv subscriber, you can open each of these streams in separate windows and have your TV on at the same time to watch Landon Donovan’s last game for Everton. Or you can watch the games on demand via FoxSoccer.tv typically 90-120 minutes after the games end.
For those readers who are not yet FoxSoccer.tv subscribers, the Chelsea against West Ham game will be on Fox Soccer Plus while Birmingham versus Everton will be on Fox Soccer Channel.
But for those readers who subscribe to Fox Soccer Channel and FoxSoccer.tv, this Saturday will be a dream come true with the quantity (and hopefully quality) of games available for viewers to choose from.
To review the complete TV and Internet schedule for this weekend’s Premier League games, view EPL Talk’s Premier League TV schedule for US viewers today.
The question I have for you is how do you plan on watching the 10am ET matches this weekend? Will you change your viewing habits based on the assortment of games available? Is the number of games available simply too much?
While you’re thinking about the answers to those questions (please post them in the comments section below), here are some responses from EPL Talk readers on Twitter who answered the question which match were they most looking forward to watching this weekend:
