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ESPN’s coverage of the 2010 World Cup has been spectacular. But if I must be honest, some of the commentators are beginning to get on my nerves. It’s normal, I guess – especially after you consider how many hours we’ve spent listening to these commentators since the tournament began on June 11.
Based on what I’ve seen from ESPN thus far, here are a few interesting observations regarding the World Cup coverage:
John Harkes. I have an incredible amount of respect for Harksey as a player at both the club and international level. And he seems a genuinely nice guy. But he’s not a brilliant co-commentator. I’ve already discussed how I feel <a href="http:\/\/epltalk.com/espns-adrian-healey-confuses-slovakia-with-slovenia/21163" target="_blank">he talks too much</a>. But there’s nothing that annoys me more about commentators than when they seemingly jinx players.
For example, when I saw Landon Donovan walking up to take a free kick against Algeria, the last thing I want to hear is how Harkes thinks that Donovan is lethal with free kicks. When Harkes says that, the expectation level among viewers soars because many of them think that Donovan will score. But more often than not, a goal comes when you least expect it. And when it doesn’t come from a free kick, it’s almost as if Harkes is setting up the player and viewer for failure, although I realize that’s not his intention.
Ian Darke. I love Ian Darke, I really do. But during a high pressure game such as the United States against Algeria, the last thing I want him asking the viewer and John Harkes is how nervous we are. If we’re US fans, of course we’re nervous. And by asking the question, it only adds more pressure on top of what we’re already feeling.
Martin Tyler. There is no commentator on this planet who is better than Tyler. Having that said, Tyler sounds more understated this tournament than usual. At times, he sounds blase’ — much more so than usual. Other times, he sounds tired. While he’s a brilliant commentator, his delivery in this World Cup hasn’t been at his top form yet. But I trust that things will improve after the intensity of the first round concludes.
British commentators. I’ve been enjoying the myriad of British commentators that ESPN has hired to cover the World Cup. But I’m bemused by the amount of references the commentators continually make regarding the English Premier League. In many ways, it’s understandable. It’s the league that the British commentators are most familiar with. But I’ve found that in most games, a few references to the Premier League are often mentioned whether it’s about a player or manager. If it wasn’t for John Harkes (and Martin Tyler, to be fair), Major League Soccer would be forgotten in this tournament. Thankfully both Harkes and Tyler weave in mentions now and again to ensure that MLS is not overlooked entirely in this tournament.
The other thing about the British commentators is that every once in a while they’ll throw a British expression which may seem perfectly normal to them but may be befuddle some American viewers. When Darke describes a defense as at “sixes and sevens,” do most American viewers understand what he means?
Not that there’s anything wrong with using British expressions during commentary of games. I just find it interesting that we’re watching the games in America on American television yet the commentary is very Anglo-centric.

ESPN World Cup Commentators: Progress Report Card - World Soccer Talk

ESPN World Cup Commentators: Progress Report Card

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The 2010 World Cup has exploded on US television with record ratings. During the first weekend, the audience numbers for the first five games for the 2010 World Cup on ESPN were twice as high as those from four years ago during the 2006 World Cup. And now, during the second weekend, Univision is reporting that their broadcast of Mexico against France was the largest audience for a World Cup match on its network.&nbsp;Not only that, but&nbsp;ESPN is reporting that the United States against Slovenia match was ESPN’s third most-watched soccer telecast of all time.
Thursday’s Mexico against France game on Univision drew 5.8 million viewers. When combined with ESPN’s audience number for that game, the total viewing audience was approximately 8 million. Thursday’s 5.8 million audience on Univision&nbsp;topped the previous Univision record of 5.4 million for the game between Mexico and South Africa that opened the 2010 World Cup.
So far, through Thursday, Univision is averaging 2.3 million viewers for the 2010 World Cup, up 13% from 2006.
Meanwhile, Friday’s United States’ 2-2 draw with Slovenia drew 5.2 million viewers. Only Germany vs Italy in 2006 (5.85 million) and United States vs Germany in 2002 (5.3 million) drew more viewers. During the 2006 World Cup, US vs Czech Republic drew 3.8 million viewers on ESPN2 and USA vs Ghana drew 2.8 million on ESPN.
Friday’s match also ranks as the most-viewed soccer telecast ever on ESPN in households (3.9 million).
San Diego led all markets with an 8.5 rating for the match, followed by Washington, D.C. (6.4), Miami (6.2), West Palm Beach (5.9) and San Francisco (5.7).
Through Friday, ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC are averaging a 1.9 U.S. rating and 2.95 million viewers for coverage of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, up 60% and 71%, respectively, from 2006 (1.2, 1.7 mil).
At this rate, don’t be surprised if June and July of 2010 is remembered, in the future, as “the summer of soccer” especially when you consider the fact that both the France against Mexico and United States versus Slovenia games were shown on weekdays. Imagine if those games had been played on a weekend!

World Cup TV Ratings Break New Records On ESPN and Univision - World Soccer Talk

World Cup TV Ratings Break New Records On ESPN and Univision

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ESPN’s proclaimed “footy fanatic”, Josh Elliot has called out all World Cup fans. Sportscenter wants to know who you think is the best player in the 2010 World Cup so far. The ESPN anchor picks Gonzalo Higuain, the convenient choice after today’s hat trick against South Korea. However, I think the EPL Talk readers are more creative and&nbsp;knowledgeable&nbsp;than that. Do you think Diego Forlan has been more impressive? How about players without goals to their name? Robinho, Enyeama, Messi? I think cases can be made for many players who have been extremely influential thus far.
View the challenge page by clicking&nbsp;<a href="http:\/\/espn.go.com/blog/sportscenter/post/_/id/60035/josh-elliots-fan-rant-what-do-you-think-is-the-worlds-best-footballer">here</a>, to see the official rules and submission instructions. Here is Mr. Elliot’s argument for Higuain:
The contest is simple, make your video around 1 minute in length. Keep it clean. Be creative, persuasive, accurate, funny, and awesome. Send it to ESPN, and the winning video will be posted on Sportscenter.com on Saturday, June 19th. The deadline for submission is Friday at 12pm ET. So get to work!
Although ESPN will only pick one winning video to appear on Saturday’s Sportscenter, we would still love to see all your videos. So after you make your video and send it to ESPN, feel free to post to our <a href="http:\/\/www.facebook.com/epltalksoccer">Facebook page</a>, or <a href="mailto:jake.islas@gmail.com">email</a> your video to me and I’ll add it. We want to see how creative our readers are! Have fun!

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General

ESPN World Cup Commentators: Progress Report Card

TV Ratings

World Cup TV Ratings Break New Records On ESPN and Univision

General

ESPN "Fan Rant Challenge" – Who is the World Cup's Best Player So Far?