GolTV's contract to show La Liga matches in the United States ends this season, but the big question is whether GolTV or another broadcaster will pick up the rights for next season. La Liga Talk received an anonymous rumor this week stating that GolTV has entered a bid to renew the TV rights but MediaPro, […]

Breaking news: The Premier League has announced that out of the six TV packages available for bidding in the UK for the 2010-2013 seasons, Sky Sports won five of those packages with Setanta getting the sixth and final one. That means that ESPN's attempt to bid on the rights ended in failure — in the […]

Once the final two TV packages are finalized in the United Kingdom, the Premier League will focus next on the bidding for TV rights in the US. While the rights in the UK will still primarily be owned by Sky Sports, there may be more revolutionary changes in the United States. But who will win? […]

The Guardian newspaper is reporting that ESPN and Setanta Sports are expected to team up to try to win the U.S. TV rights to the Premier League from Fox Soccer Channel for the 2010-2013 seasons. The relationship between Setanta and ESPN is already close. In October 2008, Setanta Sports sub-licensed some of its internet rights […]

In the next 24 hours, we'll find out if the future of Premier League TV coverage will change forever. Sky Sports has already won the bids for the first four of six packages made available by the Premier League for TV coverage from 2010-2013 for an estimated £1.3 billion. By Thursday night, we'll learn whether […]

An insider source at ESPN has revealed that the Disney-owned company is planning on bidding for one to two of the six UK TV packages available for the 2010-2013 Premier League seasons, according to Bloomberg. While the news hardly comes as a surprise to regular readers of EPL Talk, we at least now have confirmation […]

On Monday, the Premier League formally send out invitations to the UK networks interested in bidding on the next round of TV rights for the league, for the 2010-2011 to 2012-2013 seasons. If you've been reading EPL Talk for a while, you won't be surprised to read that the invitations were sent to ESPN, Setanta […]

It's a shame that the NCAA College Cup is not more publicized and marketed to the sporting public. College soccer is exciting, and it should get more attention. The NCAA is missing an opportunity with NCAA soccer. The 'Final Four' in NCAA basketball and the 'Frozen Four' in hockey have achieved much more fanfare. The basketball championships are […]

News about the Arena Football League (AFL) not playing its 2009 season is unsettling and a surprise to many (at this time, statements from the league website are still evolving). The league appeared to be in good shape. Evidence suggested that the league was stabilizing. For 8 home games, each of the 17 teams in […]

Champions League football returns today with both Chelsea and Liverpool in action. Chelsea is at home versus Cluj in a must-win game for Gene Hackman, I mean Luiz Felipe Scolari, (ESPN2 and ESPN360, 2:30pm ET) while PSV takes on Liverpool in a must-score game for Robbie Keane (Setanta Sports, 2:30pm ET). In the meantime, here […]

In early August of 2006, it was announced that ESPN had paid for the rights to broadcast MLS. At the announcement, officials from both sides agreed that ESPN would brand MLS with all the glory that its broadcasting style conveys to U.S. sports fans. But, another MLS season has come and gone and except for the soccer purists, it has passed […]

ESPN and Setanta announced last week that both networks will immediately begin sharing the broadband rights in the United States for the Carling Cup, Coca-Cola Championship and Football League. But how exactly will games be split between Setanta Broadband and ESPN360? Here's how: ESPN360 will have the first pick of Carling Cup matches from round […]

Setanta Sports's decision Thursday to sub-license the U.S. Internet rights to the Carling Cup, Coca-Cola Championship League and Football League to ESPN sends a message loud and clear that the Disney-owned corporation has the Premier League in its sights. In the agreement between ESPN and Setanta, ESPN will broadcast many live Carling Cup, Championship and […]

Fox Soccer Channel's first Nielsen Ratings have been released giving soccer fans and advertisers alike a glimpse into how many people watch soccer on the network in the United States. Here are the figures for the opening weekend of October: Manchester City v Liverpool, 224,000 viewers Blackburn Rovers v Manchester United, 199,000 viewers England v […]

I love watching Premier League teams on television just as much as anyone, but I must admit that I'm a bit sick of EPL teams monopolizing ESPN's Champions League coverage in their Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon timeslots.