On Sportsnet One and the demise of EPL TV in Canada

The English Premier League kicked off this weekend, but if you're a Canadian without an extensive sports television package, you can be forgiven for not noticing. Of the 10 Premier League fixtures this weekend, exactly one was available on one of the three basic Canadian sports channels (TSN, Rogers Sportsnet and The Score). That was today's 4-0 win by Blackpool over Wigan, which was certainly thrilling, but hardly the most anticipated matchup of the weekend.

What about those other nine games? Well, two of them (Tottenham - Manchester City today and Manchester United - Newcastle on Monday) are available on TSN 2. You can make an argument that that's reasonable, as TSN 2 has a fair bit of quality content these days, but it is still an extra cost ($5 per month with one other channel on Shaw). Six of the games are on Setanta Sports, with two being carried live (Aston Villa - West Ham today and Liverpool - Arsenal tomorrow) and the other four as same-day replays today. That's not too bad for those looking for comprehensive coverage, but Setanta does cost $14.95 per month on Shaw.

What's particularly unfortunate for West Coast Premiership fans is the timing of the games. Often when games are on an expensive channel, you can get around subscribing by heading out to a sports bar to find them. That works out for everyone; the bar pays for the channel, you pay for the food and drink and you get to watch a game in a good atmosphere. That's tougher with soccer, though, as Premier League starts on the West Coast range from 4:30 a.m. (a few games) to 7 a.m. (most games) to 9 a.m. (the occasional late game), and I haven't yet found a Lower Mainland bar that's willing to open at 7 in the morning (if you do know of one, let me know in the comments or via e-mail!)

The most egregious violation, however, is the Chelsea - West Bromwich Albion match, which is being shown today on a new channel, Sportsnet OneR. I'd love to give you a price for that, but as Bruce Dowbiggin of The Globe and Mail points out, the only television provider that the channel is even being offered on at this point is Rogers (coincidentally, its corporate parent). According to their website, Rogers doesn't even offer cable in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Quebec, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, the Northwest Territories, the Yukon or Nunavut. Thus, if you live in 10 of Canada's 13 provinces and territories, there is no way to watch the Chelsea - West Bromwich Albion game without resorting to an Internet feed.

I don't know the details of the negotiations between Rogers and the other television providers, so it's hard to definitively assign blame to one side or the other. There's more than enough to go around, though, and if the TSN2 spat is anything to go by, it could be months before a deal is reached. That doesn't just hurt EPL fans, as PPP pointed out: the channel's also slated to carry Jays and Raptors games, as well as games from the Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames and Ottawa Senators. Canadian hockey fans are devoted enough that they'll probably force cable providers to pick up Sportsnet One by the time that season starts in October, but it's unfortunate that Rogers is banking on that and it's even more unfortunate that most of the country won't be able to watch crucial EPL games until then.

The people who I have the most sympathy for are the young fans, though. I really got into the EPL in the late 90s, when Sportsnet would run triple-headers on their basic channel on Saturdays. That was fantastic; sure, you had to get up early, but you could watch some of the best teams and players in the world. Losing some sleep seemed like a small price to pay. Now, instead of just sleep, you have to shell out
big bucks to watch more than one Premiership game per week, and you have to hope and pray that your cable provider deigns to carry the channels games are on. Most existing EPL fans will probably either pay up or find workarounds, but I've got a feeling it will be a lot tougher for new fans to get interested in the game when it demands a substantial financial investment up front. That could hurt soccer's growth in Canada, and it's a shame that the fans are being targeted in the name of big money.

There Will Be Live Blogs: Manchester United - Sunderland

Thanks to Chelsea's 2-0 thumping of Liverpool earlier this morning, Manchester United head to the Stadium of Light with their backs against the wall. They must beat Sunderland to have any hope of remaining in the title race. Kickoff is at 11 a.m. Eastern/8 a.m. Pacific. Join me in the live blog below!

There Will Be Live Blogs: Liverpool - Chelsea

The English Premier League title race continues towards its exciting conclusion, and this second-to-last week features two matches that might just decide it all. First, Liverpool host league-leaders Chelsea at Anfield, and then Manchester United travel to the Stadium of Light to face Sunderland. Chelsea have 80 points from 36 matches, one more than United, and are also well ahead on goal difference. In the last week of the season, they'll host Wigan, which should be a relatively easy win; thus, their performance today will be crucial. United have a bit of an easier schedule, on the road against Sunderland today and then at home against Stoke next week, but they could win out and still lose if Chelsea take both of their games. I'm planning to live blog both of today's clashes, so stop by here for that. The first one, Liverpool and Chelsea, will kick off at 8:30 Eastern (5:30 Pacific) and will be live-blogged in this post; the second one, United and Sunderland, kicks off at 11 a.m. Eastern (8 a.m. Pacific) and will be live-blogged in a separate post. All are welcome to drop by; hope to see you then!

City. United. A derby to remember?

This weekend sees yet another interesting early match in the English Premier League, with Manchester United taking on local rivals Manchester City. It could be a great derby; United are four points back of Chelsea in the chase for the EPL title with only a few games to play, so they absolutely need full points here if they want to put pressure on the leaders. Chelsea will have their own tough match later in the day against Tottenham, but the importance of that one will be diminished if United can't get it done against City.

Tensions are perhaps even higher than normal for a Manchester derby, especially considering the role that Carlos Tevez's defection to City may wind up playing in the demise of United's title ambitions. If United can't pull off a title comeback, the decision to let Tevez go will likely be debated all summer long regardless of Sir Alex Ferguson's comments, so a crucial win here over him and his current club would go a long way towards stifling that discussion. Wayne Rooney also could return, but that isn't inspiring a lot of hope in some United fans. It should be a fantastic clash. I'll be live-blogging it here and at Epic Footy. Kickoff is set for 12:45 p.m. local time, which is 7:45 a.m. on the East Coast and 4.45 a.m. (gulp) out here on the West Coast. If you're up, come stop by!

There Will Be Live Blogs: Man U - Chelsea

It's been a few weeks since I've live-blogged anything, and Saturday morning presents me with an excellent excuse. Manchester United will be taking on Chelsea at Old Trafford at 7 a.m. Eastern/4 a.m. Pacific. The match could be one of the most memorable of this English Premier League campaign.

United lead the EPL with 72 points from 32 games, but Chelsea are hot on their heels with 71 from 32. Moreover, United just suffered a crushing Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich in midweek and lost Wayne Rooney in the process, while Chelsea are coming off a 7-1 thumping of Aston Villa that may have increased the pressure on Martin O'Neill. They're also set to get Didier Drogba back. There's a chance Owen Hargreaves may return to the United bench, but that's about the only good news for United, who will have to rely on Dimitar Berbatov in Rooney's absence.

This clash could well decide the EPL title, so it will be live-blogged here and at Epic Footy despite occuring at 4 in the morning Saturday Pacific Time (putting a game of this scale so early is a scheduling fail on the EPL's part, but that's another topic). All early risers and insomniacs are welcome to stop by!

What could Setanta's demise mean for soccer?

Things aren't looking too good for Setanta, one of the primary worldwide broadcasters of the English Premier League. According to The Times, the company may go off the air "at any moment" after fellow broadcaster BSkyB declined to provide them with a £50 million [BBC News] loan in exchange for access to their live EPL rights. They've also apparently suspended new subscriptions [Ireland Online, found via Brian Zygo]. Founders Leonard Ryan and Michael O'Rourke are reportedly trying to find a new source of financing, but that isn't easy these days.

This could have profound implications for soccer across the globe. Some of the most drastic effects will likely take place in the Scottish Premier League. Check out this passage from the Times article:

"The worst effects of a Setanta collapse, though, would be felt in Scotland. Payments currently due to the individual SPL clubs range in size from £70,000 to nearly £750,000, with the Old Firm obviously taking the greatest hits. Yet Rangers and Celtic can probably withstand such setbacks — it is the smaller clubs who will feel the losses more deeply.

The SPL will hold a press conference today at Hampden Park outlining its plans for dealing with the crisis. The gist of it could be neatly summed up by SPL administrators holding up a placard with the words: 'For Sale, Scottish Football. All Bids Welcome.'"

That doesn't seem like much of an exaggeration. Setanta's SPL deal is worth £125 million over four years, and you can bet no other broadcaster will be willing to pay anything close to that rate. For one thing, the SPL isn't exactly the most desirable property out there. The divide between the big clubs (Rangers and Celtic) and the rest of the pack is perhaps more pronounced than in any other top-tier league, at least to my mind, and few of the other clubs have much of a profile outside Scotland. The league is basically one long competition to see which of the Old Firm clubs wins the title and which smaller club takes third. Sure, there are other leagues with parity problems, but most of them have more clubs with a legitimate shot at the title (such as the English Premier League's Big Four) and other clubs that aren't that far behind (such as the likes of Everton and Aston Villa in the EPL). The SPL may have a difficult time getting anything close to this deal.

There are other factors that come into the SPL deal and apply to Setanta's other contracts as well. For one, the economy's gone in the tank since the last round of deals was negotiated. At that time, there was a prominent belief that the value of soccer TV rights would continue to rise indefinitely, given increasing global demand and expansion into new markets. That led to a bidding war for many hot properties and probably convinced broadcasters to spend more on them than they could make back from ad sales and subscription revenues at the moment, rationalizing that they could recoup their losses in the long rung. The values of these rights may again climb in the future, but they appear to be overvalued at the moment.

Moreover, Setanta's entry into the market was a key element in the the magnitude of the last deals. It's a simple economic principle that more competition for a resource tends to increase the price of that resource, especially when the supply is limited, which is very much the case with top-tier soccer. When that competition diminishes, the price of that resource falls because you can't play competitors against each other in an attempt to make more money. This is especially true if Setanta is to go off the air altogether, given the tremendous volume of soccer it shows. Sports channels obviously can't show more than 24 hours of programming per day, so if Setanta disappears altogether, its games couldn't be picked up by an existing channel without affecting their own programming schedule. Now, other channels are almost certain to be willing to do that for the more desirable properties that were on Setanta, such as the EPL, but they may not be willing to pony up as much money before. However, some of the second-tier leagues, like the SPL and the French Ligue 1, may have a more difficult time finding a home at all. The BBC already made it clear in the Times article that they're not interested in getting back into SPL coverage. Given how dependent leagues have become on TV money and the increasing numbers of clubs entering financial difficulties, this could dramatically affect soccer as we know it in Europe.

This could have some troubling implications for North American soccer viewers as well. It's unclear how the parent company's problems will affect their North American subsidiaries, but you can bet that the effects probably won't be positive. In the U.S., Setanta shows plenty of EPL action as well as top-tier stuff from other European leagues. In Canada, they are one of the main EPL broadcasters (along with usually one live game a week on The Score and one on Rogers Sportsnet) recently won the rights [EPL Talk] to show the UEFA Champions League for the next three years along with Sportsnet. There's a lot of speculation flying around that ESPN may pick up some of Setanta's packages, particularly the EPL ones.

It's not clear yet exactly how that would work, but that shouldn't keep us from considering the possibilities if ESPN does make a move for Setanta or some of its rights packages. In the U.S., I'd imagine that much of the EPL coverage might get bumped to ESPN2, especially in the fall when Saturdays are all about college football and Sunday is about extensive NFL pre-game shows; both are ratings bonanzas. The EPL has a dramatically growing audience stateside, but I don't think it's enough to dethrone either form of American football. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, as ESPN2 doesn't require anywhere near as hefty of a subscription fee as Setanta and large numbers of households have it.

The Canadian scenario is far more troubling if TSN, ESPN's Canadian counterpart, were to follow suit with a play for EPL rights. TSN generally does a poor job of covering soccer; they've had UEFA Champions League packages for ages, but bump the games for such activities as curling whenever they get the chance (as an aside, I'm quite sure that Canada is the only country in the world where curling would ever take precedence over the Champions League). If they did manage to land EPL rights, they might continue to drop the games whenever possible in favour of some obscure sport. That's not necessarily a shot at them, as TSN has a ton of properties as it is, and making room for them all can be very challenging. I don't think they would be a good home for the EPL, though.

However, things may not change all that much on the EPL front here. According to this 2007 Globe and Mail piece by William Houston quoted at the digitalhome.ca forums (bottom of the page), it's The Score that actually controls the Canadian EPL rights; Setanta and Sportsnet licensed them from them. Thus, they would be able to either increase their own EPL coverage or farm it out to someone else, and there are a variety of interesting options here; we could see Sportsnet return to three EPL games on Sunday, GOLTV pick up some EPL action or Fox Sports World Canada get in on the fun. Also, Rogers apparently holds a partial interest in Setanta Canada; I could see them perhaps taking over the Canadian channel themselves as well and continuing the existing deal with The Score. That might work well, as most of the other alternatives would likely lead to less EPL games being shown thanks to pre-existing programming demands. It will be interesting to watch and see what happens with this going forward.

[Cross-posted to The 24th Minute]

Update: 3:05 P.M., June 10: Just found this piece from the guys at Full-Time: Vancouver's Soccer Show. Apparently, Setanta Canada will operate as is for at least the 2009-2010 season, as it's a separate concern (partly thanks to Rogers' investment). They'll be talking to Setanta Canada marketing manager Andy Shapiera on the show this coming Sunday; should be an interesting interview.

The return of Premier League Punditry!

After a couple of weeks off thanks to the interlull and some scheduling issues, Premier League Punditry will make its triumphant return today. We'll kick things off at 1 p.m. Eastern Time. Join us in the live blog below then!

Premier League Punditry 03-22-09

Premier League Punditry is back! Plenty to talk about this week, including Liverpool's trampling of Aston Villa and Man U's loss to Fulham. Is the title race back in play? All that and much, much more from the world of soccer will be discussed. Join us in the live blog after the jump!

The return of Premier League Punditry!

After a one-week hiatus thanks to my duties covering the Final 8 men's basketball tournament, I'm happy to announce that Premier League Punditry will return later today at the usual time (1:30 p.m. Eastern). As always, there will be lots to talk about. The focus will be the Premier League as normal, but we'll probably also touch on the Champions League and the recently announced MLS expansion to Portland and Vancouver. Come join us live at 1:30 or leave comments, questions or discussion topics in the comments on this post!

Update: Make that 2:30; a meeting came up that Amrit has to go to.

Premier League Punditry to return tomorrow

Sorry, I forgot to post this earlier. Premier League Punditry will take place tomorrow at 1 p.m. Eastern, as I'm pretty busy covering basketball today. Join us then for all your soccer analysis!

Premier League Punditry 03-08-09

Premier League Punditry is back to the usual time this week, and we should be back to the usual cast as well. Plenty to talk about, including the midweek games and this weekend's FA Cup clashes. If there's time, we may even bring some world soccer into it with Beckham, the Montreal Impact and MLS expansion. Come join us in the live blog below starting at 1:30 p.m. Eastern!

Premier League Punditry 03-01-09

Plenty to talk about in this week's instalment of Premier League Punditry, including the Carling Cup and the slipups of Liverpool and Aston Villa. Join us in the live blog below!

Premier League Punditry 02-22-09

Welcome to today's edition of Premier League Punditry! The EPL got back into full swing this week, so there's lots to talk about. Manchester United pulled off a 2-1 win over a very impressive Blackburn Rovers side Saturday to go eight points clear at the top of the league, and Liverpool could only close the gap by one point today with a draw against Manchester City. The classic line from that story is "United will have relished this performance by their neighbours, which could have given the crown to the Old Trafford club." I bet a lot of City fans are happy about that one;). Andrei Arshavin made his Arsenal debut Saturday, but couldn't help his team past Sunderland, and they only came away with one point from a 0-0 draw. Meanwhile, Chelsea recorded their first win under Guus Hiddink with a 1-0 victory over Aston Villa. For plenty of other EPL news and commentary, as well as perhaps some stuff on MLS expansion and my 24th Minute piece on Vancouver's bid, join me in the live blog below!

Premier League Punditry 02-15-09

A quick note that we will be live with today's edition of Premier League Punditry in just under an hour. Phil from There Is No Original Name For This Sports Blog will be here as usual, but Amrit is lying on a beach in Mexico, so Ben Knight, one of Canada's pre-eminent soccer writers (currently of Onward! Soccer, formerly of The Globe and Mail and Sportsnet.ca) will be filling in for him. There's only a bit of Premier League action to talk about, but there's plenty of other stuff going on in the world of European soccer between the FA Cup, Guus Hiddink's takeover at Chelsea, rumours of Avram Grant to Portsmouth, Real Madrid possibly preparing for another run at Cristiano Ronaldo, Jose Mourinho vowing to return Douglas MacArthur-style and David Beckham supposedly coming back to MLS (or is he?). [All stories above from ESPN Soccernet] The plan is to cover some MLS and Canadian soccer topics as well, including the Ottawa stadium debate, Toronto FC's prospects for the year and Vancouver's chances of landing an MLS expansion slot. Join the conversation here with us at 1:30!

Premier League Punditry 02-08-09

Welcome to today's edition of Premier League Punditry, as usual featuring myself and Amrit and Phil from There Is No Original Name For This Sports Blog. Plenty to talk about this week, including Manchester United's 3-month streak of clean sheets in the league, Arsenal's draw with Tottenham, Jo's amazing success in his first match for Everton, Chelsea's draw with Hull and Liverpool's 3-2 win over Portsmouth [all links from the excellent ESPN Soccernet]. Join us in the live blog below!

Premier League Punditry 02-01-09

Join us in the live blog below!

Premier League Punditry 01-25-09

A reminder to everyone that I'll be chatting with Amrit and Phil from There is No Original Name For This Sports Blog at 1:30 today. We'll have a lot to talk about this week, between various transfers and transfer speculation (Kenwyne Jones to Spurs? Didier Drogba to Olympique Marseille? Arsene Wenger to Real Madrid!?), some surprises in FA Cup action (such as Cardiff holding Arsenal and Swansea dumping defending champions Portsmouth) and a bunch of off-the-field news (Kuwaitis buying Liverpool? Millwall fans acting up again? Indian sponsors for United?). [All above stories from ESPN Soccernet). We'll try to get to all of that and more this afternoon, so join us here at 1:30 and submit your questions and comments!

Manchester United - Tottenham live blog

Join us in the live blog below!

Upcoming live blog of Manchester United - Tottenham

Later today will see an epic FA Cup fourth round clash between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur. Both sides are struggling through injuries [ESPN Soccernet] and have a large fixture load for the near future, so it will be notable to see who plays and how some of the less-famous players on either side respond. Moreover, this match will be an interesting preview of the March 1 Carling Cup final, as both sides advanced into that fixture this week (United knocked off Derby 4-2 to advance 4-3 on aggregate, while Tottenham lost 3-2 to Burnley, but went through 6-4 on aggregate) [all stories from Soccernet]. As I am a massive Manchester United fan and my Journal colleague Amrit Ahluwalia is a big Tottenham supporter (and actually played for their youth squad), we decided that this match had to be a joint live-blogging undertaking. We'd love for any and all soccer fans to stop by and join us. The match starts at 12:15 ET, but we may be a little late getting going thanks to some morning Journal meetings; we should be able to cover at least the second half and provide some post-match analysis, though. Anyway, hope to see you then!

Premier League Punditry: 01-18-09

The inaugural edition of Premier League Punditry will start at 1:30 today. Hope you can join us! Again, today's featured guests are Amrit and Phil from There Is No Original Name For This Sports Blog. No registration or anything is required; just click on the CoveritLive icon and you should be able to get in. E-mail me at andrew_bucholtz [at] hotmail.com if you're having problems. Meanwhile, here's some other soccer writing I've been doing recently to tide you over until the blog starts:

-"Pellerud winds up in T and T" [Out of Left Field]

-"Whitecaps: Introduction and some roster changes" [my new gig at The 24th Minute]