If you are a fan of the Barclay’s English Premier League living in the United States, then you’ve probably had to either track down a sports bar that prefers the beautiful game, or shell out some cash to keep up with your favorite team in the past. ESPN and Fox have shown selected games over the last few years, but the selection has been limited, especially for those like me, who follow smaller teams that live further down the table. But things have changed for the better for footy fans here in the States. NBC laid out a large sum for exclusive television rights to the EPL, and they are making a very big deal of it.
Besides the live games that will be shown on NBC Sports Network (formerly Versus), with the top games on Saturdays showing up on NBC, itself, the network is going a step further in an attempt to broaden the reach of European football here. They’ve taken a page out of ESPN’s book in showing live matches via their website. They also have their Live Extra app, which is a rebranded version of the app they used to stream Olympic coverage from London. However, while only a small number of US cable subscribers get access to ESPN’s full offerings, and a few others like myself are stuck with ESPN 3 alone, NBC has struck deals with several of the major providers, as well as the 2 major satellite services, Dish Network and DirectTV.
NBC was quick to point out that this coverage is more comprehensive than what is available across the pond in England, so if you are a soccer fan in the US, this is your year.
Okay, I know nothing about European football. Is this the good one? There's more than one league right?