US TV Footy Broadcasting 101

Just a quick post to provide a simple rundown of the broadcasting situation for the 2009/10 English Premier League season. With all the tweets and post flying around the web, it can get a little confusing as to just where you will be able to view EPL (and other leagues) matches here in the US this coming season.

Fox holds the broadcast rights to EPL matches here in the US and sells some of the matches to Setanta US each season. This will not change going in to the new season, as these two channels will remain the home for EPL matches here in America.

No doubt you’ve seen the news going around that ESPN has purchased the EPL broadcast rights in the UK after Setanta UK was stripped of them on Friday.

Don’t get excited, those rights are only good for UK markets and not for here in the United States. ESPN did however purchase some rights for La Liga (Spain) matches from GolTV, so you’ll be able to see Real Madrid with new signings Kaka and C-Ron, along with Barcelona (and the rest of the La Liga clubs) here in the US in glorious HD on ESPN…as long as the matches are not pre-empted by woman’s basketball or college baseball.

Now this doesn’t mean that things won’t change down the road, they’ll probably will. For now, when it comes to watch the EPL, the status quo reigns supreme.

So here is a rundown of where to find footy on US television:

Fox Soccer Channel: English Premier League, Serie A, Argentine League, UEFA Champions League, Europa Leage

Setanta Sports US: English Premier League, Russian League, Scottish Premier League, Le-Championnat, UEFA Champions League, Europa League, Coca-Cola Championship, FA Cup, Carling Cup, MUTV, ChelseaTV, World Cup Qualifiers & International Friendlies

ESPN: La Liga, World Cup 2010, US National Team

GolTV: La Liga, Bundesliga, Various South/Central American Leagues