Arsenal v Manchester United is to be the first live Premier League game on a non-subscription channel in America
The Premier League has long been a success story as an export that has spread around the globe, but on Sunday it will cover some new territory. For the first time, a domestic English game will be shown live on mainstream American television.
Up until now, the Premier League has been available only on subscription channels, but Fox, who own the rights to broadcast fixtures from England, have scheduled Arsenal v Manchester United on the main network as part of their "Epic Sunday" programming. It will serve as the warm-up for the NFL conference championship game between the San Francisco 49ers and the New York Giants. Alongside the former USA international Eric Wynalda, Piers Morgan will be in the studio to give his particular insights into proceedings at the Emirates Stadium.
Fox spent heavily to become a rights holder for the Premier League and Serie A, and to win the contract to broadcast Fifa events from 2015-2022. Richard Farley, the editor of Foxsoccer.com, is optimistic that this broadcast could be a watershed moment, pointing out that the audience figures for Premier League matches on their cable channel have grown consistently. The figures for Chelsea v Liverpool this season topped two million and were double those for the MLS Cup final on primetime the same weekend. "It's possible there is an audience to be served and this can turn into a tipping point," Farley says. "At a minimum, we'll get a reading of what demand is out there."
Reflecting on how much has changed already, Farley says: "My first exposure to the European game was tape delayed Football League matches aired around midnight on weekends by my regional cable sports channel. It's a long way from that to Fox showing a match in the hours before a major American football game."
This opportunity presented itself because the NFL post-season is down to the last four teams, with only two games on Sunday, so there is a convenient space in the schedule to fill. But it is possible that if this experiment works, there will be room to use European matches to bridge the gap between the end of the NFL season (late January and early February) until the beginning of summer, which coincides with the climax of the football season in Europe. Farley says: "With international tournaments also serving as great broadcast opportunities, league soccer in spring can cultivate audiences for major summer events."
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2012/jan/20/arsenal-manchester-united-live-fox
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