Casual American soccer fans interested in watching the most important US men\u2019s national team match since the 2010 World Cup loss to Ghana had to search their channel guide to find the newly-created sports television channel \u201cbeIn Sport\u201d on their cable or satellite box last week.<\/p>\n
The disappointing 2-1 US loss at Honduras last Wednesday was televised exclusively by beIn Sport.<\/p>\n
As the rights-holder to all of this year\u2019s USMNT road Cup qualifiers except for the 3-26-13 match in Mexico City, beIn Sport has quickly built demand for its product on crowded channel grids.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m connected to a Time Warner cable box with all the trimmings. My access to beIn Sport was finalized late last year when it popped up on the sports tier.<\/p>\n
Backed by vaults of Qatari oil and natural gas profits, beIn Sport (owned in large part by Al Jazeera) has thrown around big bucks to make high bid for rights on soccer matches in Europe – and now Central\/South America. A new entrant in the US television market, beIn Sport\u2019s well-financed splash has come while securing premium content and quick clearance on major cable\/satellite providers here.<\/p>\n
For Time Warner Cable subscribers in Queens, beIn Sport\u2019s high-def offering (ch. 429) is tucked between channels carrying the NHL\u2019s Center Ice package and the Spanish-language version of Time Warner\u2019s new Sportsnet channel.<\/p>\n
Coverage of US\/Honduras on beIn Sport was excellent, I thought. Given what must have been a slew of logistical challenges setting up shop in crime-riddled San Pedro Sula, the broadcast was almost as good as what you\u2019d get on Fox Soccer, ESPN or Gol. The high-def picture was beautiful. Lush. Maybe it was the brilliant sun-drenched daylight that filled the stadium, but the pictures had way more definition than I\u2019m used to seeing. Reporter Temryss Lane was on the field before the match and set the scene. beIn Sport\u2019s three-man booth was led by Phil Schoen at the play-by-play mike. Schoen is solid. His voice sounds much like that of Boston Bruins play-by-play guy Jack Edwards.<\/p>\n
The only knock I had on the broadcast was that Schoen, Ray Hudson and Cobi Jones failed to make the trip to Honduras to describe the action in person. I\u2019m assuming they were sitting together in a studio in South Florida. beIn Sport left that deliberately unclear to the viewer. Unlike yesterday\u2019s Fox Soccer broadcast of Man U\/Real Madrid which repeatedly cut to shots of Gus Johnson and Warren Barton positioned in a cramped booth at El Bernabeu, beIn Sport\u2019s lack of on-site talent other than Lane stuck out as amateurish.<\/p>\n
Coming out of a commercial into the second half of US\/Honduras, beIn Sport showed a wide shot of the stadium. Lane could be heard saying \u201cNo go on Jurgen\u201d before Schoen jumped in to summarize first half scoring.<\/p>\n
Relying on Lane as the only on-air presence on site could be viewed as a financial decision if the match was being broadcast by a company with financial constraints. beIN lacks that excuse and should see fit to put Schoen and company on the road when its USMNT broadcasts resume in Jamaica this June.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Casual American soccer fans interested in watching the most important US men\u2019s national team match since the 2010 World Cup loss to Ghana had to search their channel guide to find the newly-created sports television channel \u201cbeIn Sport\u201d on their … Continue reading