I will say, I was shocked to read this article on SIs website this morning. The article detailed how ESPN plans to give fairly full scale coverage to the World Cup next summer.

ESPN does do things right. I know that. However, being the only sports network in America sometimes they just throw stuff at you and don’t give a damn what they are doing. I mean, for the Confederations Cup the announcers were calling the game while watching it on TV from Connecticut. Sure, saves money, but gives the viewer less of a feel for what is going on.

Now, it seems not only are they sending announcers to the World Cup, but they plan on having multiple reporters with the teams, and not just the United States, which is a great move.

Said one ESPN executive,

We will treat this for what it is: one of the two great quadrennial sporting events in the world.

The other great sporting event being the Olympics.

In short, ESPN is setting their mind to covering the World Cup better than anyone else in the World. While USA might not accomplish everything they want on the field, ESPN should be able to accomplish putting out the best coverage if they put their mind to it. As an American soccer fan, I think that is almost more valuable to the sport than team USA making a solid run in the Tournament.

One Response to “ESPN Taking Soccer Seriously?”