Reader Mailbag: Answering your soccer questions
It’s time for another addition of the World Soccer Talk Reader Mailbag. This week, we tackle US Open Cup coverage, the Premier League Fan Fest, CONCACAF, Serie A and the FIFA Club World Cup.
Don’t forget to add any new questions you might have in the comments below, and we’ll do our best to answer those next week. The questions don’t have to be about streaming. Remember, they can be about soccer too.
Dave: A few US Open Cup questions:
1) Have Turner announced coverage plans and/or outsourced rights to someone else?
2) Which rounds historically are the most entertaining, with a good mix of minnows and big names (like Third/Fourth round proper of FA Cup)? I remember last year having several very fun weeks
World Soccer Talk: 1) There has been no additional news about the US Open Cup TV coverage since our story discussed the deal almost twelve months ago. Once we get closer to the First Round in late March, we expect to have more details about the media rights.
2) The round when MLS teams start to enter (this year is the third round, April 25-26) where they will potentially face off against lower division professional or even amateur teams is always a lot of fun. Everyone loves a good underdog story and some giant-killing moments. We’re hoping for another Sacramento-type run this year, just like last year when they reached the US Open Cup final.
Dave, thanks for your questions. It’ll certainly be fascinating to see how Warner Bros-Discovery broadcasts the US Open Cup given that last year’s coverage on ESPN+ was one of the best in recent memory.
Bill: Just wondering if you guys went to Fan Fest in Orlando this past weekend and if not, why not (just being nosey)? I know Fan Fest is a very American sports flashy thing and not the seriousness respect of the sport y’all prefer but it looks fun to be there.
World Soccer Talk: We were there. Kartik Krishnaiyer and I arrived on Thursday evening to prepare for our early morning interviews with the talent from NBC Sports on Friday. We interviewed Rebecca Lowe, Tim Howard and The 2 Robbies. Then on Saturday, I interviewed Alan Shearer, Gary Cahill and NBC Sports executives, so keep an eye out for those interviews later in theweek on this website.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend there. For me personally, my favorite part was talking to the soccer fans who traveled from across the country to attend the Fan Fest in Orlando. I also loved seeing all of the different shirts that the American soccer fans wore, which was an eclectic mixture of clubs, to say the least.
If you’re reading this and you’ve never attended any of the Fan Fests, I highly recommend you go to the next one. It was so much fun.
Francisco: For next season, is there going to be any streaming service or channel that is going to pick up the rights to broadcast Italian Serie A in Spanish?
World Soccer Talk: Paramount+ continues to have the rights to Serie A in all languages, but so far the streaming service has been reluctant to offer Spanish-language commentary to the games.
Honestly, though, the cost of providing Spanish-language commentary for Serie A matches may be cost prohibitive. I don’t believe there’s enough demand from Spanish-language viewers to make it worthwhile.
Francisco, I know that other fans of Serie A have asked for Spanish-language commentary too. My advice would be to try to round up more fans on social media, and ask them to let Paramount+ know that you want games in Spanish.
Jason: What CONCACAF based competitions are on Paramount+ in 2023?
World Soccer Talk: Looking ahead to 2023, Paramount+ has the Concacaf Nations League, which returns at the end of March.
Jason: What streaming service has the FIFA Club World Cup in February?
World Soccer Talk: Great question, Jason. As you probably know, FOX Sports and Telemundo have the television rights to the competition. While FOX Sports still do not have a direct-to-consumer streaming service (other than Tubi, which showed games on demand at the World Cup), your best bet is to watch all of the games in Spanish via Peacock Premium for $4.99 per month (which also includes 180 Premier League games per season as well as USMNT and USWNT games).
Presumably FOX Sports will show games via their FOX Sports app.
That’s all for this week. Don’t forget to ask your questions in the comments below, and we’ll answer in the Reader Mailbag next Tuesday