I'm torn
It appears that the English Premiership is going to get more coverage in Canada than it ever has before. In fact every single game will now be broadcast in Canada for the first time ever this season. The Score will be broadcasting the Sunday game (usually involving Man U or Chelsea, which were never draws for me so I never really missed them), but Sportsnet has been reduced to one game at 10 a.m. on Saturdays rather than their usual triple-header. What happened is that Irish pay-per-view television network Setanta has won the rights to broadcast all the other games. So they have the Saturday triple-header, with Sportsnet given the chaff (expect to see a lot of Derby County and Wigan). Setanta will also be broadcasting the weekday games and some Champions League and UEFA Cup games as well as some Scottish and, I think, Dutch League fare.
Sounds great, right? Is it $15 a month good though, because that's how much it will cost you to watch soccer in Canada from now on.
Yeah I'm torn. Finally Newcastle United is putting together an impressive team but I'll have to pay $15 a month to watch 90 minutes of football (if I remember or get lucky that their on a time delay). I don't want to watch every single match, I just want to watch Newcastle United. And while I'm happy at the prospect of being able to finally be able to watch every single game they play (in theory) I'm not to thrilled at the prospect of paying $15 a month for the privilege.
Is it okay to head to the pub and drink at 7 a.m. on a Saturday? What if I just stay up exceptionally late on Friday? I mean, comfort of your own home is one thing but in public? I'm going to miss having my coffee or tea with eggs on toast watching some footy on Saturday mornings. I'm hoping this is such a collosal loss of revenues for Setanta that they drop their stranglehold on the Premiership rights in Canada and I'll have my free triple-header back on Sportsnet.
Or I'll just give up basic cable (although the Sens are on that) and just buy the Setanta channel instead. Or maybe I can just give up comic books and transfer that money into a soccer account.
Fuck it, I'll be at the pub on Saturdays from now on like a proper fan.
1 comment:
I'm in the same boat. I can't justify $15/month. It's just ridiculous.
And it's not like I can just go to any pub in Ottawa for a game. The only place in town that I know that opens for soccer matches is The Georgetown and their breakfast isn't really top-notch. And for early games that start at 7:45, they're not open.
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