People wonder why soccer struggles to gain popularity in the U.S. Maybe the fact that the biggest World Cup qualifying match is not on national tv has something to do with it. Seriously, the intense rivalry match was broadcasted in English by mun2 (mun dos). Espn couldn’t pony up the few extra dollars to purchase the English tv rights? No, instead they get beat out by a biligual specialty station.
Now, NBC Universal made mun2 free for the day, but I didn’t get to tune in until the 25th minute. The station was not unlocked, and I had to call Comcast and add the Selecto package for the day, and call back to cancel it after the game. Thankfully Comcast ate the 60 cents for the day and the $1.99 cancellation fee, but I had to spend 20 minutes on the phone (15 on hold) in order to watch the game. This is just unacceptable. Something has to change. The US national team, trying to qualify for the world’s greatest sporting event, was not on national TV.
The worst part about the whole thing: it was an exciting, intense, physical match. The pushing and the shoving, the suspect officiating; this rivalry game lived up to its billing. These games must be televised by a major US network, or soccer in the U.S. will never catch on.
What the Dickens? 