Absolutely zero interest in US Soccer hiding the English-language telecasts of matches it controls on Paramount+ where only people who are already deeply committed will watch. It's reprehensible to even consider it. This is our national team, not a narrow specialty interest.
CBS’s coverage has been great and I’d be happy to see them land the entire package. ESPN has done more over the years to promote the game than they receive credit for, so I’m sure they’re focused on their streaming properties. I’m not going to be upset to see Fox lose any of the rights and I hope they keep Alexi Lalas.
John Strong is the voice of American soccer at this point and it’s not really close. I like CBS’s studio coverage but it would be a damn shame for him not to be calling World Cup games in 2026.
I think the question for Fox as they have continued to lose soccer rights is how they would plan to staff World Cups if the World Cups were one of the few soccer properties they owned.
Paramount needs immediate updates to its streaming app to reach where ESPN is at the moment. Espn is one of the only ones which will allow you to split screen four matches at the same time (depending on device). Also the app navigation is horrible
I have immensely enjoyed CBS/Paramount+'s coverage of the away USMNT qualifiers, I would love to see them get the rights. I am intrigued to see how TNT approaches the coverage if they get them (there stint with the Champions League was "different")
Amazon has the contract for the Sounders games and while I love the broadcast crew, the production and ease to watch isn't great. It also gets buried so far down the listings you can't find it and have to search which is inconvenient. The CBS studio crew is my favorite right now so I wouldn't mind them getting the rights if they can keep that group together.
Grant, do you have any insight into the length of deal USSF is looking at?
Obviously there's not a ton of value to a broadcaster if you're primarily talking about friendlies through 2026. Since CONCACAF rights through 2026 are more meaningful, it's worth noting that Fox has the 2023 Gold Cup and CBS already has CONCACAF men's Nations League rights through 2023 and 2023 women's Nation's League rights. This would indicate to me that if Fox is out, CBS is the obvious choice.
One piece of the puzzle that I don't understand is Fox just took all CONMEBOL rights through 2026 earlier this year, so it's weird they don't seem interested in USSF but then again I don't think known ratings hellhole FS1 is a good fit for any growth property.
Absolutely no to Turner. They already had 1 total fail. Steve Nash as a commentator? Really? That’s the best you can do? And after the Turner failure, I want somebody who’s done it before, so no Amazon, either. Also not a fan of Fox’s coverage. Lalas is totally annoying, and the constant references to MLS? No thanks. The 4-letter network has Sir Ian Darke and Jon Champion. Plus all they do is sports. Paramount has done a really good job with the CL, and CBS doesn’t really have other sports, so they might be more inclined to put games on “big” CBS as a lure.
Sorry, guys, but EVERYTHING will be behind a paywall in 5 years.
You’re right about espn and fox sports. But some sports are still broadcast over the air on “free” TV, like most nfl games. In 5 years most of those will be behind a paywall, too. In 10, the stupor bowl will be on pay-per-view.
Out of those three CBS. But I would prefer ESPN, at least if you miss the game for whatever reason on ESPN it's easy to find and re watch. Not so on other channels, and please no on Turner or Amazon.
I think Amazon Prime would be the best since lots of people have Prime and Amazon has plenty of web presence to promote it. CBS have so much going on that it wouldn't have room to promote it.
Seems fairly certain there will be a significant streaming component to the next contract [thanks cord cutters] so I would prefer an outlet that already has robust soccer streaming footprint along with linear access. That would be CBS/Paramount+ or ESPN/ ESPN+ Whatever gets decided, how about some CERTAINTY so we know where to look for matches!!
Absolutely zero interest in US Soccer hiding the English-language telecasts of matches it controls on Paramount+ where only people who are already deeply committed will watch. It's reprehensible to even consider it. This is our national team, not a narrow specialty interest.
Paramount+ is much cheaper than any TV package, though.
My personal preference:
1. ESPN. Production quality is still ahead of CBS and Fox, and Ian Darke more than offsets Taylor Twellman
2. CBS, but only if they put the games on cable or broadcast. We need to grow the game and putting it behind a streaming paywall is a net negative
3. Fox, even despite Lalas
4. NBC, even with them seemingly throwing in the towel on sports by killing NBCSN. Just keep it off peacock
5. Being hit by a production truck
6. Turner. Hideous production quality and a complete lack of dedication to the game
7. Amazon. At least Turner has four linear cable channels.
Lol — #5 had me coughing up my morning juice.
CBS’s coverage has been great and I’d be happy to see them land the entire package. ESPN has done more over the years to promote the game than they receive credit for, so I’m sure they’re focused on their streaming properties. I’m not going to be upset to see Fox lose any of the rights and I hope they keep Alexi Lalas.
John Strong is the voice of American soccer at this point and it’s not really close. I like CBS’s studio coverage but it would be a damn shame for him not to be calling World Cup games in 2026.
I think the question for Fox as they have continued to lose soccer rights is how they would plan to staff World Cups if the World Cups were one of the few soccer properties they owned.
cbs sports because of deuce gooch and chuck. more games on cbs less on paramount +
Paramount needs immediate updates to its streaming app to reach where ESPN is at the moment. Espn is one of the only ones which will allow you to split screen four matches at the same time (depending on device). Also the app navigation is horrible
I have immensely enjoyed CBS/Paramount+'s coverage of the away USMNT qualifiers, I would love to see them get the rights. I am intrigued to see how TNT approaches the coverage if they get them (there stint with the Champions League was "different")
Amazon has the contract for the Sounders games and while I love the broadcast crew, the production and ease to watch isn't great. It also gets buried so far down the listings you can't find it and have to search which is inconvenient. The CBS studio crew is my favorite right now so I wouldn't mind them getting the rights if they can keep that group together.
Grant, do you have any insight into the length of deal USSF is looking at?
Obviously there's not a ton of value to a broadcaster if you're primarily talking about friendlies through 2026. Since CONCACAF rights through 2026 are more meaningful, it's worth noting that Fox has the 2023 Gold Cup and CBS already has CONCACAF men's Nations League rights through 2023 and 2023 women's Nation's League rights. This would indicate to me that if Fox is out, CBS is the obvious choice.
One piece of the puzzle that I don't understand is Fox just took all CONMEBOL rights through 2026 earlier this year, so it's weird they don't seem interested in USSF but then again I don't think known ratings hellhole FS1 is a good fit for any growth property.
Absolutely no to Turner. They already had 1 total fail. Steve Nash as a commentator? Really? That’s the best you can do? And after the Turner failure, I want somebody who’s done it before, so no Amazon, either. Also not a fan of Fox’s coverage. Lalas is totally annoying, and the constant references to MLS? No thanks. The 4-letter network has Sir Ian Darke and Jon Champion. Plus all they do is sports. Paramount has done a really good job with the CL, and CBS doesn’t really have other sports, so they might be more inclined to put games on “big” CBS as a lure.
Sorry, guys, but EVERYTHING will be behind a paywall in 5 years.
Everything is behind a paywall. You have to pay for ESPN. You have to pay for FOX Sports. That's all in the cable/satellite bill.
You’re right about espn and fox sports. But some sports are still broadcast over the air on “free” TV, like most nfl games. In 5 years most of those will be behind a paywall, too. In 10, the stupor bowl will be on pay-per-view.
Out of those three CBS. But I would prefer ESPN, at least if you miss the game for whatever reason on ESPN it's easy to find and re watch. Not so on other channels, and please no on Turner or Amazon.
I want Meadowlark Media to produce all US Soccer National Team's content.
lol gets on the phone to John Skipper...
CBS. I've really enjoyed their coverage.
I think Amazon Prime would be the best since lots of people have Prime and Amazon has plenty of web presence to promote it. CBS have so much going on that it wouldn't have room to promote it.
Seems fairly certain there will be a significant streaming component to the next contract [thanks cord cutters] so I would prefer an outlet that already has robust soccer streaming footprint along with linear access. That would be CBS/Paramount+ or ESPN/ ESPN+ Whatever gets decided, how about some CERTAINTY so we know where to look for matches!!
Anything but Turner. I’ve been very happy with CBS/Paramount+, so I hope they get it.
Plus, Paranount+ does fantastic extended highlights for most matches.