Fox Network edged out ESPN as the future rights-holder for the world's most popular club competition and announced today that it would televise more than 100 matches as official U.S. broadcast partner the 2009-10 UEFA Champions League.
A total of 31 matches will be shown live (up from ESPN's 28) and another 79 shown on tape delay on Fox Soccer Channel, while 16 games will air on Fox Sports Net and next year's May 22 final in Madrid will be shown on FX. In addition, Fox Sports en Espanol will broadcast those same 31 matches live and another 63 on delay.
But what's a great "get" for Fox might not be the best for fans, as FSC only reaches 34 million households compared to a massive 98 million for ESPN and ESPN2, who have been the home of the glamorous competition since the 1994-95 season. "Hopefully, with this acquisition we can see some acceleration with our network's distribution,'' said FSC general manager David Sternberg, who admits that "Frustration with that was obviously one of the strategic objectives with this acquisition."