The news is not good on the Gold Cup television front: U.S. Soccer and its marketing partner, Soccer USA Partners, have not convinced Prime Deportiva, the Spanish-language sports cable network that holds the TV rights to the Gold Cup, to relinquish rights to U.S. games in order for them to be carried on standard network or cable outlets.
In 1994, Prime Deportiva, then known as Cadena Deportiva, bought up rights to various Latin American events, notably the Copa America and the Gold Cup.
As American soccer fans learned this past summer when trying to watch the U.S. national team at the Copa America, Prime Deportiva has limited reach, primarily on Southern California cable systems.
Prime Deportiva showed some Copa America matches itself and offered the rest on a pay-per-view basis. Again, only a minority of cable systems even had the pay-per-view option available to their subscribers.
ESPN had expressed interest in showing some of the Gold Cup — notably a possible U.S.-Brazil semifinal matchup Jan. 18 — but a stumbling block appears to have been the two U.S. soccer entities coming up with the sponsorship money to offset the cost of the acquisition of the TV rights.
One source familiar with Prime Deportiva’s situation indicated that it may choose to make available selected Gold Cup matches to some of Prime Network’s affiliates, probably on a delayed basis. It must first assess the market for pay-per-view broadcasts.