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Most American fans of the Bundesliga were thrilled when it was announced that Fox Sports would be taking over the broadcast rights of the Bundesliga from Gol TV. Why wouldn't they be? Fox has numerous channels on which to broadcast games, while Gol TV was slipping further and further into obscurity.
The fear was that Fox would relegate the Bundesliga to their nether regions. Their nether regions are Fox Sports 2 and Fox Soccer Plus. However, without programming for Fox Sports 1 during the hours of Bundesliga games, why would they give the middle finger to fans that wanted to watch the games in High Definition? It's 2015, Fox Sports, if I don't get your channel in High Definition, then I don't get your channel.
Well, this report from World Soccer Talk is extremely disconcerting. Let's hit the highlights.
- Every game will be streamed live and on-demand via Fox Soccer 2 Go. It costs $19.99 a month or $99.99 for an entire year.
- There will be no games aired on Fox Sports 1.
- "Select games" will be aired on Fox Sports 2.
- Bayern Munich's league opener will be aired on Fox Soccer Plus!
The plan seems to be as follows:
- The Friday Bundesliga games will air on Fox Soccer Plus.
- They will air two Saturday morning games (on Fox Sports 2 and Fox Soccer Plus) with a thirty minute pregame show. The Saturday afternoon game will air on Fox Sports 2 with a five minute pregame show.
- The Sunday games will air on Fox Sports 2 or Fox Soccer Plus.
A source tells Bavarian Football Works that Fox's plan for their Bundesliga coverage isn't finalized yet and could still change. However, this seems like a big middle finger to fans of the league that are looking to finally watch their league in high definition. Unfortunately, it's starting to look like Fox has relegated the league to channels people either do not get, or if they do get the channels, they're not in High Definition.
What are your thoughts about this report on the way Fox will treat the Bundesliga in the United States?