ABC/ESPN Is Continuing Its Assault On Soccer

There is no doubt soccer has taken on a higher level of importance across the Disney networks. Coming off a successful UEFA Champions League series that ended with the final in Moscow between Chelsea and Manchester United, ABC/ESPN is aggressively looking at other European leagues and is expected to make a run at the English Premiership once that contract with Fox Soccer Channel ends in 2010.

During the last month, ABC, the ESPN networks and ESPN 360 broadband have broadcast 28 games of Euro 2008. Ratings thus far have been great for ESPN2, the main outlet for the championships. Daytime numbers from 12:00-5:00pm ET are up more than 67% over programming from June ‘07. This week, all that soccer coverage will come to a head with the semifinals today and Thursday on ESPN, and the championship game on ABC Sunday at 2:30pm from Ernst-Happel-Stadion in Vienna, Austria.

Overall, the broadcast gets an A for its entertaining broadcasters and analysts and a solid B for production value. Clearly, ABC/ESPN achieved its goal to improve on its coverage of the ‘06 FIFA World Cup, which was largely panned for its attempt to Americanize the sport. For Euro 2008, ESPN did not send talent or production personnel to either Austria or Switzerland. All production teams remained in Bristol, where the announcers were able to call the games off HD monitors.  This was a change from ‘06, when ESPN sent broadcast crews and production people to Germany. But while that allowed for beautiful opening shots from the sites, the announcers still had to call the games off screens in the stands because there were only a couple of main broadcast booths, and they went to the host country.

Many Fans Feel Rae Adds Authenticity To Broadcast

The network’s soccer production also needed help in on-air talent. For Euro 2008, ESPN Senior VP/Event Production Tim Scanlan chose not to use broadcasters who speak only “American soccer.”  That was a disaster during the ’06 World Cup, when Dave O’Brien and Marcelo Balboa put a U.S. brand on their coverage, upsetting critics through their lack of knowledge of both the game and the players. Many soccer fans tuned to the broadcasts on Univision rather than listen to what a critic called “an American football broadcast masquerading as a soccer telecast.” This year, for his lead announcers for Euro 2008, Scanlan went with Derek Rae of the U.K. and Tommy Smyth of Ireland, ESPN staffers who handle the network’s UEFA soccer coverage.

Both men have extensive backgrounds in broadcasting European soccer, and both speak the language of soccer as has come to be expected by even the casual fan. It has a U.K accent that is part poetry, part analysis and part Benny Hill. Take this example, with Rae describing a pass by Turkish MF Tuncay Sanli: “With all the persistence of an Istanbul carpet salesman he simply never gives up, there a brilliant pass to Hamit Altintop who strikes the ball sailing just off the woodwork barely missing a goal by inches.” His partner, Smyth, is as colorful and insightful in his analysis: “We have gone 20 minutes into Dutch-Romania with nothing on the score sheet. The game to be honest is boring. Romania needs to win to advance and they seem to be just strolling out there on the pitch. If they don’t try to pick up the pace of the game soon, they will be strolling back to Bucharest.”

This announcing style has likely been a big reason for the ratings success, and the soccer message boards and blogs that were railing against O’Brien and Balboa during the World Cup are much more complimentary to Rae and Smyth. This comment posting from the popular soccer message board ORZ sums up the feelings of the majority of the soccer fans: “Thankfully we do have some good commentators, Tommy Smyth and Derek Rae, they understand the game and don’t call it SOCCER like many of those ESPN MLS broadcasters do.” The network also enhanced its coverage by adding legendary Sky Sports English soccer broadcaster Andy Gray to serve in the dual role of studio analyst and broadcast partner of ESPN’s own play-by-play man, Adrian Healey. That gave the network two quality broadcast teams with extensive European soccer broadcasting experience.

Smyth Also Providing ESPN Commentary For Studio Shows

By having both Smyth and Gray home, Scanlan gambled that he could use his talent on the games as well as on studio shows. Gray or Smyth can walk across the hall after calling a game and join the studio crew for pregame, halftime or postgame shows all because Scanlan chose to keep his broadcasters in Bristol. Clearly, the risk paid off for the network. Gray and Smyth have demonstrated expert knowledge, both having covered European soccer for well over two decades. Gray was at his best as the primary studio analyst, as in this comment on the German team, which has advanced to the semifinals: “Thus far they are the best team I have seen in the tournament. There are more players in this competition that play in the German Bundesliga than any other European league. That means these men face each other week in and week out in league play. Plus Germany have Miroslav Klose. Advantage Germany.”

Playing lesser roles as studio hosts for ESPN were Rece Davis and Rob Stone. However, the truly outstanding studio voice was that of former U.S. Women’s World Cup star Julie Foudy, whose honest opinions are typified in these remarks on the Dutch team, which was ousted by Russia: “I don’t understand the Dutch. They have the most talented team in this entire competition and yet they allow a Russian team to make them look like amateurs. The Dutch defense simply did not play the final 10 minutes of the overtime. Those four defenders will, in the end, be the ones that will have to explain to their countrymen how they let this game get away when they should have won it outright.”

Broadcasters Utilizing ESPN Axis To Help Explain Plays

For the broadcast, ESPN took the world feed from DFL German TV, whose version of “sky cam” is an aerial camera that provides impressive clear shots of the action, so much so that the viewer can see passes travel 50 yards to the foot of a striker. To this, the network added “ESPN Axis.” The tool, used by Smyth and Gray to explain plays during the studio shows, takes live action and gives it the look of a videogame to illustrate key offensive and defensive strategies. Views also can be tilted upwards by 90 degrees, from pitch level to direct overhead shots, to create three-dimensional panoramas of key plays from multiple vantage points.

Euro 2008 is also shown on the free service, ESPN 360 broadband. Many of the big cable companies, like Comcast and Time Warner, do not offer access to 360. However, it is worth the time if available. The viewer can see the live games in either English or Spanish provided by ESPNDeportes. The quality of the picture is clear and can be watched in a choice of screen sizes. Except for ESPN promos, there are no ad spots aired on the site. “Euro 2008 will give us the biggest month user wise that we have ever had,” said Damon Phillips, VP of ESPN360.com. “The exact numbers will be in later this month, but thus far the raw numbers show us that it will break all other records, and it is because of Euro 2008. The average person who views shows on the site stays for about 10-15 minutes. During Euro 2008 broadcasts, we were averaging an hour per viewer. That is amazing.”

In the end, by choosing to keep the broadcasters in Bristol, by taking the world feed and adding studio touches, ESPN proved that sometimes you don’t have to be at the site of a major event to do justice to the coverage of that event.

Jim Williams is a seven-time Sports Emmy Award-winning TV producer, director and writer who lives in Baltimore. He will be reviewing sports programming occasionally for SportsBusiness Daily and SportsBusiness Journal. He can be reached at jameswilliams360@comcast.net.