Qatar Media’s beIN Sports has acquired the U.S. TV rights to
all away U.S. men's national football qualifying matches in the CONCACAF
region, "starting with the game in Kingston, Jamaica, on Sept. 7,"
according to Jack Bell of the N.Y. TIMES. To date, beIN is available to
the "combined 34 million subscribers to the satellite channels DirecTV
and Dish Network." USSF President Sunil Gulati in an e-mail said, "We
don’t control the rights for our away matches but have talked with beIN
Sport and know that they have an aggressive plan to expand distribution
over the weeks and months to come. Obviously, we’d like as wide a
distribution in the U.S. as possible for our WCQ matches." Bell
noted USSF's deal with beIN "also includes a return match at Antigua and
Barbuda on Oct. 12." CONCACAF "sold the rights to the United States'
away games to Traffic, the Brazil-based company that also owns the North
American Soccer League." In turn, Traffic "has sold the remaining U.S.
away matches" to beIN Sports (N.Y. TIMES, 8/22).
RADIO: CONCACAF announced that Fútbol de Primera (FDP) will be the exclusive Spanish-language radio broadcaster in the U.S. for the '13 and '15 editions of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, bringing the tournament to millions across the nation. FDP, which has carried the Gold Cup since '07, will transmit the competition on its more than 100-affiliated stations (40 of which are on the FM dial) across the country. Gold Cup broadcasts will be anchored by legendary announcer Andrés Cantor, who will lead the play-by-play coverage throughout the tournament (CONCACAF).
