Editor's note: This letter is revised from the print edition.
The following letter is in response to the Sports Media column (“I’m still bullish on BeIN Sport, but not all of you agree”) in the Sept. 10-16 issue of SportsBusiness Journal.
I agree that BeIN will last. They’ve really stepped up production values and their studio presentation approaches ESPN-level quality, is much better than Fox Soccer and much, much better than GolTV, which consists mostly of dubbed English programming. And I think that having La Liga rights, meaning Barca, will help to establish them here, where there are tons of Barca and Spain fans. La Liga is less important than a Barca "game of the week." Barca and the USMNT will carry the network, and if Al Jazeera decides to spend big to get the Premier League, which I think they will and they have the money, international soccer will have a media home in the US.
Larry DeGaris
Indianapolis
DeGaris is president of Sponsorship Research & Strategy and an associate professor of marketing at the University of Indianapolis.
