Saturday, February 7, 2009

Soccer on Huntsville TV

How do you watch your soccer on TV? If you are a Knology customer, you won’t we watching Fox Soccer Channel. Jacob from Southern Soccer has the scoop. And if you are a DISH Network customer, you aren’t watching GolTV. DISH dropped the channel back in August.

Over the years, I’ve found that the best deal for me is DirecTV. Now, as my wife can attest, I watch a lot of soccer. So, here’s my breakdown of packages, channels, and leagues you can watch on DirecTV.

Leagues/Competitions: Networks

American NPSL (Rocket City United): MYWAMY (Channel 6 on DirecTV)
American MLS: ABC, ESPN2, FSC, FSE, HDTV, MLS DK, RSNs,
English EPL: FSC, FSE, RSNs, Setanta*
Italian Serie A: FSC, FSE, GolTV
Spanish La Liga: GolTV
German Bundesliga: GolTV
Argentine League: FSC, FSE
Brazilian Pulista Championship: GolTV
Australian A League: FSC
French Le Championnat: Setanta*
Mexican MFL: FSE
UEFA Champions League: ESPN2, Setanta*
UEFA Cup: FSC, Setanta*
Copa Libertadores: FSE
Concacaf Champions Cup: FSC, FSE
World Cup/Friendlies: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNClassic, FSC, FSE, GolTV , Setanta*
American USL: FSC
NCAA Soccer: CBS CS, FSC, ESPNU, RSNs

To catch all of this soccer action here are the packages you need.

DirecTV Premier Package: Includes ABC (WAAY), ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNews, ESPN Classic, and MYNetworkTV (MYWAMY).

DirecTV Sports Pack Package: Includes the major Soccer related channels like Fox Soccer Channel, Fox Sports Espanol and GolTV. Also includes the regional sports networks (RSNs) and others channels that show the occasional Soccer match or two (ESPNU, CBS College Sports, etc.)

*Setanta: This is a channel that DirecTV offers that is not included in the Sports Pack. You must pay an extra $15 a month. It broadcasts EPL matches, French league, English 1st division, and extra Champions League matches. I personally don’t think it is worth the extra money, but I suppose if I followed a certain team in one of those competitions, I might reconsider.

MLS Direct Kick: This is the best deal around. For a once a year fee of $70, you get all of the MLS matches not shown on ABC, ESPN2 or FSC, including play-off games. That’s about 115 games a year. This is how I watch my beloved DC United.

So, as you can see, there is plenty of soccer to be seen, if you know where to get it.

1 comment:

  1. One thing I forgot to mention in the post. Currently, DirecTV does NOT offer the local channels in HD. That's not a big deal for me, but that is a deal breaker for some people.

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