NEW YORK — Without much fanfare, soccer will take another big step into the American mainstream Sunday when Manchester United’s game at Arsenal becomes the first English Premier League match to be televised live by a U.S. over-the-air network.
“To do this 10 years ago, had we put to the affiliates that we wanted to take the time to show a soccer game, we would have been either laughed at or it would have been a violent and an immediate rebellion,” said Fox Sports chairman David Hill, who is putting the match on his main network.
These days, EPL games are more common on television in the U.S. than in England. In the homeland of soccer, the 3 p.m. (8 a.m. MST) Saturday games are blacked out to protect attendance of matches in the lower leagues.
In the United States, pretty much every game is available if a fan is willing to check out cable broadcasters Fox Soccer, Fox Soccer Plus and ESPN2, or look at online services and . Many games also are broadcast on the Spanish-language cable networks of Fox and ESPN.
Fox is ramping up with this weekend’s broadcast: While Fox Soccer is available in 41 million homes, its over-the-air network is received in 114.7 million.
“I think Fox is taking a bold step,” said former CBS Sports president Neal Pilson, who runs his own media consulting firm. “The commitment that Fox has made to soccer, interestingly enough, is based on the world game rather than the game that is played in the United States. I think research and audience-gathering information indicates there is considerable interest in worldwide professional soccer, particularly coming from England.”
On Feb. 5, Super Bowl Sunday, Fox’s main network will televise what it calls “the game before the game” — Chelsea’s match against Manchester United at London’s Stamford Bridge starting at 9 a.m. MST.
“People have been saying since the beginning of time in the U.S. that soccer is the sport of tomorrow, yet tomorrow never comes,” Hill said. “We’re not saying that’s ever going to take over. It’s never doing to dominate, it’s never going to replace college football or any sports, but it’s going to grow over the next 10 to 20 years to an incredibly strong niche.”
