All 24 matches of the Copa America 2011 will be broadcast live on US Television on Univision, Galavision and Telefutura in Spanish language only. There will be no English language broadcasts of the Copa America on US TV.
On the internet, you can tune into Univision Deportes for Spanish language live streaming of all 24 matches. YouTube will be the official exclusive broadcaster of the English language live streaming broadcasts of all Copa America matches.
It's unbelievable that such a huge sporting market will be deprived of South America's premium football tournament which only comes once every four years. It´s a huge loss for the fans who have become used to extensive coverage of the best soccer leagues and competitions in the world.
We can only assume that the asking price for the English language broadcast rights in the US were too exorbitant for the remaining suitors, or perhaps FOX Sports or GolTV did not see it as a viable investment at a time when the popularity of world soccer in the US is at an all time high.
Could YouTube's entry into the live sports broadcasting arena have had an impact or inflationary effect on the cost of the US televised rights? It appears so. ESPN withdrew its offer to acquire the US English-language rights back in January 2011 when they could not negotiate the combined US TV & broadband rights from Traffic Sports, the marketing agency for Copa America 2011. They insisted on selling the US broadband rights separately which led to the backing-out of ESPN. Since then, YouTube scooped up the Internet Rights not only for the US but for another 50 countries. Univision holds the U.S. Spanish-language internet rights.
English speaking soccer fans in Canada, the UK and Australia are more fortunate. In Canada, the Spanish and English language broadcast rights for the event were awarded in a timely manner between The Score, EuroWorld Sport and TLN en Espanol. ESPN UK will be broadcasting all the live matches of the popular CONMEBOL event in the UK. And down under, Australians can watch Messi dazzling South American defences on Setanta Sports Australia.
Visit our Copa America section for all the US Television Schedules. The first games kicks off Friday, July 1st with the host nation Argentina vs Bolivia.
Where will you be watching the Copa America 2011? Will you be tuning into YouTube or perhaps perfecting your Spanish skills on Univision? De todos modos - Viva Copa America!!!
Share your thoughts below on our comment board on how you feel about Copa America en Español.
