There will hopefully be a manageable schedule of the matches to look at soon (most games will be on ESPN2, plus some on ESPN, Classic, and the final on ABC).

Just a heads up that starting on May 26, ESPN Classic is going to be showing (unforunately) edited finals, starting with 1972.

It's nice not to have to rely on pay-fer-view, as my dad calls it, this time around, although the Netherlands-Czech Republic match was worth every penny.

It's amazing how much has changed in just a few years. In 2004, I bought the whole Setanta package for $150. Their coverage was really spotty--most of the first half of France-England had a compressed picture, so it was narrower than the usual 1.33:1 SD ratio. I called their headquarters, and no one picked up the phone. I taped some games for some fellow American OTFers that wouldn't have gotten to see them. I think FSC (or Fox Sports World, as it was back then) showed some games after a two or three day delay.

4 years later, and ESPN is showing the whole thing, there's all of the streaming programs to watch online, and the highlights will be up on Youtube in a matter of hours, no doubt.

I know they have the Setanta Sports channel now, but Setanta must be facing a loss in revenue, because they used to be the only game in town when it came to stuff like that, and they could treat their customers like shit back then and get away with it--sending out spies to bars to make sure they charged every single person the entrance fee or otherwise cut off their service. Bastards.

Yeah that was me Inca. I still have those somewhere. Not sure what to do with them frankly.

I love, love, love, the fact that ESPN 360 should have most of these on internet feed. ESPN 360 rocks my world at work.

It's not like I forgot. I just didn't want it to seem like I was calling people out. Though my wife will be happy that I won't have games sitting on the Tivo waiting for me to put them on VHS.

I've got tons of VHS tapes that I have sitting in a box, and I no longer have my VCR hooked up to either TV. I've got a big long highlights tape from Euro 2004, some WC 2006 stuff, and some full games--Arsenal 2-4 Manchester United from a few years back, all of the Czech Rep-Netherlands game from 2004, etc.

I didn't know if ESPN360 would be carrying them, because they didn't mention that in the press release. But that is very cool.

On the ESPN360 page they list all the games on 'upcoming events'. I was much pleased by that.

One of the June 21st quarterfinals and the final are on ABC.

For Euro2004, the general manager of the ESPNZone in Baltimore asked Setanta what the price would be. $10,000 was the answer. He said, wait, I'm only going to show it in one small room, not the mammoth TV bar and throughout the building. $10,000 was still the answer. Thank God they get to piss up a rope this time.

The best channel on sopcast, cctv of China, is advertising it.

It is pretty ironic how with HD, the television image and sound is better than ever, and here everyone (myself included) is psyched about a rinky-dink choppy feed on a computer screen.

Andy Gray's going to be joining the ESPN team for the tournament coverage, apparently.

They tried like hell to get Martin Tyler, but got outbid for him by SBS in Australia.

The rule for American perception of TV coverage is "British accent=more knowledgeable than any American could be."

The Setanta coverage of Euro 2004 had the direct BBC or ITV audio, and I've tried I don't know how many times to tell people on BS that the British coverage was not any better than most of the ESPN people, but there was no getting through.

Getting through to people on Big Soccer - you a big fan of Sisyphus, inca?

I remember buying Euro 2000 here for $150, I think,and it was direct from ITV and the BBC. Didn't bother in 2004 because I was in the UK for ten days (I've a feeling it had gone up to something like $250 by then, though), just watched it round at other peoples' houses rather than pay for anything. Just as well, with Greece winning 1-0 the whole time.

Yes, the 2000 final was the first time I'd been to your house and the first time I'd met your family. Wow, that was 8 years ago. That also means I've been on OTF for about nine years.

A silver lining to the whole PPV monopoly on the Euro in the States was that people got together in houses and bars to watch the games, it was a pretty neat social side effect.

With the games now available online (albeit with poorer quality), subscription costs are bound to take a serious hit.

Can someone confirm that the games on ESPN2 will be in HD? Assuming so, but my cable didn't carry ESPN2 in HD back in 2006, though they do now. If these games are in HD, I may have to go on short-term disability for the month of June. :-)

It's true:

QUOTE:
ESPN2, ESPN, ESPN Classic and ABC will combine to present all 31 matches live – five on ESPN Classic, 17 on ESPN2 and seven on ESPN. ABC will broadcast two matches – a quarterfinal contest on June 21 and the Euro 2008 title match Sunday, June 29 at 2:30 p.m. ET from the Ernst-Happel-Stadion in Vienna Austria.

(The title match, part of an ABC soccer doubleheader, will be preceded by a Major League Soccer contest featuring the David Beckham-led LA Galaxy at DC United, beginning at 12 p.m.).

All Matches in HD

Euro 2008 matches will be available in high definition on ESPN HD, ABC HD and ESPN2 HD. The high definition telecasts will be offered as a simulcast of ESPN, ABC, and ESPN2’s European Football Championship coverage.

In addition, ESPN’s high definition services will feature Euro 2008 studio programming including the pre-match, halftime and post-match segments.

ESPN360.com

ESPN’s signature broadband network will provide live online simulcasts of the 29 ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN Classic matches of the UEFA Euro 2008 from June 7- 29.

ESPN360.com, which has become one of the premier broadband destinations for live soccer events with the additional acquisitions of Italian soccer (Serie A, Coppa Italia), UEFA Cup, Russian Premier League, Chinese Premiere League, et al., will also feature Euro 2008 Studio Updates, the live pre-, halftime and post-game segments.

So the only matches not in HD will be the five on ESPN Classic:

Sa 6/07 11:50 a.m. EC/ED/360 Switzerland vs. Czech Republic A Basel

2:30 p.m. EC/ED/360 Portugal vs. Turkey A Geneva

Su 6/15

2:30 p.m. EC/360 Turkey vs. Czech Republic

Mo 6/16 2:30 p.m. EC/360 Poland vs. Croatia B Klagenfurt

Tu 6/17 2:30 p.m. EC/360 Netherlands vs. Romania