SBS fancies itself as the number one provider of overseas soccer/football here in Australia. But the reality is that SBS does not actually have the guts, or the money apparently, to acquire the full rights for any major Soccer tournaments (Mind you, they have the money to broadcast the Doping Tour de France every year). So once again, we are left with delayed coverage of a mere of 4 round robin games of the upcoming EURO 2012, followed by 2 semifinals, one semifinal and the final. This just will not do. It is fairly obvious that SBS’ coverage of soccer during the regular season tends to heavily favor games of teams from England, Spain or Italy, but there is just no excuse for SBS to not be showing the whole EURO tournament, given their claim of being so committed to the cause. They have pulled this shit before, with previous World and European Championships, and it belies their claim to be the main broadcaster of European football in Australia that they regularly end up showing nothing but little bits and pieces of major tournaments.
So. To watch all the games of the EURO live in the coming weeks, don’t worry about SBS. If you have Foxtel, go to the Setanta Sports site and subscribe to them for a month or three, it is extremely easy (I just did it myself) and it will give you all the games live.
If you don’t have Foxtel, or don’t want to pay, there are options on the internet. Googling “livetv” might get you started. And there is always sopcast or similar programs.
Until SBS decide to be a fair dinkum soccer broadcaster, I suggest you look elsewhere. Setanta is my choice for this upcoming EURO.
I guess that’s the problem with public broadcasting. It’s like when ABC would show TV shows from the UK that would eventually move to a commercial network once a fanbase was established and the product increased its value. It’s frustrating that there’s jack-all football on FTA any more, but at least it means that the product has become marketable enough that it’s able to be worth money. It’s just a shame that pay TV is so damn expensive if it’s only the football to see on it.
Or, head to the 24hr pub
And then we have all the usual clowns having discussions on how to promote soccer in australia, how about they start with being able to watch championships like euro live free to australians. its a damn shame the average father and son have to pay for and go to all these efforts to watch such a great sport. My best memmories with my father were waking up in early hours of the morning to watch the soccer.
I wish they were showing the Italy v England game…….when those guys on the panel start talking I have to switch off,I can’t stand them.why SBS have persisted with that Les Murry is depressing …… He is boring beyond words. … SBS a big let down
Michael, you may want to take a look here. Or, as mentioned above, find a Sports Bar near you on the night…
When has Sbs not shown almost all of previous World Cup matches??? Yes some may have been delayed but virtually all matches since the 1986 World Cup have been telecast. If I am wrong I’d love an example.
How old are you SBS bashers? It was SBS that opened up the World of soccer to us. Before that all we had was delayed English soccer late on a Friday night. Suddenly we were able to watch Serie A , the bundesliga, and many other leagues of the world. It was Sbs that telecast all those matches in the wary hours of the morning, they brought us coverage of World Cups, including youth ones. Les Murray and the late Johnny Warren promoted e game like nobody else in this country showing NSL games for years. They did this with very little funding too. So perhaps you guys should do your history before talking utter rubbish.