Where can you watch the World Cup if you’re in the United States this summer? During previous tournaments, the answer was pretty simple. But for the 2010 World Cup, the number of options to follow the tournament is enormous and can be quite confusing.
So, here’s our comprehensive guide and some tips on how you can experience each World Cup game whether you’re at home, at work or on the go.
World Cup On TV
ESPN and Univision have paid more than ever before to bring this World Cup to the American audience. All English-language World Cup games will be shown in high-definition on ESPN (44 games), ESPN 2 (10 games) and ABC (10 games). View the complete World Cup TV schedule. For the Spanish-language audience, all games will be shown between Univision and Telefutura.
For the English-language audience, ESPN has lined up 166 hours of re-aired World Cup matches that will be shown on ESPN Classic and ESPN2. All 64 games will be re-aired generally between 6pm to midnight ET each day. View the complete re-air World Cup schedule, which was just released by ESPN.
In addition to all of the World Cup games and re-aired games, expect to see a gigantic amount of World Cup features, news, documentaries and analysis on the ESPN family of networks. Fox Soccer Channel, meanwhile, will have an analysis show that will air after the final whistle of the last game of the day. The show, entitled “Ticket To South Africa,” will be hosted by Richard Keys – best known for his work on Sky Sports – and he’ll be accompanied by fellow Sky Sports colleague Andy Gray as well as additional analysis from Christopher Sullivan and Warren Barton. Fox’s Nick Webster will complement the program with analysis directly from South Africa.
World Cup On the Internet
Every 2010 World Cup game shown on ESPN and ESPN2 will also be available live online at ESPN3.com. Note, however, that the ten games shown on ABC will not be shown on ESPN3. Plus, not all ISPs have agreements with ESPN to make ESPN3 available to you, so be sure to test the site to ensure it works.
The good news is that Univision Online will stream all 64 games online for free with no strings attached.
In regards to World Cup 2010 matches being shown later, ESPN will make all 64 games available on its ESPN3 site shortly after each match ends. All 64 games will be available on-demand on ESPN3 for the rest of 2010.
World Cup At Pubs and Bars
The next best thing to being in South Africa is to watch the World Cup with fellow soccer fans. But where can you watch the World Cup in the United States? Your best bet is to consult the BigSoccer World Cup Parties site where there are more than 400 meetups scheduled throughout the States.
If you live in South Florida or you’ll be in the area during the tournament, be sure to attend the official EPL Talk World Cup viewing parties at Wowies.
World Cup On Radio
All of the World Cup games will be broadcast on ESPN Radio, which is syndicated nationwide. All 64 games will also be available via Sirius XM satellite radio. In addition to that coverage, all English-language World Cup broadcasts on Sirius XM will be streamed online. Subscribers can tune in through XM Radio Online, SIRIUS Internet Radio, and the SIRIUS XM App for iPhone, iPod touch, and several BlackBerry and Android-powered smartphone devices.
Note that World Cup play-by-play will be available to XM subscribers and SIRIUS subscribers with the “Best of XM” package.
Here are where the World Cup broadcasts on SIRIUS XM will appear including foreign language play-by-play: English broadcasts – XM channels 236/235, SIRIUS channels 214*/213*; German broadcasts – XM channel 237, SIRIUS channel 215*; Japanese broadcasts – XM channel 238, SIRIUS channel 216*; Portuguese broadcasts – XM channel 239, SIRIUS channel 217*; Arabic broadcasts – XM channel 243, SIRIUS channel 218*; Korean broadcasts – XM channel 244, SIRIUS channel 219*
‘*’ denotes “Best of XM” channel on SIRIUS.
World Cup on Handheld Devices
EPL Talk recently reviewed the FLO TV Personal Television device. Recently released, the handheld device brings all 64 World Cup games to you via a dedicated World Cup channel. For those of you who are trying to find ways to watch the World Cup, this is – in my mind – the perfect solution.
You can also get FLO TV through your mobile device (iPhones not included). For more details about the service and coverage from AT&T and Verizon, visit the FLO TV website.
World Cup On Twitter and iTunes
With this World Cup being the first one while Twitter is a new form of communication, it’ll be interesting to see how soon the World Cup can crash the Twitter platform. Expect a tidal wave of World Cup conversations to be happening in the Twittersphere this summer. We’re biased but we highly recommend that you follow World Cup Buzz on Twitter for the latest 2010 World Cup news and analysis.
And, at the same time, we highly recommend our daily World Cup Buzz Podcast which will bring you previews and reviews of every game thanks to Richard Farley, Kartik Krishnaiyer and Laurence McKenna.
While we tried to make this World Cup guide as comprehensive as possible, please let us know in the comments section below if we missed anything.
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TV Guy
August 18, 2010 at 10:32 pm
ESPN3 saved me a couple of times during the tournament. I would have missed a couple of great matches without it.
soccergal
June 13, 2010 at 6:49 pm
Use your phone and TV to meet up….SOCCER NEAR ME is an iphone app and is very cool!
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/soccer-near-me/id374095651?mt=8&uo=6
the bunter
June 13, 2010 at 7:36 am
greedy americans….
you can watch it for FREE in EVERY other country except the USA..
and its FREE HD in ireland and UK.
da bunter.
The Gaffer
June 13, 2010 at 7:59 am
Not sure what you’re talking about. It’s free in the United States, Bunter. In fact, I would argue that the US coverage from ESPN and Univision in the States is the best and most comprehensive coverage in the world.
Cheers,
The Gaffer
AP
June 11, 2010 at 12:22 pm
Guys, If you’re on the iphone, the MobiTV app is perfect to watch the games. As a previous poster mentioned, while the app is free, the monthly subscription isn’t ($7.99). ESPN Mobile and ABC mobile is on it so you’ll get to see all the games. The South Africa – Mexico game was perfect on my phone, no lag whatsoever.
Honestly, 8 bucks for a whole month worth of footy games on your phone, especially if you’re stuck in the office during the day, is well worth it. This coming from a guy who would rather get things for free as well. Sometimes, you’re better off paying a lil amount for quality. Let’s hope the performance of the app doesn’t deteriorate when more people get on it.
TV Mobile Phones telecoms
June 11, 2010 at 10:36 am
I think you have provided a great information.
bob
June 10, 2010 at 6:50 am
http://channelsurfing.net/
Mikey D
June 10, 2010 at 4:26 am
I can’t wait for the World Cup to start! The best place to watch all the games live on your mobile phone is with the free service Yamgo. They have live TV channels and loads of video on demand including sports and hot bikini babes at http://www.yamgo.mobi
zico
June 8, 2010 at 6:47 pm
I have to miss a week of the WC due to military obligations, so sad!!!
Anybody know if ESPN3 will have all the pre-recorded games available to watch at anytime during the tournament? I want to watch as many missed games as possible when I come back from duty! And I don’t have a DVR.
The Gaffer
June 8, 2010 at 7:52 pm
Zico, yep, all games will be available on ESPN3 throughout the tournament (on demand) as well as for the rest of the year.
Cheers,
The Gaffer
bradjmoore48
June 8, 2010 at 5:23 pm
Does anyone with an iPod touch know of any VIDEO apps to watch WC matches live? Or should I just use Safari to try to access Univisionfutbol.com or ESPN3?
The Gaffer
June 8, 2010 at 7:52 pm
Brad, not that I’m aware of. Sorry.
Cheers,
The Gaffer
marie phillips
June 8, 2010 at 1:48 pm
Check out Bobby Dazzler, England Together on YouTube it,s the best World cup song and video
soonerscotty
June 8, 2010 at 12:55 pm
I’m confused…is ESPN showing an hour long pre-game for the England v USA game?? The ESPN & World Cup Buzz schedules both show the game starting at 2:30pm eastern, but my cable schedule and the tvguide.com show the game starting at 1:30pm eastern (11:30am mtn, my time zone)??
Just curious and confused!!
Thanks for any help.
The Gaffer
June 8, 2010 at 1:12 pm
Scotty, no problem. The game kicks off at 2:30pm ET but the TV coverage begins at 1:30pm.
Cheers,
The Gaffer
soonerscotty
June 8, 2010 at 2:31 pm
ah, thanks Gaffer! Go England, Beat USA!!!
drjman
June 8, 2010 at 12:52 pm
For those without cable (me), ABC will be broadcast in OTA HD (obviously).
Also univision and Telefutura will both be broadcasting all World Cup games in HD for free using OTA antenna! I get ESPN3 but i would much rather record HD games in spanish. No need for ESPN, unless you have to have english commentary.
Axel
June 8, 2010 at 12:15 pm
If you have Sprint you will be able to see the games via ESPN MobileTV channel; on Sprint TV.
plebe
June 9, 2010 at 10:29 am
So I have a blackberry 8330 curve. On sprint. It means I can watch the world cup in my sprint tv?? Cause I wouldn’t mind paying 10 buck to use the tv ??? Any he’ll thank you
CR7
June 8, 2010 at 11:43 am
Gaffer- Univision networks will also broadcast in HD. Dish Network has those HD channels. And Comcast was supposed to add them on June 3rd, I dont have Comcast so I cant confirm that.
Paul
June 8, 2010 at 11:10 am
Verizon just added a Vcast Video app for Droid phones. You can get the games live on Univision (but not ESPN yet) through this app. It’s $10/month, but the first month is free.
Angel
June 8, 2010 at 9:26 am
MobiTV (either through AT&T or via the iPhone app) will also show all the games through the ESPN MobileTV channel. They are also adding an additional channel to show the 8 overlapping games during the last round of group play.
Also, the ESPN World Cup app will also provide live play-by-play, live audio and video highlights/specials as part of an in-app purchuse for $7.99.
nicc
June 8, 2010 at 9:46 am
while MobiTV is free, the ESPN channel on MobiTV is not.
John
June 8, 2010 at 9:01 am
ESPN Radio app on iPhone was just updated to include broadcasts of all matches.
eplnfl
June 8, 2010 at 7:40 pm
Is that a free service? Thanks.
Mike M
June 8, 2010 at 8:56 am
Thank you Univision!! I was very annoyed my provider won’t let me stream ESPN3 but who needs em. Now I just gotta figure out how to navigate the Spanish language website.
El Nene
June 8, 2010 at 9:14 am
They do have an english version of the website. Link’s at the top of the site. Can’t help you with the commentary though.
John
June 8, 2010 at 9:58 am
I hope Univision gets a SAP button one day.
CptBoots
June 18, 2010 at 9:56 pm
I always watch at the Mexican Restaurant/bar next door over a pitcher with friends. It’s never in english for me haha.