With the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League Group Stage kicking off this week, most soccer fans in the United States had their first taste of soccer coverage from TNT. Dominant Spanish-language TV broadcaster Univision Deportes also aired their first Champions League games including some of the more high-profile matches on the over-the-air Univision channel.
But how did both broadcasters do during a week that we’ve been anticipating since we first broke the news that Turner Sports and Univision had acquired the rights?
Let’s go through the highs and lows of week one:
HIGHS
1. Univision’s excitement levels. Univision’s commentary for the Barcelona-PSV Eindhoven game, just as one example, was in stark contrast to TNT. While TNT used the English-language world feed featuring the soft-spoken but highly qualified Simon Brotherton, Univision featured commentators Luis Omar Tapia, Hristo Stoichkov and Diego Balado who were more passionate and energetic with a style that was far more synonymous with the exciting brand of football that Barcelona delivered.
With TNT electing to feature Barcelona-PSV and Real Madrid-Roma as their two most high-profile games across Tuesday and Wednesday, that gave the edge to Univision Deportes who have commentators that can tap into the high energy levels that the soccer fans expect for such exciting teams as Real Madrid and Barcelona.
At the same time, the better English-language commentators were calling other games this week. Tuesday, it was Clive Tyldesley and Clive Allen for Inter Milan-Spurs. And on Wednesday, Martin Tyler and Danny Higginbotham called the Young Boys-Manchester United match.
In previous seasons, this wasn’t a problem because most of the Champions League matches featuring the best commentators were featured on broadcasts that included Premier League teams playing European opposition on FS1 and FS2. This week, both Inter-Spurs and Young Boys-United weren’t on English-language TV but were relegated to B/R Live instead meaning that most of us missed the better announcers.
While the games on TNT were entertaining, they didn’t feel as exciting as the Univision broadcasts. The fact that the world-feed included solo commentators didn’t help either (Brotherton for Barca-PSV and Kevin Keatings for Real Madrid-Roma).
LOWS
1. What happened to TNT? During the first few weeks of their UEFA broadcasts, the analysis from the TNT studio talent was a breath of fresh air and tight. But on this week’s matches, they seemed to be all over the place. Perhaps it’s the change of dealing with so many huge matches being played at the same time across two windows where there’s so much to talk about with so little time due to the incessant commercials. But, at the same time, the chemistry wasn’t as good this week. There were awkward pauses. And just like their predecessor FOX Sports, there weren’t any memorable points they raised. TNT’s level of analysis was pedestrian at best.
For example, in one segment, the panelists debated the rankings for the top 5 clubs in Europe right now. The whole idea of debating such a topic is preposterous (and just filler) anyway, but the analysts persevered and shared their opinions. But then one of the pundits who disagreed with the rankings asked how they were compiled, to which Kate Abdo replied she had no idea except that it was based on “criteria.” Nash laughed at the rankings and jokingly called it out as clickbait, which is exactly what it was, but it was quite an inappropriate remark given that’s what Bleacher Report is best known for in their short history.
When watching the Champions League on TNT, the feeling I’m getting is that I’m missing out on all of the major storylines and goals from the other games. Part of the reason is that when the televised game has ended and it returns to the studio, the scores for all of the games are displayed in a graphic on-screen. But then the show descends into the pedestrian analysis and it takes too long to get to the highlights of what we want to see for the other games. And even then, not all of the highlights are shown.
Part of the issue is that we’ve been accustomed to FOX’s style of banging through the goal highlights of the other games immediately after the final whistle. But at the same time, we’re almost missing out on FOX’s MultiMatch 90 broadcast which was a godsend during the Group Stages and is sorely missed.
2. Production flubs. No one likes to make mistakes especially when a network is trying to establish credibility as a relevant soccer broadcaster. But after gameweek one, there have been a couple of embarrassing mistakes. First up was on Tuesday where an on-screen graphic identified analyst Oguchi Onyewu as Carlos Bocanegra.
Second, even worse, was following a fantastic interview with Pep Guardiola when the on-screen graphic for the upcoming game mentioned “Manchester United vs. Lyon” (see below). All of the soccer fans know however that it should have read “Manchester City vs. Lyon.” That’s a juvenile mistake that even FOX Sports wouldn’t have made, which says a lot and should send a warning sign to the TNT producer that mistakes like that cannot happen. Hopefully these are mistakes that can be easily prevented in the future.
3. Lack of energy from TNT. Out of several huge moments this week, arguably the two biggest ones were Liverpool’s late win against PSG on Tuesday followed by the rare red card for Cristiano Ronaldo on Wednesday. But in both instances, the first reactions from the studio talent to these two incidents were very flat. After the thrilling Liverpool 3-2 PSG game, you would expect to hear the voices of the talent filled with excitement when the game switched immediately back to the studio. But it was rather humdrum.
A similar reaction happened on Wednesday during halftime when Kate Abdo and the studio talent revealed that Cristiano Ronaldo had been sent off. The reaction should have been complete astonishment and incredulity. Instead, the lack of urgency in the voices of the talent was plain to hear. It wasn’t until the post-match that the studio team got really into the consequences of the sending off.
In particular, the one person who has the least amount of energy in his voice is Carlos Bocanegra. There’s no passion in what he talks about, and his delivery sounds so monotone.
On the other hand, the one person who has the most energy is Stu Holden, but then his time is sometimes limited particularly during halftime analysis where the flow of the show is interrupted by one segment that’s from Atlanta (with Kate Abdo hosting) and then the next segment with Holden from Los Angeles, but the time for deep analysis is too short.
Based on what we saw this week, Turner Sports has a lot of work cut out for them. Having the two hosts for the broadcast of the UEFA Super Cup worked fine, but it now appears to be a little overwhelming for the viewer when the broadcast is trying to cover eight games per day via a combination of two hosts, three analysts and tons of commercials. On top of that, the broadcast is trying to be too jokey as well as trying to force in social media posts. At the end of the day, it might be that Turner Sports is trying too hard, and just needs to take a deep breath and focus on the basics — good analysis, keeping the viewer updated on the important storylines and giving us the goal highlights of the other matches. After all, it’s not rocket science.
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R Alexander
August 25, 2020 at 11:42 pm
Simon hill has ruined my champions league experience he should stick to calling Australian football what we’re Optus sport thinking! ruined the whole experience made it like A league games experience with no crowd and Simons commentary he should stick to the A league and leave the champions league and PL to the professionals .
STEVEN
September 17, 2019 at 2:02 pm
soccer sucks…. put it on some sports channel where people care about…
Brendan
May 6, 2019 at 8:50 am
Total agree with Nick . Absolute rubbish Kate Abdo is a embarrassment she cannot even strike up
a conversation without saying something stupid , They should watch some of the other channels to broadcast football and try to learn from them . I see TNT were advertising the Champions League on NBCSN but not on ESPN , They will not allow ESPN to show the highlights on any of their shows but I have seen it on NBCSN . Suppose they are not a threat to them
Nick
May 3, 2019 at 11:13 am
The absolute worst presentation team in sports A mute Romanian would be more understandable than Abdo, Put long hair extensions and high heels on a braying donkey and you have a better anchor, The “talent” looks like they rounded up a couple of free WI-FI mooches at the local Panera and gave them a $5.00 coupon for the Goodwill Shop to sink on wardrobe. It’s easy to wonder if your cable provider got the wires crossed and plugged into the ‘furrin” soccer hour from the farm channel’s rained out greased pig spectacular. They have had 2 seasons to get it right and still faill miserably
Mark
February 13, 2019 at 3:05 pm
TNT is the worst coverage I have ever seen. It’s god awful indeed.
Adeed Dawisha
December 13, 2018 at 11:09 am
Choosing Spurs against what was certain to be a reserve Barca team at the expense of Liverpool vs Napoli was beyond a joke; it was an insult. Who is the genius who makes these choices? As for the so-called analysts, here’s my recommendation to Abdo,Holden, Nash, Howard and others of this sorry lot with their, at best, pedestrian commentary: spend every weekend watching NBCSN, and try to learn from Lowe, Martino and the two Robbies.
AGC
December 12, 2018 at 10:06 pm
Btw – anyone know how someone living in the U.S. can never, ever watch Champions League on TNT again? Legally, I mean? Stream Eurosport? British tv? Anything?
Christopher Harris
December 12, 2018 at 10:24 pm
There are only two legal alternatives… B/R Live (from Turner Sports) and the Univision channels (in Spanish).
AGC
December 12, 2018 at 10:01 pm
The Barçelona v Tottenham match at the Camp Nou was nearly ruined by the TNT announcers. Steve Nash knows a lot about footy — for a basketball player! But the commentary was trite, stuttering, inexpert, boring, shallow, and totally biased (Nash is a Tottenham fan).
Such an insult.
Ben
November 29, 2018 at 12:35 am
I pay the $10 a month and see EVERY game!! I watch the replays and go to ESPN FC for analysis.
Look you know what you have to do. If you want the games, PAY FOR THE SERVICES TO GET THEM!Between BR live and ESPN= I pay $15 a month. If you cant pay that, fine but stop all the complaining already. Stay out of the hamburger joint a couple of days a month. Take your lunch to work. YOU ARE PAYING FOR ENTERTAINMENT. Your leisure is YOUR responsibility! and BTW, I pay a mortgage and have responsibilities and bills but I want to see CL and English Championship so I cut back on something to do so…
Sorry NOT sorry…
phillip
November 28, 2018 at 6:16 pm
i would like to thank verzizon for the great honor of being allowed to see injury time in Paris tonight you bloodsuckers
Rob
November 28, 2018 at 3:51 pm
TNT coverage is absolute Garbage! I pay for cable which TNT is apart of, unlike fox and NBC though they only show 1 game! one! SO in order for example today to watch the better game in PSG v Liverpool instead of Spurs V milan you have to PAY MORE money again to BR live……I already paid for TNT you Scum bags and not paying you again!
David Dare
November 28, 2018 at 12:01 pm
It is just terrible that TNT does not show more than one game on TV and wants people to pay for subscription. It just sad that most of these cable providers are trying to make more money off people and do not really care if we watched the games or not. They are trying to force a less popular game on TV and do not give viewers the options to watch what they want to watch. Can you imagine paying for more than three streaming sports /soccer service a month? It all adds up a month. Not only do you have to pay for these sports screaming service but also you have to pay your regular cable providers. On top of that, some people have Netflix, Hulu, Amazon etc . I remember when some people complained that they were cancelling their cable service to save money but here we are having all these streaming services adding up each month that is if you have them all.
Fox used to show the Europa League on Thursdays but TNT does not even try one bit to show them on TV. I hope after their contract is up , Fox can once again get the contract but I will not be too surprise if FOX decides to adopt TNT or ESPN new strategy of only showing a few games on TV and move some of the games to their streaming service . After all, people are paying to see them now, so why not do the same and get on the gravy train. .
Bill Schmill
November 27, 2018 at 1:44 pm
I agree with you Mickey I am huge Reds fan but the coverage of them so far this campaign has been crap. Even the PSG game tonight isn’t being shown on TV, after all it’s only two of the top 7 or 8 teams in Europe that could decide the group, no big deal. At least with Fox they had more than one channel to show stuff on. With the Turner contract it’s either your team makes the ONE game shown in that time slot on TV or pay for streaming, which is morally reprehensible considering I am already paying for TNT and other Turner channels with my cable subscription. Also I’d like to echo the comments regarding the commentary/analysis, the single commentator who was on during the last Liverpool game (which seems weird in of itself having only 1 commentator) was flat and, well, just plain crap, and Steve Nash as an analyst? Really? An ex-basketball player? There isn’t ANY ex-football, player, coach, reporter, referee or anything available that you had delve into another sport? Guess i’ll go back to watching it in a way that, lets say, may not be 100% legit, Oh well.
phillip
November 28, 2018 at 6:22 pm
fod, you saw united play young boys for christs sake, a pathetic, predictably dire match won at the end by mourinho’s mascot. city v lyon/shaktar/ hoff isnt even on the radar, not even LIV v PSG.
kill american soccerball and buy european football broadcasts, who decided gringos need to have it force-fed?
Mickey
October 17, 2018 at 12:11 pm
This TV deal makes me wish Liverpool weren’t playin European Football this season. Call me cheap but I will not pay this fee to watch any game this season. I have no problem handing my $120 a year over to the UFC for its FightPass but they give you archives of fights from old fight promotions (Pride, WEC, Strikeforce) exclusive interviews as well as UFC FightNight events from around the world (they just had their first event from Russia available exclusively on FightPass). I’m really only interested in LFC and Rangers and I would rather find the games online then pay up for a single match
David
September 22, 2018 at 7:24 am
Does anyone know the sole commentator’s name for the Chelsea/PAOK Europa Lge match? I missed the first three minutes on B/R and therefore the name of the person who bored us with his amateurish comments throughout the game. This was commentating at its worst (well, not quite Gus-bad). I usually criticise Arlo for his verbosity, but this guy was comatose at best, divorced from the action and he added nothing to the visuals. Really low quality.
Reception, even on a VPN connection, was exceptionally good (albeit at a speed of 600Mbps). It’s just that there were extremely low, non-existent production values.
Still, at $2.99 for the game, it was still a good deal.
Azer
September 23, 2018 at 5:59 pm
Hi, David
The commentator’s name for the Chelsea vs PAOK game is Guy Mowbray.
FRANCIS MUCHUGI
September 21, 2018 at 11:37 pm
Very disappointing! This is killing soccer watching in the USA. I do not even have words to describe how horrible it was watching. Just one game in English? Not even replays in the evenings? Very poor analysts. Oh my God I can’t imagine this nightmare for three seasons!
Dingbat
September 21, 2018 at 9:16 am
Is B/R the only way to watch matches after the live broadcasts? I tried looking for the CL games on TNT (Roku app) but none were even listed. They had the European Super Cup few weeks ago so I thought maybe it would be this way also for CL matches.
Ivan
September 20, 2018 at 5:16 pm
Not interested in TNT and B/R (only a cretin can come up with such a name, btw).
Watched Tue Wedn CL games on the Univision networks, same for the tail end of the late EL game today, and just finished watching all the highlights on a non-descript platform.
I really couldn’t care less about what Bocanegra, Nash or Oniyewu have to say about football. They don’t have much, if anything, to contribute to the footballing discourse.
I do wish ill to Turner and B/R, and I hope they go bankrupt within a year. That and they can go and fornicate with themselves.
Greedy disgusting amateurs.
DAVID
September 20, 2018 at 3:01 pm
TNT should be called TSN…Total Sh!te Network.
Keith
September 20, 2018 at 2:08 pm
I was watching on my tv the Barca v PSV game on TNT through Verizon Fios. Did anyone else have difficulty in hearing Simon Brotherton because his audio levels would undulate and at some times I could barely hear him even when my tv volume was near maximum? I did not have this issue while listening through the Fios App and the issue did not repeat itself during the Liverpool v PSG game.
Efrain
September 21, 2018 at 11:34 am
Yes, they need to work on audio. I noticed it more when the crowd got loud it would drown out the commentator. Commentator audio levels should be raised so they can be heard over he crowd.
HKM
September 20, 2018 at 1:27 pm
Why Steve Nash?
How about Donovan, Dempsey, or Jurgen (who lives in LA) or someone with soccer credibility? What does Steve Nash bring to the table? Are there Steve Nash fans out there that would suddenly tune in that weren’t before? I’d listen to Steve Nash talk basketball but I don’t care about his (boring) opinions on soccer just like I wouldn’t care about Messi or Cristiano’s takes on any other sport.
David
September 20, 2018 at 12:24 pm
Steve Nash is a joke. Right before the second half started between Liverpool and PSG, he made the comment “Liverpool are playing like they are at home.” Thanks for the insight Captain Obvious.
GK
September 20, 2018 at 12:12 pm
And what the hell happened to the usual nightly Highlight Shows (on TV) on each game day ???
I never thought that one day I’d be thinking of Fox’ product as the golden days of UEFA Champions League/Europa League coverage in the US ..
NashRambler
September 20, 2018 at 11:23 am
The whole point of a post-match show should be to show all of the goals and all of the highlights from all 8 matches. At the conclusion of the post-match shows on Tuesday & Wednesday Kate Abdo advised the viewer that complete highlights are available on the BR website and the BR YouTube channel. Their decision to show highlights from only 2 or 3 matches is a cynical strategy to drive traffic to their website and YouTube channel.
CCB
September 20, 2018 at 11:14 am
I’m about done with all these companies who think they know how to present this sport. They don’t. The fact that all of you are crying out missing Fox coverage says a lot. If we all stop watching, maybe these people will go find something else to take over and run into the ground. I remember when having a DTV or DISH subscription was enough to get most of the soccer. Now you have to buy 19 streaming subscriptions in the hopes that maybe you’ll be able to see some of the matches you want. Oh, unless you’re like me and live out in the woods and have crap internet. When will it be enough for them?!
The_TMangrove
September 20, 2018 at 10:44 am
For me personally, the first two days of coverage was excellent. The poor studio content is irrelevant to me as I don’t have time to watch it anyway if I’m going to watch for six hours in evening. They don’t spoil scores from other games during the match. This meant that after watching two games in each time slot (TNT on one TV and streaming to another), I could watch a fifth game afterwards without knowing the score. With all games available I could choose which games I was interested in. Throw in the world-feed announcers (which I prefer), and I’m very happy so far.
GGMU
September 20, 2018 at 11:43 am
You are a liar! or were paid to give this opinion. There is no way anyone who even has a passing relationship with soccer was satisfied by the piss poor coverage TNT provided. We miss FOX. I miss being able to pick which game I watch. Who cares what game you show on tv, give the viewer the option to pick which game they want to watch, there were so many games on the past two days and the fact a MANCHESTER UNITED champions league match was not viewable is disgusting and just clearly shows TNT has no idea what they are doing.
JP
September 20, 2018 at 11:54 am
Many things to legitimately complain about regarding Turner’s treatment of UCL, but the Man U vs Young Boys match only being available via stream is not one of them. Real Madrid/Roma, Valencia/Juve, and Man City/Lyon, and even possibly Bayern/Benfica were all far better matchups on paper that should’ve been ahead of Manchester United’s match if they were to use TBS or TruTV and air more than just the one match (Real Madrid/Roma).
October 2nd Man U/Valencia looks to be the best matchup so if they’re not on TV again then you have a real gripe.
The_TMangrove
September 20, 2018 at 1:00 pm
Well, I’m certainly not being paid and I did quantify my statement with “for me personally.” I bought the season package from B/R Live so what games TNT decides to air has very little effect on me. I simply moved my money from Fox Soccer Plus to B/R Live. I remember the 80s and early 90s when there were zero games available during the season from any league, so this still seems pretty good.
Mickey
October 17, 2018 at 11:58 am
Yea well its not the 80s and 90s its 2018
Johninatl
September 20, 2018 at 10:42 am
Agreed the analysis from ex-USMNT stars has been lacking and is indeed pedestrian.
Also, the half hour Post-Match Show on Tuesday didn’t even show Pulisic’s game deciding goal in their highlights. I even recall seeing Schalke spelled ‘Shalke’ in one of their tickers!
Poor start from Turner. The graphics are nice and clean but the rest of the presentation seems less than soccer savvy.
Having the majority of these UEFA matches (especially the whole of the Europa League for English language audiences) behind a paywall is a grave mistake and does nothing to help grow the game.
Johninatl
September 20, 2018 at 10:44 am
The five minute recaps of each game by Bleacher Report on YouTube though are great and are highly recommended! Looks like they are posted very soon after the matches have concluded. Good solution for those working during the day — spend 40 minutes watching these recaps and you’ll be good!
Rob
September 20, 2018 at 8:34 am
I agree with most of your points Gaffer but I think you have to give them some time to gel on the set. They are still figuring things out but I agree that displaying the wrong graphics tells the viewers that the folks behind the scenes don’t know their football very well. I’m already getting tired of Stuart Holden constantly reminding viewers that Steve Nash is a Spurs fan…who cares! Believe it or not, I think that Nash has been the bright spot on the set so far. Having a team of all former USMNT players is a bit much and they should change it up. Outside of Holden and Howard, I don’t think Onyewu and Bocanegra bring much to the table for analysis. As for the games themselves, I really enjoy the streaming format that BR Live provides and I can display multiple games at the same time on my computer screens. I absolutely love having the world feed with different commentators over Fox’s usual crew. Enjoy the pod and the website…keep the good work boys!
Rod Johnson
September 20, 2018 at 7:41 am
Can’t watch the games in Spanish—total gibberish and distracting. The TNT games must be run by amateurs. The play by play was awful and the pre-game and halftime analysis was atrocious. It would have been great to see Man. City v Lyon yesterday in Engllish. The Europa games for today exclude the British teams. Brilliant—–
Losing me rapidly
Dave P
September 20, 2018 at 12:23 pm
It’s funny to the guys dissing the play by play coomentary, do you watch too much MLS or what?
Zachariah Robert Tollison
September 20, 2018 at 3:56 am
B/R Live is maybe the worst subscription service I have ever encountered. It lags like crazy, you have to jump through hoops to log-in (and even to buy a subscription in the first place), it is near impossible to rewind matches, navigating the system is dreadful, and overall the system fails to run consistently. It is a total mess. Anyone who whined and complained about Fox’s coverage is now eating crow big time. Fox’s app worked, they covered more matches, and even gave us multi-match 90 for those who wanted it. Sorry not sorry but at least Fox cared. Turner just wants to steal from soccer fan’s wallets. I kid you not, illegally streaming games is just as easy if not more so than this service. It is hot stinky garbage.
Yespage
September 21, 2018 at 1:32 pm
B/R would have to be irredeemably awful for it to be worse than FS2Go was. It crashed near the end of the Man United v Liverpool match. It would skip ahead of time and loop back for On Demand games.
Mr, Wzza King
September 20, 2018 at 3:00 am
WARNING, A RANT INCOMING AT 200 MPH. Where the f*ck do i start? The coverage was dreadful. The fact that some of us are missing Fox says a lot about TNT/Turner. Fox coverage was not the best, but the TNT one is just pure dog+cat sh*t mix with human sh8t. Its that bad. The Manchester United games was not on schedule, aha what a f*cking joke! They had the Ajax game instead lol. Don’t get me started with the analysis crew, they don’t know what they are doing, they are lost.
These greedy motherf**ker want us to pay $80 on top of what we are already paying for cable. (I pay $100 for DirecTV) And sense I have to streams the games I’m gonna need a faster WiFi which i have to pay for as well, like WTF? ( My WiFi speed is at 20mpbs, but if i want to stream the games in peace without having to worry about buffering I’m going to have to upgrade my WiFi) Just perfect!
This is not a good look. Yes, I’m probably gonna end up buying the package because I want to watch all the United games and all the best games available, but daamn man, the price to watch the beautiful game is getting very expensive In The USA and that Is not good for the sport.
And you know what? f*ck these f*ckers, I’m not buying sh*t, I’m gonna find a way to watch all the games and let y’all know.
cliff
September 20, 2018 at 9:55 am
I couldn’t agree more. You never what you have until you don’t have it and for those blokes who were knocking FOX Sports in the past, well how do like TNT. Fewer games on TV (I want my games on TV; I’ll pay for it what I pay for now to get streaming content from ESPNFC & NBCSports Gold, & selected B/R) and the studio commentary is amatuerish at best. Not a basketball fan but clearly have heard of Steve Nash and it’s odd that a pro basketball (hall of fame no less) may be the best analyst but then he’s also a Tottenham fan!
Stephen wheeler
September 22, 2018 at 1:32 am
Amen its about the money
bob
September 20, 2018 at 2:37 am
I think you should give the TNT app a review as well. Each game TNT has shown I’ve used the app and each time it froze. I couldn’t watch the last 30 minutes of Ajax v. AEK as it kept telling me they were working on the problem.
Theo
September 21, 2018 at 10:24 am
I was hoping someone would comment about the app as well. I missed most of the Manchester city vs Lyon game as it lagged and froze throughout the game. I missed most of the action and felt like getting a refund. I hope they improve on it. I also agree the presentation was very abysmal. The only person that really shined was Kate Abdo and it showed from her experience at Fox.
Daniel
September 21, 2018 at 2:18 pm
I swallowed the bitter pill and paid the $80 fee for the B/R App.. It was tough (being my cable bill is already in the stratosphere) BUT the sense of relief knowing I won’t have to fuss with illegal streams and (in theory) be able to watch all of the Champions/Europa games I want all season long is quite a relief.. One I never had when Fox was broadcasting.
I streamed the Man City game through my Apple 4K TV and it was very good.. A couple seconds of buffering here and there but nothing I would ever complain about.
I loathe the B/R app and it could be so, so, soooo much better BUT if you know what match you are looking it’s only a few clicks away. WTH they haven’t formatted this for the iPad is.. insane, no?
BTW, I’m loving the ESPN+ app and haven’t more happy knowing I have all the soccer I want at my fingertips this 2018/19 season.. Yes, my wallet is lighter but shouting at the moon won’t change it.
Wally
September 19, 2018 at 11:52 pm
I watched the Man City/Lyon match on Galavision and followed the Guardian’s live blog to fill in gaps with solid English commentary every minute or so while enjoying the HD video on my wide screen television. The TNT pre and post game commentary seems clumsy and forced. Awkward pre produced attempts at humor and lame trash talking between the two studios add nothing to the telecasts. The video highlights are skimpy and only show attempts on target, skipping over for example the play setting up the penalty shot.
Brendan
September 19, 2018 at 10:40 pm
I just watched the games and over to ESPN+ to hear real analysts discuss the games . TNT Panel dull and boring .
Ritchie
September 20, 2018 at 9:17 am
For some reason, ESPN FC showed all of the highlights on Tuesday, then turned around and showed absolutely no highlights yesterday. They used to have a problem showing plays from bein sports, but they solved that. I have no idea what the issue is now that only allows them to show highlights from certain game During champions league.
Juan
September 20, 2018 at 11:58 am
Turner probably said something? I was watching Fox Deportes last night and when they were showing highlights of Madrid-Roma, they just had a picture of the team celebrating a goal through the whole clip. The host was still calling the plays and highlights, which I’m sure were showing for Fox Sports in Mexico, but we just got a picture. I’m thinking Univision had something to say.
JP
September 20, 2018 at 12:00 pm
beIN showed the highlights for at least 6 of the matches on The Xtra both nights, so if that’s the case Turner hasn’t got to them yet….shhhhhh
Brendan
September 22, 2018 at 9:45 am
Could they not use the Univision highlights like BeIN sports did . ESPNFC analysts still the best of any one else . TNT absolute rubbish
Matt
September 19, 2018 at 10:19 pm
This was an exhibition on how NOT to make a good first impression. Good. Lord.
Richard Steele
September 19, 2018 at 9:17 pm
My dream is this: create stand alone apps for all competitions, or wrap all European competitions into one app. We have a mess now! NBCSN, NBC Sports Gold, ESPN+, and the TNT and the B/R app (the most stupidly named sports app)! Linear television was never half as confusing as this digital salad we have now.
Maffie
September 19, 2018 at 9:16 pm
Champion league is not the same . Viewing on line sucks . TNT should leave soccer to the professional. All this greed is going to kill the beatiful game …. paying to watch priemier league now champions league when will it stop .
AP
September 19, 2018 at 9:10 pm
I can only say, I miss FOX. A lot. I agree 100% with Mr. Harris, there’s no emotion in the commentators at TNT, on top of that I have Verizon Fios and can’t watch the Univision in high definition, only the 2 TNT games. Can’t wait for next year.
Dave P
September 20, 2018 at 12:20 pm
Lol the one good thing about TNT was them having the proper UK commentary teams instead of the God awful American ones that Fox inflicted upon us.
george jetson
December 11, 2018 at 4:16 pm
Oh my…yet today they have Holden and Nash. Utter s***e.
CJ
April 17, 2019 at 4:03 pm
Amen to that. The American commentary is flat out GOD awful…
Stephen wheeler
September 22, 2018 at 1:23 am
U got a hall of famer BASKETBALL PLAYER COMMENTATING ON SOCCER UR KIDDING STEVE NASH IS A BBALL PLAYER U COULD HAVE GOTTEN A SOCCER PLAYER MAN OR WOMAN
Paul Hill
December 7, 2018 at 11:26 am
I agree, its bizarre to have Steve Nash critiquing managers decisions and champions league players…..
george jetson
December 11, 2018 at 4:18 pm
Nash sucks. Holden is worse. Watch it in Spanish.
Nick
January 30, 2019 at 3:35 pm
Holden is the worst amount I’ve ever heard. He’s the most negative person in the world. Every single common talks about how bad somebody did not know about how good somebody did or somebody else did he just always points out their flaws and thinks he’s the coach and can do better. Or something. During the Hotspur Barcelona game, Nash was completely rooting for Hotspur ( because his dad is from London and that was his) but it was more like listening to a fan. Every single play he was rooting for Hotspur. I don’t think he’s a bad commentator though
Mark
February 13, 2019 at 3:01 pm
Agree with you. Fox coverage was so much better. I think the TNT coverage is absolute CRAP
John Valandingham
September 19, 2018 at 9:05 pm
Manchester United vs young boys where not even on the schedule!!!!! Unforgivable!!! Totally miffed!
Stephen wheeler
September 22, 2018 at 1:18 am
I totaly agree tnt sucks man u is the most watched soccer team in the world fox, bein, knows that TNT GET ON BOARD SHOW ALL MAN U GAMES IN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE BRING FOX BACK PLS
phillip
November 28, 2018 at 6:14 pm
right, let’s make the vultures, fox OR these tnt soccer clowns, show a mediocre 8th place team while nobody gets to see the most intersting club in england.
JP
September 19, 2018 at 8:25 pm
When this contract is up again I don’t think eventual winner will make the mistake of only buying the English language rights as Turner did.
Multiple matches on TV for Univision properties while Turner only broadcasts one in the same window, and Univision allows free streams (if you cable allows authentication) instead of charging like Turner is…..
Univision is making Turner’s coverage unnecessary for the group stage.
Stephen wheeler
September 22, 2018 at 1:26 am
Trump pls bail us out we want fox back pls help soccer die hard