ESPN's unprecedented gamble to cover all 31 games live from Europe's quadrennial soccer competition looks like it is paying off. The Sporting arm of the Walt Disney media Empire shows that audience ratings have been very impressive for both the digital online coverage, as well as the live television broadcasts.
The ESPN coverage by its family of networks itself has also impressed. The HD broadcasts and camera shots from both Austria and Switzerland have been breathtakingly spectacular, especially the super slow-motion and cable tracking cameras from above the field of play. Hats off to the Swiss and the Austrians for an incredibly steller job.
Even the studio presenters and punditry indicates that ESPN is finally taking soccer coverage more seriously. Usually, I cringe when I hear the homegrown 'experts,' but this has been virtually cringe free. It is such a monumental relief to hear the games being covered by people that either actually played the game at the highest level, or who grew up with the game.
ESPN's decision to hire the former Aston Villa, and Scottish International striker, Andy Gray, (Pictured) who usually works the microphone for SkySports in the UK, was an absolute master stroke. He, along side Adrian Healy have been truly excellent. The other duo of Derek Rae and Tommy Smyth make up the other commentary team and have been equally impressive, proving that the English, Irish and Scots have at least one thing in common when it comes to the admiration of the beautiful game, even if none of their respective countries qualified for these 2008 finals! The banter back and forth, and knowledgeable honest dialog has been a delight. I do however, sometimes wonder if some of Andy's thick Glasgow accent might have a few American's scratching there heads, or looking for the WTF subtitles on the remote control, but it has been wonderful.
Adding beauty, brains and a sense of calm to the analysis to the pre and post game discussions is the delightful Julie Foudy, who like Gray is a former top-level professional and international player.
The competition is the third most watched sporting event outside the World Cup and the Olympics which also take place every four years. The Euros, as they've come to be known, are pulling in some serious Euro coinage for UEFA, the competitions governing body, who with big time multinational sponsorships, TV and online advertising revenues are estimated to be worth over €1.3 billion, or $2.25 billion.
Audience averages for the family of ESPN networks including the Spanish language channel ESPNdeportes has been up through 15 matches to an average of 655,000 viewers, up 81 percent from the same period last year.
The highest audience last week was the Sweden Spain game which had 831,000 homes tuned in with an estimated 1.01 million viewers. Maybe, aside from the quality of the broadcast and the heavy ex-pat audiences, American sports fans are finally seeing the value of 90 minutes of uninterupted competition, excepting the 15 minute half-time break, instead of all the tedious and endless commercial time-outs in the NBA and NFL broadcasts.
ESPN's digital media has also seen a sharp increase in online visits with ESPNsoccer.net averaging over a million visits per day which is a 216 percent increase over the same period last year. Page views are also up by 29 percent from Euro 2004 in Portugal.
The network is also building a solid foundation with broadband broadcasts on ESPN360.com which has provided live and replay of every game through the first round group stage of the competition and has accounted for the Top 10 most-watched single events and is on pace to be the most-watched tournament outside of season coverage of college basketball and college grid-iron football.
One very exciting technology introduced by ESPN during the Euro 2008 has been the innovative ESPN Axis. The 3D-image enhancement system allows the studio team to review 'virtual' plays at half-time, or in post game analysis from a multitude of camera angles with the ability to highlight and move players in a video-game like fashion to illustrate 'what if' scenario's. The technology was developed by a Swiss company, LiberoVision and has really been a great addition to the panel discussions especially in reviewing offside cases. If only the referees in the match had the same option, we would certainly avoid a lot of missed calls and a great deal of antics and controversy. To see how ESPN Axis works click on the following link: http://www.espnmediazone.com/mediacenter/mediacenter.html
The competition is poised for its final countdown to the tournaments conclusion, from the original 16 finalists now to cut down to the four semi-finalists. Outsiders, and last-gasp specialists, Turkey take on the favorites Germany, on Wednesday, while perennial non-performers, Spain take on the new kids on the block, Russia, the other Cinderella team of the competition, on Thursday. Both fixtures kick-off at 11:45 ET, respectively.
The big finale of this epic footballing feast will be held between the two winners at the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna, Austria on Sunday. I suggest tuning in and watching in a sportsbar, or on a big screen HDTV near you.