Every four years I like Soccer, and this year will be no different as ABC/ESPN plans on airing 44....count em!....44 FIFA World Cup matches from South Africa. The action starts with the first U.S. contest on ABC vs. England (on Saturday, June 12, at 2pm), and ends on the same network July 11th with the Championship game.

Friday, June 11th

South Africa vs. Mexico, Group A (ESPN, 9:30am)
Uruguay vs. France, Group A (ESPN, 2pm)

Saturday, June 12th

Korea Republic vs. Greece, Group B (ESPN, 7am)
Argentina vs. Nigeria, Group B (ESPN, 9:30am)
England vs. USA, Group C (ABC, 2pm)

Sunday, June 13th

Algeria vs. Slovenia, Group C (ESPN, 7am)
Serbia vs. Ghana, Group D (ESPN, 9:30am)
Germany vs. Australia, Group D (ABC, 2pm)

Monday, June 14th
Netherlands vs. Denmark, Group E (ESPN, 7am)
Japan vs. Cameroon, Group E (ESPN, 9:30am)
Italy vs. Paraguay, Group F (ESPN, 2pm)

Tuesday, June 15th

New Zealand vs. Slovakia, Group F (ESPN, 7am)
Ivory Coast vs. Portugal, Group G (ESPN, 9:30am)
Brazil vs. Korea DPR, Group G (ESPN, 2pm)

Wednesday, June 16th

Honduras vs. Chile, Group H (ESPN, 7am)
Spain vs. Switzerland, Group H (ESPN, 9:30am)
South Africa vs. Uruguay, Group A (ESPN, 2pm)

Thursday, June 17th

Argentina vs. Korea Rep, Group B (ESPN, 7am)
Greece vs. Nigeria, Group B (ESPN, 9:30am)
France vs. Mexico, Group A (ESPN2, 2pm)

Friday, June 18th

Germany vs. Serbia, Group D (ESPN, 7am)
Slovenia vs. USA, Group C (ESPN, 9:30am)
England vs. Algeria, Group C (ESPN2, 2pm)

Saturday, June 19th

Netherlands vs. Japan, Group E (ESPN, 7am)
Ghana vs. Australia, Group D (ESPN, 9:30am)
Cameroon vs. Denmark, Group E (ABC, 2pm)

Sunday, June 20th

Slovakia vs. Paraguay, Group F (ESPN, 7am)
Italy vs. New Zealand, Group F (ESPN, 9:30am)
Brazil vs. Ivory Coast, Group G (ABC, 2pm)

Monday, June 21st

Portugal vs. Korea DPR, Group G (ESPN, 7am)
Chile vs. Switzerland, Group H (ESPN, 9:30am)
Spain vs. Honduras, Group H (ESPN, 2pm)

Tuesday, June 22nd

Mexico vs. Uruguay, Group A (ESPN, 9:30am)
France vs. South Africa, Group A (ESPN2, 9:30am)
Nigeria vs. Korea Republic, Group B (ESPN2, 2pm)
Greece vs. Argentina, Group B (ESPN, 2pm)

Wednesday, June 23rd

Slovenia vs. England, Group C (ESPN2, 9:30am)
USA vs. Algeria, Group C (ESPN, 9:30am)
Ghana vs. Germany, Group D (ESPN, 2pm)
Australia vs. Serbia, Group D (ESPN2, 2pm)

Thursday, June 24th

Slovakia vs. Italy, Group E (ESPN, 9:30am)
Paraguay vs. New Zealand, Group E (ESPN2, 9:30am)
Denmark vs. Japan, Group F (ESPN, 2pm)
Cameroon vs. Netherlands, Group F (ESPN2, 2pm)

Friday, June 25th

Portugal vs. Brazil, Group G (ESPN, 9:30am)
Ivory Coast vs. Korea DPR, Group G (ESPN2, 9:30am)
Chile vs. Spain, Group H (ESPN, 2pm)
Switzerland vs. Honduras, Group H (ESPN2, 2pm)

Martin Tyler has been a fixture in the booth for the World Cup since 1978, so it comes as no surprise that ESPN had been targeting for the 2010 Cup in South Africa. Via ESPN PR....

Martin Tyler, one of the most accomplished and respected television play-by-play commentators in the United Kingdom for over 35 years, will join ESPN for the 2010 FIFA World Cup tournament in South Africa. Tyler, who has called matches in every FIFA World Cup since 1978, will be the lead play-by-play voice for ESPN’s exclusive English-language coverage in the United States, which will be available on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN360.com and ABC. He will make his ESPN telecast debut Friday, June 11, 2010, at 9:30 a.m. ET, the opening match of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

Voted the “FA Premier League Commentator of the Decade” in 2003 by fans and a panel of football experts, Tyler has been with the London-based Sky Sports network since its launch in 1991. His arrival at Sky Sports coincided with the formation of Premiership football and Sky’s acquisition of the league’s broadcast rights. Tyler has led Sky’s critically-acclaimed soccer commentary team, calling some of the Premier League’s best matches.

“Martin Tyler is one of the top English-language soccer commentators in the world; his experience, authentic style and in-depth knowledge of the game will help elevate ESPN’s presentation of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, informing and entertaining our viewers in the United States,” said Jed Drake, ESPN senior vice president and executive producer, event production.

It's great that ESPN is finally understanding that they can't just throw their current announcers into something as big as overseas Soccer. Now with Tyler, American JP Dellacamera, Tommy Smyth and Andy Gray on board, ESPN has two great pairs they can put out for the World Cup. As long as they don't decided to bring the dreadful Dave O'Brien back. Here's a somewhat annoying remix of some famous Tyler calls, in case you want to get a taste of what he's like....



Martin Tyler to Call World Cup Games for ESPN! (SS Reporters)

At the start of last year's NFL season, ESPN moved just about their entire operation to Green Bay for the first Monday nighter of the year. Well the "Leader" is planning to do the same thing for the World Cup next June, but with a small catch. It won't be one day....it will be for an entire month! Yes, all World Cup programming will be coming to you live from South Africa from June 11th to July 11th. Via ESPN PR....

ESPN will present all of its 2010 FIFA World Cup television studio programming from site in South Africa, offering U.S. sports fans the most comprehensive news and information coverage throughout the month-long soccer showcase (June 11 – July 11, 2010). Coverage of the quadrennial global event will include SportsCenter segments, nightly World Cup Live, and pre-, halftime and post-match shows, with additional studio programming and World Cup-branded segments, totaling more than 65 hours of coverage, originating from two sets in and around Johannesburg.

A trio of top-tier ESPN hosts, Chris Fowler (college football, Grand Slam tennis), Bob Ley (SportsCenter, Outside the Lines), and Mike Tirico (Super Bowl, NBA Finals, Final Four, major golf championships), will serve as on-site FIFA World Cup studio hosts. ESPN’s “game around the game” approach to South Africa 2010 will include live and taped segments that will air on ESPN International’s 13 localized versions of SportsCenter in eight different languages across the world.

South Africa 2010 will mark the first time in ESPN’s 30-year history that the entirety of its FIFA World Cup studio programming will originate on location from the site of the host country. Highlights of planned programs and 2010 FIFA World Cup-branded segments:

- SportsCenter at the FIFA World Cup;
- World Cup Live – the daily, 30-minute news, highlights and analysis program (30 episodes) aired each night of the tournament on ESPN or ESPN2;
- Live 30-minute pre-match, halftime (15 min.) and post-match shows on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2;
- World Cup segments on ESPNEWS, First Take on ESPN2, and Outside the Lines.

It's always a good idea to be live at the event you're covering, but that certainly can't be cheap, especially when you're traveling halfway around the World. Also, if you're looking for three hosts for the coverage, you can't ever go wrong with Fowler, Tirico and the great Bob Ley. Great move by ESPN, if you ask me.

I personally haven't logged much time on ESPN360, but there a bunch of people that do so each day. A multitude of Sports are covered by the online channel, and it's obviously the first glimpse into what the future of Sports will look like online. 360's VP, Damon Phillips, conducted an interview with Sports Business Daily, and discussed some what the future of online would look like in the years to come. Via SBD....

Q: What are some of the ideas that you have gained from what others are doing with online video?

Phillips: It’s really how they’re serving their user, and really creating ways to engage users to spend more time on their sites. Whether it’s the quality of the video, or quality of the audio, being able to have functions now like full screens, being able to introduce Web 2.0 features, … we’re always looking for ways to learn what some of the best practices are.

Q: How are you seeking to grow content in the areas of passion sports and wide world of sports in particular?

Phillips: We are really trying to serve those underserved fans. We just did the Pop Warner championship out in Disney World back in December, so we’re always looking for those type of events. From a soccer standpoint, we have a number of the top domestic leagues that are out there. Last year we did Italian soccer, Japanese soccer, Chinese soccer, Russian soccer, so we’re out there looking at content that is going to resonate with our users.

Q: Moving forward, what are some of the ways that you will seek to enhance the viewing experience to make it even more like watching on television?

Phillips: We are constantly improving our technology to deliver a crisper picture, video as well as audio. We also are introducing new modules that allow fans to interact with each other regardless of where they are. Stats integration is also another key component in terms of what we’re doing. So we’re constantly looking at ways to innovate, and a lot of those innovations come from fans themselves who give us ideas about how we can improve the experience, so we really take customer insights very seriously.

Again, I've never really gotten into online content outside of MLB TV, but from what I've seen of ESPN360, it's very comparable as far as picture quality and sound. I think streaming is perfect for out-of-market events, like the World Cup and NCAA Tournament, but I think it's a long ways away from catching on with the majority of the Sports viewing public. Good interview though.

Catching Up With ESPN360.com VP Damon Phillips (Sports Business Daily - $)