ESPN Latin America must have aired every one of Arsenal’s games in the English Premier League this season. And with Fox Sports’ input we’ve had the chance to watch all of Manchester United and Man City’s too (even without Tevez pulling in the viewers.) Which is great for Arsenal fans in Argentina but I would root for greater variety in the featured games.
Football is fickle. You don’t automatically get a great game when a big team is involved and teams further down don’t scuttle out 0-0 draws every week. Obviously the giants do give great games and the struggling roll out yawningly poor performances against each other, but not always.
OK, I reveal my bias. I support Norwich City. The only time I watch Norwich is against the big teams which means most of the time watching them lose. But even without my Norfolk-leaning tendencies, I would still like a bit of diversity.
Yes, I live in the real world. The big teams draw the advertisers, the viewers, the money. Obviously Norwich doesn’t pull in the pesos like Man U. But focussing on the big three, or four, perpetuates the myth that everyone in England is a Man U or Arsenal fan.
Football is business. International rights to games is business. But in a magical world I would like to see the schedules scattered with Stoke v Sunderland, Blackburn v Bolton; to fully reflect the passion, oddness, frustration, boredom and surprise of English football.
