Fox Sports’ US World Cup coverage is an unmissable abomination

[hashmander]

all they had to do was check out nbc's premier league and cbs' champions league and europa league coverage to see what to do.

this is a problem in the olympics as well but i don't get the obsession with comparing the sizes of countries to states when the majority of their viewing audience doesn't even know how big that state is. ok qatar is the size of CT, but i bet if you asked them what CT even looks like they won't know.

 

[mastermind]

But on the other hand, being mad at a US based broadcast for trying to contextualize the sport for its US audience with US friendly references is dumb and petty. The World Cup sees a ton of people who don't normally watch the sport watch games that, at times, may involve countries that they might never have heard of, or had any reason to care enough about to research before. That's just basic broadcasting; you're supposed to treat big events like this like it might be someone's first game they've watched, primarily because it's most likely that that's true for a significant portion of the audience.

I strongly disagree with this.

You don't talk down to people to get them to understand a sport, you talk up. That's why the CBS and NBC broadcasts of the sport have been light-years better than this. They take the viewers seriously and treat them like adults. Fox---and ABC/ESPN before---don't.

It's also why the

 

[Rev]

you're better off just watching the game itself on Telemundo...forget the language barrier.

the surround coverage is all about the production teams behind the scenes putting it together. Fox's can't compete with NBC's or even ESPN's coverage back in 2014.

 

[Super Cheech]

I watch as many games as I can on Telemundo.

Landon Donovan is the worst.

 

[mastermind]

The writer missed Lalas' worst gaffe too. During a Canada match, it may have been against Croatia, he said, "I don't know hot say it in Canadian, but..."

I can't remember what inane thing he said, but the man said Canadian as if it was a language.

Telemundo>>>>

 

[Legal]

I strongly disagree with this.

You don't talk down to people to get them to understand a sport, you talk up. That's why the CBS and NBC broadcasts of the sport have been light-years better than this. They take the viewers seriously and treat them like adults. Fox---and ABC/ESPN before---don't.

It's also why the

Right, but there's a difference between talking to the audience like they're dumb, and just using relatable sports terms they're already familiar with, or using a state they've heard of for reference.

Y'all gotta remember that when it comes to events like the World Cup, the assumption is that it's one of the few times when the average sports viewer is actually in the minority of the audience, and coverage will always be crafted in accordance.

 

[phillycavsfan]

It won't be any better in 4 years.
United States coverage of sports is so bad, even worse when it's a sport not popular in this country ...

Nah, I have my complaints about ESPN/NBC/CBS but Fox is significantly worse than all three of them. They don't put any effort into research. Every bit of analysis is surface level. CBS Champions league coverage is fantastic - maybe the best all-around sports analysis in the country - and NBC Premier League coverage is pretty damn good as well.

Fox does the kind of World Cup coverage that was acceptable in 1994, but with Americans having more access to soccer on TV than ever before (plus the popularity of FIFA video games) having this poverty work on TV in 2022 is 100% unacceptable.

 

[The Intergalactic Koala]

Should have move the Cup to CBS. Fox always fukking up Soccer games. I will still never forgive them for what they did to Fox Soccer Match Pass (Poor Bundesliga)

 

[mastermind]

Right, but there's a difference between talking to the audience like they're dumb, and just using relatable sports terms they're already familiar with, or using a state they've heard of for reference.

Y'all gotta remember that when it comes to events like the World Cup, the assumption is that it's one of the few times when the average sports viewer is actually in the minority of the audience, and coverage will always be crafted in accordance.

Nah man, I strongly disagree. They treat the audience like we are stupid. I will even give you common phrases to make people relate. The issue is THEY DON'T TALK TACTICS. If you watch their highlights of matches, it's either goals or shots. No discussion on how the play evolved, what changes need to be made to get the match level, nothing. Its, "the team needs to take more shots and defend better."

This is talking to the audience like idiots and falling into every stereotype Americans have about the sport. Fox doesn't take it seriously and they think the viewer is stupid.

We get more matches in this country than they do in England, for instance. That means more people are knowledgeable about the game. Don't talk to us like we all watching curling for the first time.

 

[Spiritual Stratocaster]

FOX is mad the World cup is during football season so they don't give a SINGLE fukk

 

[Legal]

Nah man, I strongly disagree. They treat the audience like we are stupid. I will even give you common phrases to make people relate. The issue is THEY DON'T TALK TACTICS. If you watch their highlights of matches, it's either goals or shots. No discussion on how the play evolved, what changes need to be made to get the match level, nothing. Its, "the team needs to take more shots and defend better."

This is talking to the audience like idiots and falling into every stereotype Americans have about the sport. Fox doesn't take it seriously and they think the viewer is stupid.

We get more matches in this country than they do in England, for instance. That means more people are knowledgeable about the game. Don't talk to us like we all watching curling for the first time.

Alright, we're talking about two different things, then. I completely agree with what you said. The analysts need to actually break the game down at some point. But I'm specifically saying this:

Insults to our collective intelligence have come from all angles: the constant, tedious analogies to American sports (stepovers and feints described as “dekes” and “hesis”, corners constantly compared to “pick and rolls”); the neverending quest to “contextualize” the world game by comparing whole countries to American states (“Qatar is the size of Connecticut,” we were told repeatedly on the opening day);

Is unnecessarily nitpicky. There's absolutely nothing wrong with using terms from sports that the American audience is more familiar with to increase relatability, or comparing a country (which the overwhelming majority of the audience likely couldn't identify on a map, hasn't visited, and likely never will) to a state to easily emphasize how crazy it is that Qatar is hosting the World Cup.

It's a common problem with articles like this. They often start with what their real issue is (in this case, Fox keeping any talk of Qatari fukkery off air), and basically work backward to having a full article on their hands. Eventually, there's at least one "AND ANOTHER THING" ass paragraph where the writer gets overly annoyed about something, and the one above is it.

 

[calh45]

Article had some completely valid points, but like most open criticisms/hit pieces, it had a couple of pretty grievances that they pressed a little hard.

For example, Rob Stone is, was, and forever will be fukking horrible at being a studio host. I've tried watching Big Noon Saturday multiple times, and I'd rather have ESPN trying their hardest to both hide Lee Corso, and convince me that trying to push Pat "But what if Marty Smith was even MORE of a white dudebro stereotype, and a couple states north?" McAfee as my Saturday morning background noise, and Rob Stone is a large part of why.

But on the other hand, being mad at a US based broadcast for trying to contextualize the sport for its US audience with US friendly references is dumb and petty. The World Cup sees a ton of people who don't normally watch the sport watch games that, at times, may involve countries that they might never have heard of, or had any reason to care enough about to research before. That's just basic broadcasting; you're supposed to treat big events like this like it might be someone's first game they've watched, primarily because it's most likely that that's true for a significant portion of the audience.

This.

I honestly think this type of "critique" happens every world cup by gatekeeping soccer lovers in the media. I don't mind Rob much at all and the commentators aren't completely horrid. It's a C/C- broadcast.

 

[mastermind]

FOX is mad the World cup is during football season so they don't give a SINGLE fukk

And they been getting chyrons and lower thirds wrong too. You are right.

Alright, we're talking about two different things, then. I completely agree with what you said. The analysts need to actually break the game down at some point. But I'm specifically saying this:



Is unnecessarily nitpicky. There's absolutely nothing wrong with using terms from sports that the American audience is more familiar with to increase relatability, or comparing a country (which the overwhelming majority of the audience likely couldn't identify on a map, hasn't visited, and likely never will) to a state to easily emphasize how crazy it is that Qatar is hosting the World Cup.

It's a common problem with articles like this. They often start with what their real issue is (in this case, Fox keeping any talk of Qatari fukkery off air), and basically work backward to having a full article on their hands. Eventually, there's at least one "AND ANOTHER THING" ass paragraph where the writer gets overly annoyed about something, and the one above is it.

Fam, in you pointing out the nitpicking, you are nitpicking. That is one passage in an article about them not talking about the issues around the Qatar bid, barely touching on the Iran-US storyline where the USSF initiated the hostility, and commentators are genuinely being awful in their respect for pronunciations. Even more, a guy like Landon Donovan is sleepwalking through matches.

 

[Killah Ray]

It's part of the facade that Americans care about soccer every four years....

 

[concise]

Nah, I have my complaints about ESPN/NBC/CBS but Fox is significantly worse than all three of them. They don't put any effort into research. Every bit of analysis is surface level. CBS Champions league coverage is fantastic - maybe the best all-around sports analysis in the country - and NBC Premier League coverage is pretty damn good as well.

Fox does the kind of World Cup coverage that was acceptable in 1994, but with Americans having more access to soccer on TV than ever before (plus the popularity of FIFA video games) having this poverty work on TV in 2022 is 100% unacceptable.

lol, I thought they mentioned Fox was the worst of all, guess I typed my message too fast.