Here in the Netherlands I get to catch (joy of joys) the Dutch squad play a qualifier against Andorra, being played in Barcelona, Spain. That almost makes it a home match for the Dutch team, but it is probably just a ploy by the Andorra FA to squeeze a bit more cash out of large defeat.
The funny thing is that the game is being broadcast on Nickelodeon! (the exclamation point is part of the name, not a sign of my immense surprise). I guess none of the major stations (Ned 1,2,3, SBS, RTL) could be bothered with the rights to this game.
Interesting how Canada is locked into a long-term contract with a sometimes unwilling sports network, although sadly we probably are better served this way than if the rights were auctioned off on a per-game basis.
I wouldn't be surprised if other Canadian channels were allowed to pick up the rights to the Guat game because SNet passed.
The question is, how many people actually have Nickelodeon! ? Everytime I go to Europe I'm always amazed at how little</u> soccer is available on TV. Dutch league games, for instance, are all on pay-TV (15 euros/month for the channel, i beleive).
I think Nickelodeon is on the basic cable set up. National team matches are often televised, and I get a few UEFA Cup and Champions League matches (Dutch, German and Belgian teams on their respective channels) but league matches, as you said, are all PPV. The only matches I get for free are on the Turkish channel. I get endless highlight shows, though. And live U-19 WWC matches on Eurosport.
I've wondered how hard it would be to just set up a pay per view where you could just buy the host feed, in whatever language with whatever commercials, blah, blah, blah.
Might not be that tough. The technical end that is. Don't know. Maybe the lawyers get in the way.
For Shaw to make some mickey mouse advert. on it's PPV pre-view channel and run it for a couple of weeks wouldn't cost Shaw f-all. Just get one of the promo guys to splice something together and viola! Canada vs Whoever PPV direct from the host feed. All commentary in Spanish.
Pay the host x dollars per sold package and there you are. If Shaw gets paid, the host gets paid. Something's better than nothing which is what the Guats got for yesterday's game from the Canadian market.