i would like to add my support to this petition, i would also like to ask for expended champions league football. derek rae is a very talented commentator and even though i dislike tommy smyth's commentry (personally i do not believe he calls the game accurately) i would rather have both of them and no a baseball commentator who has no true appreciation for the sport.
I cannot believe that you are going to put someone in the booth that knows nothing of the sport. Soccer is the sport of the future in the US: the NBA will die, baseball will never be the same, the NFL will always be profitable b ut soccer will take over them all within two decades. Mark my words espn, get with the program, put some quality sounds behind the already beautiful game.
I support this petition.
I support this petition. Your announcers are simply not adequate. I want to watch the WC on ESPN but not with Dellacamera. I would like to see Rae and Smith.
I am no soccer snob, but watched the last World Cup with the sound off or in Spanish because of the inarticulate and unknowledgeable American announcers. If you are smart, you will make adjustments.
ESPN's actions on this matter are driven by money and commercialism. If they were truly dedicated to the quality of the broadcasting they provide, they would acknowledge this petition and fix their mistake.
I applaud ESPN for bringing the games to TV in HD however, your selection of announcers has been a huge disappointment and a disservice to your efforts. So much so that I am likely now to go with satellite to get proper commentary and insight.
Derek Rae's exclusion is just crazy. 70% or more of your audience watching the World Cup already watch games called by announcers with accents, even tuning into Spanish stations when they don't even understand the language. What makes this game great is it's mass appeal worldwide, something a country founded by immigrants should do well to promote and honor by not shying away from quality announcers, just because they don't have an American accent.
I support this petition. I need to have exciting announcers like Derek Rae and Tommy Smith. They are the best choice for the World Cup. I am begging ESPN not to screw this one up.
I support this petition. Having just seen the (pointlessly tape delayed) Arsenal-Real game with Derek Rae and Tommy Smyth, I can't imagine ESPN would waste their talents.
Last World Cup, myself and everyone I know watched the coverage on Univision for this very reason. If you don't replace the commentators this year, it will happen again.
Derek Rae definitely has my support!
I support this petition.i will listen the games on bbc and watch on espn. when i can listen the likes of alan green why on earth i will bother same beseball guy.
I support this petition. Derek Rae should be doing these games not simply "reporting" from Germany. I will watch every game in Spanish if you use the "locker room" Yanks. How insensitive can you be to the world's most popular sport??
I support this petition. It only makes sense to have announcers that people want to listen to and I DO NOT want to listen to the current cast ESPN have. I support Rae and Smith.
I support this petition.
If you want more people to watch ESPN and their soccer coverage use quality announcers. You have a couple who work for you one being Tommy Smith.
I support this petition. Need good announcers. The cast that ESPN have really suck. I was hoping that this year would have been different and they would have put a good cast in place. Please put Rae and Smyth in the announcers booth.
ESPN will botch it. Like the rest of America they have no idea how to cover soccer. I support the petition, but will be getting my coverage on Telemundo.
Please reconsider and use Derek Rae and Tommy Smith as your announcers. Soccer commentary is a very specialized task and these guys are the best in this country. It is a dark day for soccer when the main sports institution in this country cannot see the problem with using talking heads like Rob Stone, Delacamera, etc. to comment on a game they don't understand or get the nuances of.
THANK YOU!
ESPN, if the quality of your Soccer commentators is lacking, I would rather watch Telemundo or Univision to get more insightful commentary on the games.
-JB from San Jose, California
I support this petition.
ESPN -- The World Cup is not the Olympics. They have very different audiences. The World Cup audience is not interested in USA-centric coverage and announcing. Rather than picking up fans who otherwise would not watch, you will lose knowledgable fans to the Spanish language channels.
Derrik Rae's exclusion from World Cup announcing is idiotic.
I support this petition. Please do not use Dave O'Brien ever again. Baseball announcers do not work for soccer. I fell asleep listening to him do the Poland game and Guatamala game. I will take Rob Stone any day over O'Brien. Just give us Tommy Smith!
I support this petition (but would not get my hopes up), this is just another brilliant marketing decision by the geniuses at ESPN USA,like when they preempted the Euro cup 1996 with barefoot waterskiing. Lads just give up and move to Europe. They will never get it over here.
I support this petition. Derrik Rae and Tommy Smith are great and should be your #1 team. Put the others with less or no experience on some of the lesser games. Rank the games like you do NFL and assign the top team to the top game of the day! Thanks for listening!
I support this petition.
Derek Rae must do these broadcasts! These American announcers are clueless and will ruin the games for me. I will tune in to Univision is necessary.
I support this petition wholeheartedly. Please forward this entire petition to the companies that typically advertise on ESPN and during Footie (soccer) events such as The Champions League. I'm sure that the advertising companies would like to have a barganing chip on their side to get a lower advertising cost during World Cup matches. With so many of these signed supporters willing to not watch the matches on ESPN, I think it should be a bit concerning to the accounting folks at ESPN.
With regard to the use of "smooth" announcers (which is the only reason I can guess ESPN has made this decision) I don't think that ESPN understands a simple fact - back in the days before it was cool to watch the World Cup (I'm talking about the 70's and 80's here), the only option we had here in the US was to watch the Mexican broadcasts. Not only am I looking forward to watching it again with Spanish broadcasters, but the nostalgia will put a huge smile on my face.
We are loyal to our team and to the sport, and don't take kindly to the world's opinion that we don't know how to play The Beautiful Game - one thing is for sure, the execs at ESPN certainly don't understand their fan base.
I support this petition. I'm 16 years old, I dont currently have cable television, but when I heard that espn would be covering the world cup I got a job after school to get cable so I could see the greatestsporting event in the world. But when I found out who would be commentating the matches I was not only devistated but I was offended. Soccer isn't taken seriously enough in this country already and it doesn't help having people like Dave O'brian say things like "the doal tender made a X-treme save in the upper ninety" or Max Bretos saying things like "hey; he kinda looks like Napolian Dynamite". The announcers espn have apointed are discraceful, and the fact of the matter is is that world cup is not a joke it is the largest and most incredable sporting event in the world and should be treated as such. Thank you Nick and Stephan for trying to lift some of the shame espn has cast upon americas soccer comunity, we're all behind you.
daniel
I support this petition. I am sick and tired of second-rate announcers who feel they need to talk constantly about nonsense. I wish ESPN would take its soccer much more seriously.
I support this petition no doubt. The commentators are rubbish and FSC is no better also. Just click on to the Espanol commentary. All you need to know is two words. Gol and falta. Enjoy the Copa and Goooollllll!
Though I understand that you at ESPN won't change because of this pettition, but I believe it important for you to know that there are going to be many people tuneing off your World Cup broadcast, and finding alterior methods by which to watch the games with competant soccer announcers
I would rather listen to a Spanish Commentator and not understand a word that listen to someone in English who does not know what he is talking about. Please reconsider
One of the worst things it to have anouncers who don't know the game. Dave O'Brien might be a nice guy, but he does on know soccer. Another problem is the close-up on one player and not showing what is going on around him so you have no idea what is actually happening in the game.
