Soucie on Soccer

I’ve been out of the house all day, or this would have gone up sooner.  If you haven’t heard already, the English language rights to the USA/Mexico World Cup qualifier on August 12th are in trouble.  They are owned by NBC Universal via their Spanish language arm, Telemundo.  They have chosen to show the match in English on mun2, a small satellite network run by Telemundo.  The vast majority of USMNT fans, and Americans in general do not have access to this channel, or if they do they are required to purchase a special package.  This is absolutely unacceptable.Fortunately, a movement has already begun to change this situation.  There are several ways you can help.  Here’s how:

Because Jason Davis of Match Fit USA has done such a great job organizing things so far, I’m going to use his words.  No sense in fixing something that isn’t broken.  What follows is part of his post on the matter, including a letter you can email to NBC Universal, as well as who you need to email.  There is also a petition for you to sign.  The signatures are growing quickly, but we need every name we can get to make an impact.

GIVE US OUR YANKS!

Per Jason Gatties’ suggestion, there is now an online petition for the effort:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/usamexicotv

Sign it, send it to everyone you know, tweet it, post it on message boards-do whatever it takes to make this a campaign that actually carries some weight.

*UPDATE* Apparently I should have researched this particular petition site a little; it seems that ipetitions makes it appear you have to pay to sign. THIS IS NOT THE CASE. THERE IS NO CHARGE TO SIGN THE PETITION.

Online petitions are nice, and they’re certainly easy, but clogging up email in-boxes and fax machines are even better. I realize that the effort needed can often be a deterrent, and so I’m making it easy for you:

First, copy and paste these email addresses into your email’s recipient box.

brian.walker@nbcuni.com, adam.freifeld@nbcuni.com, Lyndsay.Iorio@nbcuni.com, dick.ebersol@nbcuni.com, Perkins.Miller@nbcuni.com, Jeff.Zucker@nbcuni.com

Make the subject “USA-Mexico on USA Network” or something similar.

Next, copy and paste this text into the body of your email:

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am an American soccer fan. Yes, we do in fact exist, and we are likely more numerous than you might believe.

As an American soccer fan, I was distressed to learn that the United States Men’s National Team’s upcoming World Cup qualifier with arch-rival Mexico will not be broadcast on a widely-available English-language network.

This is unacceptable. Soccer, and in particular the USMNT, are growing in popularity at a rapid clip. The team’s recent strong showing in a tournament last month has drastically increased their profile, and more Americans than ever are following them. USA-Mexico is not only a crucial game for World Cup qualification, it’s also the most compelling, intriguing, and attention-worthy game on the 2009 calendar. The soccer community is anxiously awaiting the match, and will watch in larger numbers.

Broadcasting the game on a network few of us receive or would be forced to pay added cost for is not only unfair, it’s bad business. Cutting the potential audience for the game off at the knees does not seem the best way to maximize it’s potential worth to NBC Universal.

Therefore, I respectfully request that you move this match to one of your other more widely-available networks. USA Network would seem to make the most sense, though I am not picky. Please allow us, the American soccer community, see the game that we are so looking forward to. I’m convinced that this move makes sense for your company as well; aside from the millions of eyes tuned to your one of your networks, the PR ramifications are obvious.

Sincerely,
(your name)
An American Soccer Fan