Hi Marcus,
Do you happen to know or can you find out if there is any chance that they will start showing LFC live on NESN or even NESN+? I mean it has to make sense right, you can get NESN everywhere across this country so it would get them more exposure across the US. Right? Thank you for your time.
— Will, Everett, Mass.
Thanks for the local support, Will. This is a little complicated, so I'll do my best to explain. Fox Soccer Channel (and Fox Soccer Plus) owns the rights to all live EPL games broadcast in the United States. FSC chooses which games to show live and on delay. They also sublicense some live games to ESPN, which is why you see the Saturday/Monday games on that network.
NESN has an agreement with FSC to re-air FSC or FS+ games at least one day later. Again, NESN can only show games that FSC airs (not ESPN games), so that is why you did not see the Merseyside derby replay on NESN or NESN National.
If Liverpool plays on FSC or FS+, you best believe we will re-air the game in primetime at least a couple of times during the week. I hope that helps.
I've heard that Barcelona are looking at Suarez. Is it true and if he got the chance, would he go?
— Pa, Newcastle West, Ireland
Heading east, we'll take a question from Eire. Pa, if there's a player that Barca is not looking at, it's only because his team does not play on television. Every top player in the world is linked with the club and some of them would like to join the Spanish and European champs.
While Luis Suarez may one day want to move to Barca, rest assured it's not happening anytime soon. The Catalans are long on talent, but short on cash and heavily in debt. The only reason they could afford the £35 million ($54 million) or so that it took to pry Cesc Fabregas loose from Arsenal was because they already stashed it away for that purpose two years prior to the purchase. Until they sell Messi or Villa, I don't see them making a move for Suarez. You can rest easy about that.
Thanks for giving us info on how our darling club, Liverpool is doing. I would like to know for your middle name sake, if you have any Ghanaian roots?
— Eric Kwesi Asamoah Awuah, Pretoria, South Africa
Hello Eric and hello South Africa. I have no Ghanaian roots that I know of, but that doesn't mean they're not in there. As you may or may not know, most African-Americans have lost certain aspects of our history, including personal links to specific places on the continent. As for my middle name, I think it was because I was born on Tuesday and my parents are down for the cause.
Why do you think people from the States have the huge mental block against football (or as they would say it, soccer)?
— Ishaan Krishna, Mumbai, India
Hi Ishaan, thanks for the question. Americans have a block against soccer because, although millions have played at some point in their lives, the game was enjoyed as a form of entertainment or spectator sport by the majority here.
However, a change has already come. Fox has aired EPL games the last few weeks on network television before National (American) Football League games on Sunday afternoons. Record audiences have tuned in to watch. For years, fans have been packing bars and restaurants to watch soccer games at ridiculously early morning hours each weekend. They even skip work to watch midweek Champions League and Carling Cup games. Major League Soccer attendance is at an all-time high this year.
A few Americans even write about the game as their full-time jobs. Do you believe that? Don’t believe the hype about the mental block here. The United States is a serious soccer nation. Oh, and Happy Dussehra, Ishaan. Thanks for the support.
Do you think Spurs has what it takes to finish in the top 4. I see United, City, and Chelsea being the top 3 and Liverpool has not shown me enough to think that they can do it. What are your thoughts?
— Sam O'Reilly, Medford, Mass.
Spurs?!? Top four?!? Not a chance. It will be Liverpool or Arsenal. It could be Newcastle, or Villa, or Stoke even. It will be anybody but Spurs. Those are my thoughts. Next question (and thanks for the local support, Sam. Keep reading and writing in).
Thanks for all the questions, thoughts and comments. Starting next week, we’re moving the mailbag to Friday, so look out for it then.
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