Posted on 08/20/2011 9:09:28 AM PDT by the scotsman
'RANGERS have opened up discussions with the powerful Fox Soccer Channel in America which could lead to tremendous opportunities in the USA for the Light Blues.
Interest in Rangers across the Atlantic has been massively boosted by the signing of national team captain Carlos Bocanegra and midfielder Alejandro Bedoya who have joined fellow countryman Mo Edu at Ibrox.
Now an exciting partnership with the Fox Soccer Channel is in the pipeline for Rangers which would hugely increase the profile across the United States and beyond.
The network, which originally launched as Fox Soccer World in 1997, now reaches over 33 million cable and satellite subscribers in the U.S. and the Caribbean. FSC also has distribution agreements with multiple system operators and DirecTV, Dish Network, AT&T, U-Verse and Verizon FiOS.
But that's not all. Plans are already in place for a US tour next summer and there are more initiatives scheduled as Rangers continue to explore exciting ways to grow the brand across the world.
Chief Operating Officer Ali Russell revealed: "We are in initial discussions about developing a relationship with Fox and we feel there are exciting possibilities.
"There is increased interest in Rangers now that Carlos Bocanegra and Alejandro Bedoya have joined us and we are looking at supplying this new demand.
"We already have a very good following in America and Canada and we aim to build on that.
"There are 52 North American Rangers Supporters Association clubs across the United States and Canada and they all follow our matches on www.rangerstv.tv.
"The members in these clubs are tremendously proactive in promoting Rangers and they are fiercely proud supporters.
"We feel there is an even bigger market to exploit. There remains a very strong Scottish and Scots-Irish heritage across the United States and, of course, Canada.'
(Excerpt) Read more at rangers.co.uk ...
Cool. I want to watch the Rangers/Celtic riots in HD.
Just hope they don't stick it in an 11pm EST timeslot.
Hullo, hullo, we are the Billy Boys...
Nice hat there, billybob.
Nice to see your posts SA. Good observation on the skeds. Actually, add 8 EPL games and not only the mandatory Man U stuff. Add Everton in there and we’re good to go.
I have enjoyed ESPN3's coverage of the Bundesliga. Alan Fountain doing the call brings me back to the mid-late 80's when he did the "Soccer made in Germany" series on PBS.
Speaking of Bundesliga action, my dad told me he used to watch Jurgen Klinsmann coach Bayern M on sat, and he was average.
Yeah, he didn’t last long. Seems across a lot of sports, good players don’t always translate into good coaches. A lot of criticism to JK during his time at Bayern was a “touchy-feely” atmosphere. Paul Gardner wrote a pretty good piece on it a few weeks ago; but little doubt the US needed a change.
“HULLO....HULLO!!”
I think there’s a big difference in coaching club football, as opposed to international football....they are two completely different animals. Some players are average at the club level, but for some reason excel at the International level.
And then you have players, like Messi, who are monsters at the club level, but have never broken through for Argentina.
Will the Catholics demand equal time for Celtic?
Ugggh! Don't talk to me about Everton........looks like they're headed for the drop this year.....no money.
Could this also be a play for Rangers (and Celtic) to make the move to the EPL ultimately?
I love that argument. As it is so wrong, its almost funny.
Soccer is pure capitalism: the biggest clubs with the biggest money buy the best players and win the most trophies.
American sport is the real socialism: the draft system, wage caps etc. All set up to make sure one or two teams dont dominate the sport because of money. American sports are set up to make sure everyone is as equal as possible.
And thats socialism, my friend.
Agreed. If you suck, you get punished......that’s why the games at the end of the year for teams looking to avoid the drop are financially the most critical games, the difference for teams playing in the Premier League, as opposed to the Championship is huge in terms of revenue.
Good point, although in the past you had to play good at the club level to get the cap. Now with players like Brian Bradley, or previously like Altidore or DMB, they went sight unseen for their clubs for months and still got capped
That’s why my idea is to designate an MLS club as our “Bayern Munich”, the club where the best American players will play for, to get them used to playing together consistently so that they can easily shift to playing for the National team.
Did the NASL try that with the “Team America” concept once? But I want to say they never actually had a firm “US” base to choose from for that given those years, besides maybe who, Ricky Davis?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.