When the Premier League campaign ends on Sunday, US viewers will have blanket coverage of the battle for the title (and the 19 places behind first …), as NBC end their first year of holding the US television and digital rights for the league by showing every game live across a range of the company's TV networks.  Since swooping for the Premier League rights last year (fending off the incumbent partnership of ESPN and Fox, as well as a large bid from the Al Jazeera owned beIN Sports channel) NBC have been aggressively promoting the thoroughness of their coverage, which offers subscribers to their sports network channel NBCSN an additional range of channels showing every game live.  Given the unique scheduling of the final day of the Premier League season, though, this weekend will be the first time all 20 teams are in action at the same time, and will also be unique in that the network will not be using specialist cable channels, but outlets like its own NBC network channel (Manchester City v West Ham), NBCSN (Liverpool v Newcastle United), and a host of others including Bravo, Esquire, E! and Syfy (Southampton v Manchester United – presumably for cult completists …).  Naturally the network have been pushing this weekend's coverage hard, although they have had to put a slightly brave face on the fact that what at one point looked like the tightest Premier League finish ever, may now be something of a coronation for Manchester City. Still, at a press conference on Friday to trail the coverage, British studio anchor Rebecca Lowe gamely insisted, "I think if you put yourselves at half-time on Sunday and you see it’s goalless at the Etihad and Liverpool are winning 2-0, things are going to get edgy," while lead commentator Arlo White was sure to mention the dramatic denouement of the 2012 title race that Manchester City won in injury time.  In a similar scenario, NBC are prepared to show split-screen coverage of the final moments of the City/Liverpool games should the title still be in the balance, though Sunderland's midweek victory over West Brom means that with all three relegation places settled before the final day, there will be little other reason than novelty to have fans channel-hopping beyond the top two sides on Sunday morning.  But novelty or not (and to be fair, the network's coverage has been widely hailed as very credible as well as thorough – especially when compared to the high wire act that is Fox's ongoing attempt to Henry-Higgins basketball announcer Gus Johnson into their lead soccer man) it's a phenomenon unprecedented in coverage of the league in the US. And of course, given the rights restrictions in the UK, the blanket coverage is far in excess of what English fans can legally watch of their own league.  The take-up has been impressive too – the 30.5 million viewers this season more than doubling the 13.5 million who watched the last year under the ESPN/Fox deal, and average viewership per NBC/NBCSN game doubling to 440,000. The network also hit the 750,000 average viewer mark in over 15 games this year – a level not reached at all last season.  The digital component is important too. The network has also offered an ambitious free streaming service for its NBCSN subscribers – and claim to have streamed 245m minutes of live Premier League action this season.  With the network also confirming an extension of their deal with the Olympics until 2032, the mood at NBC is understandably bullish right now, though ESPN, mindful of the immediate opportunity that follows this weekend, have also been vocal this week in pushing their forthcoming World Cup coverage. And while MLS rights might be regarded as a rather limited consolation for missing out on Premier League rights, the league's marketing link to the national federation via Soccer United Marketing, has given the domestic league some leverage as they seek to finalise their own rights deal this year in conjunction with the national team. The healthy viewing figures drawn by the US national team mean that ESPN are believed to be very close to what may be a surprisingly big deal, to some observers, for those MLS and USMNT rights.  NBC, with their focus now firmly elsewhere, have been dutifully trailing MLS games in and around their Premier League coverage, but in truth, once they had secured the main prize last year, their enthusiasm for the domestic league seemed markedly diminished.  While ESPN's enthusiasm may not be significantly greater, the exponential boom in TV coverage of the sport in the US, and the land grabs by NBC (Premier League) and beIN (La Liga, Serie A, Ligue 1) have left more established soccer-covering networks such as ESPN and Fox looking for footholds. For Fox, the UEFA Champions League and the deal for the next World Cup have provided some focus, while ESPN will be looking to develop the MLS/national team coverage that they will now have a clearer run at, and also building on the burgeoning Hispanic audience with their Liga MX coverage. The US soccer TV scene is getting crowded, but nobody's looking to leave the party any time soon.
Graham Parker: NBC promise blanket coverage of final Premier League weekend, as an increasingly crowded US soccer TV field jostle for position