After All the Hype, World Cup Set to Start

It's here, the day ESPN and all its outlets have been telling us about for months, encouraging us to care -- or at least watch.

According to all official ESPN references, including whenever it's noted in the Bottom Line (that crawl of information across the bottom of your TV set), its the 2010 FIFA World Cup (TM). Yes, ESPN has been religious, or at least required, to even use the little trademark logo in every reference to the event.

ESPN paid $100 million for U.S. rights to the tournament, less than the $325 million Univision paid for rights in Spanish-speaking countries but still a sizable investment. Along with cash, ESPN has tied the launch of ESPN 3D to the tournament, with 25 World Cup games broadcast in 3D during the next month.

Before games begin and regardless of how popular the broadcasts will be, it seems ESPN has done several things correctly. Most notably, ESPN has not tried to force U.S. broadcasters onto games. Instead, people who call the sport regularly and call it well will work the games. Soccer fans want to hear people who know what they're doing and, honestly, casual fans will turn in for the athleticism, and mostly, games featuring the United States -- and they'll only be worried about some nationalistic pride and the score in those instances.

The announcers will also work on site in South Africa, unlike some World Cup games four years ago when announcers called games from studios in the United States while the event itself took place half a world away.

When the U.S. team plays, ESPN should draw good ratings, especially for its opening game, England vs. United States at 2 p.m. Saturday. That game will air on ABC. A weekend timeslot against England should mean all kinds of casual interest.

Still, the World Cup seems a bit like college football recruiting -- at least in terms of how some network officials and soccer supporters want to position it. Many, as usual with the once-every-four-years Cup, believe it can be a "flash point" or "starting point" for some great influx of soccer interest in the United States. Or at least an interest in soccer on TV.

Even if the World Cup draws good ratings -- and it likely will because of changing demographics in the United States and, honestly, overall ratings are typically low enough that a slight increase in viewership will make any ratings boost seem huge -- the impact of the event will not be able to be measured at the end of the summer or next year.

Maybe more soccer will show up on TV at a result of the World Cup, but if the ratings do not hold for international games or the MLS (and that league has never drawn eyeballs on TV), then ESPN, no matter how much it invested in promoting and providing the World Cup this year, will back away for a few years before ramps up the hype machine in advance of the 2014 World Cup.

CBS Plans 3D with LG for Final Four

CBS Sports plans to roll out 3D broadcasts of its events beginning with the Final Four in April.

Network officials announced the move, in partnership with LG Electronics USA and Cinedigm Certified Digital Cinemas.

So, with CBS talent (Dave Ryan/Steve Lappas), LG technology and 100 theaters owned by Cinedigm across the country, some people will be able to watch the national semifinals and national championship game in 3D.

The broadcasts will also be available in Lucas Oil Stadium and at the NCAA's interactive fan event in Indianapolis, Bracket Town.

With ESPN and its partner Sony having already experimented with 3D (for college football and again earlier this month with a Harlem Globetrotters game), and ready to roll out broadcasts with the FIFA World Cup this summer, the CBS-LG partnership represents another logical step -- with a broadcaster and technology source pairing up to address the same challenge.

Not surprisingly, the jockeying to be the first, or at least perceived as the first, with 3D has already started.

“CBS Sports has always been on the forefront of new technology to enhance the viewing experience,” said Ken Aagaard, executive vice president operations and engineering for CBS Sports. “Through our partnership with the NCAA and LG, and the technological innovations of Cinedigm, we are excited to be able to present Men’s Final Four weekend in 3D offering fans an exciting and different way to view a major sporting event.”

The rollout of 3D also allows LG, which LG which introduced the first 3D LCD sets in Korea last year, to preview its entrance into the U.S. consumer electronics market with that technology. The company will be introducing the new feature in a line of 3D-enabled LED HDTVs and Blu-ray Disc players in the United Sates beginning this May.

ESPN2 Broadcast Combines Two Good Things

Hardly anyone will watch, but ESPN2 presents two important things in the same broadcast at 7 tonight -- a slice of some 84-year-old Americana and a practice run for some emerging technology.

The Americana comes in the form of the Harlem Globetrotters, and the game that airs tonight was taped live Thursday against their regular foils, the Washington Generals. Some interesting tweaks come with ESPN Radio hosts Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic as guest coaches for the respective teams, and the entire event gets presented under the Disney Sports banner as the "re-launch" of the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando.

Yes, it's a company show all the way around -- with Disney-owned ESPN presenting the event and its personnel playing big roles.

Still, the Globetrotters and their age-old schtick have proven their time-tested worth in the past on TV. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, they were a mainstay of "Wide World of Sports" presented by ABC Sports and as recently as 2008 the Globetrotters hour-long appearance on the fledgling MyNetworkTV cable channel produced some 2.4 million viewers.

While Globetrotters games are not competitive contests, and some of the related activities and skits have not changed almost since the inception of the barnstorming group, that comfort and familiarity do produce entertainment that has an audience. It would be a huge victory if 2.4 million people watched tonight, though, especially opposite the Olympics.

Mostly, the game provides some necessary programming for ESPN and another forum to hype both Disney World and ESPN the Weekend. In addition, ESPN's Emerging Technology Group used the contest as an another test for ESPN's 3D network, which will be fully launched in June with the start of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Officials expect ESPN 3D, the industry’s first 3D television network, to showcase a minimum of 85 live sporting events during its first year, with the first June 11 when South Africa meets Mexico in the Word Cup. Along with more than 20 World Cup games, the initial 3D schedule includes X Games 16, college basetball and college football -- including the BCS National Championship Game in Glendale, Ariz., on Jan. 10, 2011.

ESPN has been testing 3D for more than two years. Last fall, ESPN presented the USC at Ohio State football game in 3D. It was shown in theaters in the respective markets and on campus, and received generally positive feedback. Since then, ESPN has continually honed its effort and, in January, signed Sony as an official sponsor of the 3D network. As a result, Sony will be the exclusive 3D sponsor of the 2011 BCS National Championship Game, 13 regular season college football games and other events where ESPN will utilize Sony professional HD cameras.