Live Bundesliga Soccer Premieres on U.S. Broadcast Television This Saturday on FOX
The Bundesliga, Germany’s top professional soccer league, takes another giant step forward this weekend and next as FOX Sports airs the league’s first live matches ever on U.S. broadcast television, Saturday, Jan. 30 and Saturday, Feb. 6 on FOX. Pregame coverage on both days kicks off at 12:00 PM ET, followed by match coverage at 12:30 PM ET. The Jan. 30 game, the first of eight live Bundesliga matches on FOX broadcast network between now and May, pits Hamburg against Stuttgart. The Feb. 6 match features league leaders Bayern Munich against Bayer Leverkusen. FOX Sports’ play-by-play announcer John Strong and analyst Stuart Holden call both matches.
The Hamburg-Stuttgart match is expected to be a highly entertaining encounter. The last time these two teams met Hamburg won 3-2 in thrilling fashion on a last-minute goal. The following weekend, defending champion Bayern Munich must face a top-five club in Bayer Leverkusen featuring superstar Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez.
Bundesliga veterans in their playing days, host Ian Joy, analysts Eric Wynalda, Jovan Kirovski plus U.S. Soccer Hall of Famer Alexi Lalas provide pregame, halftime and postgame commentary this Saturday. Thomas Hitzlsperger, former star German midfielder who won a Bundesliga title in 2007, joins the studio rotation next week.
FOX Sports and FOX Deportes offer ten additional Bundesliga matches this weekend and next, and all are available via FOX Sports GO, FOX Soccer 2Go and FOXSportsGO.com. See below for complete schedule and broadcaster assignments.
FA Cup Returns
European giants also take center stage on FOX Sports this weekend, as the English Premier League shuts down and the FA Cup resumes with fourth round matches on FS1, FS2, FOX Soccer Plus and FOX Deportes. The FA Cup, the world’s oldest soccer competition and England’s main domestic cup tournament, has 32 teams remaining with many potential “giant-killers” still alive. On Friday, Jan. 29, a struggling Manchester United travels to face Derby County, while Arsenal continues its quest for a third-consecutive FA Cup trophy hosting Burnley FC on Saturday, Jan. 30. Both matches are televised on FS1 and FOX Deportes, and all televised games are available via FOX Sports GO, FOX Soccer 2Go and online at FOXSportsGO.com.
Joy hosts FA Cup Match Day coverage alongside Wynalda and former Newcastle defender Warren Barton on Friday. Rob Stone jumps in on Saturday with Barton, Lalas and Wynalda. The cast with Joy returns on Sunday with Holden at the desk. On the Spanish-language side, world-renowned soccer star Claudio Suarez joins forces with Troy Santiago for Derby County-Manchester United on Friday. On Saturday, Francisco X. Rivera and Jairo Moncada call the Colchester United-Tottenham match and Ariel Torrone teams up with Alvaro Izquierdo for Arsenal-Burnley.
