An open letter to beIN Sports

Dear beIN Sports,

You should be ashamed of yourself. As the sole American network that has rights to the EFL Championship, you have a duty to your consumers to show the best matches to the subscribers who shell out their hard-earned money to buy your service. And to be honest, the decision to not televise the Play-Off match between Fulham and Reading on May 13 is a disgrace.

In case you don't know (and it's clear your network’s knowledge of soccer is next to nothing) the Play-Offs are one of the most exciting and meaningful matches in all of English football. It pits the teams who finished between 3-6 in the league against each other in a four team tournament of sorts for a chance to compete in the Premier League, the top flight of English soccer. The Play-Offs, which culminate in the final at Wembley, have been called the “richest match in football” due to the financial incentive of playing in the Premier League.

It is clear to all who have an iota of knowledge about sports that the Championship Play-Offs are an enthralling affair, full with excitement and drama; the perfect ingredients to a great TV event. Yet your network has laughably decided to schedule the match not live on beIN Sports USA, but instead on beIN sports 4. That's right. Not even beIN Sports 2, nor beIn sports 3, but beIN Sports 4. It's embarrassing how low this match ranks on the totem pole.

And what colossal sporting event, you may ask, is demoting the Playoff semifinals to beIN Sports 4? Is it Real Madrid versus Barcelona? Is it the Super Bowl? Is it the World Cup Final? The answer would be no to all of those: it is the massive, blockbuster sporting event that is the FIM World Superbike Championship.

Seriously. A motorcycle race. BeIN Sports clearly cares more about grown men racing their motorized bikes than it cares about one of the most important matches of the Championship season. And that is a truly depressing fact.

Sadly this is not the first time the appalling channel that is beIN sports has let down Fulham supporters. Just a few short weeks ago, the beIN “90 in 60” highlight segment promised to show the Fulham Aston Villa match. Instead, to many Fulham supporters dismay, the Newcastle Ipswich match was shown instead.

However, the decision to not show the first leg of Fulham’s Play-Off semifinal live on beIN Sports is a new low. New has arisen that match will be available to stream; but does such a pivotal match really deserve to be relegated to the obscurities of the beIN Sports website? The Play-Off semifinal should be televised: it’s what Fulham and Reading’s American fans deserve.

Sincerely,

Fulham’s American supporters