STL All Sports

ABC and ESPN have acquired the rights from Soccer United Marketing (SUM). SUM had paid $40 million for the rights to the 2002 and 2006 World Cups.

The big news is that every game will be carried live in the united states on either ABC, ESPN or ESPN. Additionally, the games will be broadcast in HD (high-definition). ABC/ESPN said that at least 20 HD cameras will be at each game.

Announcers are a different question, while ABC/ESPN said their announces will broadcast some of their games on location, a few will do it remotely from the states.

There is a six hour time difference between Germany, the host of the 2006 games, and the United States east coast. This should eliminate many of the early morning/late night games that were experienced during the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan. The time difference for the 2002 World Cup was 13 hours.

The 2002 World Cup saw a sizeable audience in the United States as the 2002 World Cup finals pulled in almost 3 million viewers.