BeIN Sports (American TV channel)
BeIN Sports USA is an American pay television sports channel that launched on August 16, 2012. It is part of the BeIN Sports family of channels, a subsidiary of the Qatari-based BeIN Media Group.
BeIN Sports USA primarily airs soccer; featuring coverage of Ligue 1, along with other leagues in Europe. The channel also airs rugby, auto racing, handball, motorcycle racing, tennis and volleyball. A companion network, beIN Sports en Español, carries simulcasts or alternate programming primarily in Spanish, with both networks offering secondary Spanish or English commentary via the second audio program option.
As of December 2023, BeIN Sports is available in 8.97 million households in the United States that subscribe to a pay television service, while beIN Sports en Español is available in 6.152 million.
History
BeIN Sports launched via DirecTV on August 16, 2012, coinciding with the start of the European soccer leagues 2012–13 season. The network would later launch on Dish Network the following day, Comcast on September 6, 2012 and Verizon FiOS in March 2013.In 2016, BeIN Sports reached a deal with Conference USA to carry select football, basketball, baseball and softball games. This agreement ended after the 2018-19 season and was not renewed. Also in 2016, BeIN Sports began showing matches from the North [American Soccer League (2011–2017)|North American Soccer League].
In August 2018, several major television providers dropped the network; including AT&T, Verizon Fios and Xfinity.
In October 2018, the WTA Tour returned its broadcast rights back to Tennis Channel. Its contract with BeIN Sports was criticized by fans for limiting the reach of its events due to inconsistent and intermittent scheduling and declining carriage.
Based on numbers from Nielsen, beIN Sports was ranked as the lowest-rated broadcast or cable network in the United States in 2021 based on total viewers, with a 40% decline year-over-year.
Programming
Current
European soccer
- France: Ligue 1, Ligue 2, Trophée des Champions
- Turkey: Süper Lig
- Portugal: Taça de Portugal
- Poland: Ekstraklasa
South American soccer
African soccer
North American soccer
- El Salvador: Primera División
Basketball
- Canada: Basketball Super League
- Mexico: CIBACOPA
Talk/Debate Show (in Spanish only)
- Xtra Time
Professional wrestling
Combat sports
Former
European soccer
- Spain: Copa del Rey
- France: Coupe de la Ligue, Coupe de France
- Sweden: Swedish Cup
- Spain: La Liga 2012–2021
- Italy: Serie A 2012–2017
- England: EFL Cup 2012–2015
- Austria: ÖFB Cup
Basketball
- Europe: Basketball Champions League
Handball
Professional Wrestling
Motorsports
- MotoAmerica
- FIA World Rallycross Championship (WRX)
- SBK Superbike 2012–2018
- W Series
- World Touring Car Cup
- FIM Speedway Grand Prix
Tennis
Gaelic games
Commentators
Effective January 22, 2024, beIN Sports USA/Canada talent in English and Spanish are based at MEDIAPRO Mexico studio in Mexico City, Mexico unless otherwise indicated below. Most talent who were based at MEDIAPRO US studio in Miami, Florida, US were released as of January 31, 2024.Hosts
English:- Ramón Barrenechea
- Rodrigo del Campo
- Daniel Noriega
- Carlos Reynoso
- Claudia García
- Daniela Noguéz
- Ramón Barrenechea
- Rodrigo del Campo
- Rafael Gómez
Play-by-Play
English:- Ramón Barrenechea
- Rodrigo Del Campo
- Carlos Reynoso
- Oscar Francisco Cano
- Fernando Cevallos
- Andrés Terán
- Angel Jiménez
- Xavier Sol
- Ramón Barrenechea
- Ángel Quirarte
- Diego Beltrán Ramírez
- Esteban Cristancho Medina
- Luis Mario Sauret
Match Analysts / Studio Pundits
Spanish:- Oscar Francisco Cano
- Fernando Cevallos
- Andrés Terán
- Armando Melgar
- Rodrigo Del Campo
- Ramón Barrenechea
- Ángel Jiménez
- Rafael Gómez
- Gerardo Velázquez
- Ángel Quirarte
- Diego Beltrán Ramírez
- Esteban Cristancho Medina
- Luis Mario Sauret
BeIN Sports Xtra/en Español
In 2019, BeIN Sports launched BeIN Sports Xtra, a FAST channel extension featuring select free sporting events and related programming. Like the main network, Xtra also has a complementary Spanish service, beIN Sports Xtra en Español .The service is available on FuboTV, Sling TV, Pluto TV, The Roku Channel, Vizio, Redbox, Samsung TV Plus, Fanatiz, Klowd TV and Xumo. Xtra is also carried on over-the-air television stations in select markets.