Football’s governing body in the United States, the US Soccer Federation, has criticised the decision to make the national team’s 2014 Fifa World Cup qualifier against Guatemala on June 12 available on pay-per-view television only.
The Traffic Sports USA agency acquired the rights to the game from Guatemalan football’s governing body, the Federacion Nacional de Futbol de Guatemala, and announced an agreement on Friday with PPV and closed circuit distributor Integrated Sports Media. Under the agreement, the game will be available on a PPV basis on the pay-television broadcasters DirecTV and the Dish Network, with a suggested retail price of $29.95 (€23).
“The pay-per-view route is definitely not our preference,” USSF spokesman Neil Buethe said, according to the Associated Press.
Doug Jacobs, president of Integrated, estimated the number of buys for the game would be “many thousands” and said the PPV approach to the match is a better alternative to distributing it on a closed circuit basis. The United States’ 3-2 win at Honduras in October 2009, the win that sealed the team’s place at the 2010 World Cup, was broadcast in the US only on closed circuit.
“What’s good for the sport, that’s US Soccer’s agenda,” Jacobs said. “We’re a private business. I’m a football fan, and the alternative was a lot worse. It could have been as it was in 2009, closed circuit. It’s the lesser of two evils.”