Cecil Rhodes once said “to be born English is to win first prize in the lottery of life.” I know this because Ricky Gervais said it at the beginning of “The Rickey Gervais Guide to… The English.” Today, being born a English probably isn’t as great as it once was, but it does mean you’re able to watch Sky Sports’ coverage of the Premier League. And, starting in the fall, people in the UK and the Republic of Ireland—not that a Scot or a Welshman are English, mind you, but I needed a flashy opening—will be able to watch Sky content on their Xbox 360. That’s really, really great.
The deal was just announced, and it will, again, let people in the UK and Ireland watch live Sky content, including Premier League football, on their Xbox 360. All you’d need is an Xbox 360; no set-top box required! (That said, current subscribers may get a discount if they choose to add Xbox 360 service.)
That you’ll even be able to watch Sky with your little avatar friends, à la Xbox Live party mode, ain’t too shabby, either.
As for video quality, Sky says it’ll be “DVD quality,” and that you’ll need at least a 1 megabits/s Internet connection.
I’m trying to think of a U.S. parallel, but the only thing I can think of is ESPN, but if ESPN did things in addition to sports coverage. Imagine being able to watch The Big Game without having to have a Comcast cable TV subscription; you download all your TV from Usenet anyway! All you’d need is a broadband connection—which, sure, that can be from Comcast—and an Xbox 360, and you’d be able to watch sports to your heart’s content.
It’s a pretty big deal, in other words.
Revista de la Liga is the best show on TV.