Controversy on TV in the final between River and Estudiantes: after the clashes on Star+, the AFA considers starting legal action

THE Argentina Super Cup disputed between River and students in Córdoba he will be remembered for Rodrigo Aliendro’s goal on the hour mark and for Martín Demichelis’s crazy celebration, but also for a circumstance that everyone, fans and non-fans, who wanted to enjoy the final on television, suffered. A controversy that is already in the hands of lawyers and that involves ESPNyour streaming platform Star+the company SA Tournaments and the AFA.

When, a couple of days before the final, ESPN announced that it would be seen exclusively on Star+, Torneos SA, which markets the audiovisual rights, issued a statement warning that its deal with the American-born sports network was for the same scope was broadcast by “linear signals available from cable operators”.

That is, Torneos demanded that ESPN not broadcast the final through its streaming signal, but rather do so through one of its traditional channels, the broadcast ones (such as ESPN, ESPN 2 and others) or ESPN Premium, through which they broadcast those acquired in the so-called Football Package. This happened on Tuesday afternoon, almost 24 hours before the Kempes duel.

There was no response from ESPN, but rather the position was to continue promoting the event. “exclusively on Star+”phrase that was repeated insistently by the videographers and by each of the hosts and speakers who alternated in the time grid.

In the midst of the uncertainty of that same Wednesday in which no one knew where the match would go, the Tournaments seemed resigned but warned that the episode would certainly have consequences in the legal departments. The AFA tried to intervene until the last minute so that the match could be seen on cable, and The next day he cut pitches against ESPN launching a statement announcing what could be a war over the negotiation of television rights. Clarín, for his part, consulted Torneos SA and the company limited itself to responding “The matter is in the hands of the Legal Department”.

The pixelated and glitchy game

Despite the comings and goings, a game was being played and many people wanted to see it and didn’t know where or how. There were also those who suffered from the failures of the Internet, frozen or pixelated images, some connections dropped due to rain and disastrous “lag” which means that the radio broadcast (the always efficient radio) arrives one to two minutes earlier, with what this means for every football fan.

Social networks have been the epicenter of popular annoyance, who went from surprise at not having seen the match to anger at the shortcomings of the service. A real shame because the one experienced in Cordoba, with both fans, was a show that had almost no defects on an organizational level.

In the United States something similar happened with the NFL: lPeople protested when they learned that a playoff game would be televised Peacock, a streaming platform that belongs to the NBC network, which in turn holds part of the television rights to the championship. The “subtle” difference is that the contract was public, had been signed seven months earlier and in exchange for 100 million dollars, and included as a clause that the match in question would be seen on traditional cable TV in cities where both teams would travel. belonged. LThe broadcast had a record audience, with 27 million viewers. The advantage of doing things well.

The Argentine Super Cup passed and River added another star, and not really another star.

The AFA statement against ESPN