Tottenham vs. Palace to be broadcast on NBCSN in USA

Last week we wrote about the ludicrous situation in which next Wednesday’s match between Tottenham Hotspur and Crystal Palace, the first Premier League match in the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, is not scheduled to be televised anywhere in the United Kingdom. That is, to the best of my knowledge, still the case — Sky Sports is opting to show the opening ceremony at Spurs’ new ground before switching to broadcast Manchester City vs. Cardiff, while BT Sports does not have the rights to show that particular Spurs game.

It’s incredibly stupid, and in that article I got up on my extremely high, 100% American thoroughbred horse to opine how there’s NO WAY that NBC, who owns the rights to broadcast the Premier League in the States, would shunt this match over to its premium streaming service, NBC Gold.

Well, it turns out I was right. (Whew!) A quick check of NBC’s broadcast schedule, and with confirmation from TV Guide, shows that Spurs vs. Palace will be broadcast on NBC Sports Network on Wednesday, with a kick-off at 2:45 p.m. ET.

However, as of a few days ago, this wasn’t the case. While the NBC schedule hadn’t been officially posted, TV Guide had shown the City-Cardiff match on NBCSN on April 3 as late as last weekend. I don’t know when the decision was made to switch the match coverage, but I’m extremely glad that it was. We’re all biased, non-objective Tottenham Hotspur fans, but considering how gorgeous as that new stadium is it would be a crying shame if the historic first match in that new ground weren’t available for American audiences to see for free.†

It’s worth noting that while Sky Sports is planning on broadcasting the opening ceremony from Spurs’ new ground, it doesn’t appear that NBC will be doing that — they have a half hour blocked on NBCSN for pre-match coverage, but I’d be surprised if that isn’t used more for the usual pre-match discussion.

So sorry, England. You probably deserve to see this on the telly more than we do, but I’m super glad that I don’t have to eat crow and pony up for NBC Gold, and that I’ll get to be able to watch it.

Later. Y’know, on DVR when I get home from work. Stupid mid-week match.

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† — Free as in “paying for a cable or streaming package that includes NBCSN”