ESPN won't have Cup qualifier SOCCER

MEXICO CITY - MARCH 27: Eddie Lewis #7 of the USA tangles with Salvador Carmona #18 of Mexico in the second half during their 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying match on March 27, 2005 at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, Mexico. Lewis scored the lone goal for USA in the 2-1 loss to Mexico. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images) less MEXICO CITY - MARCH 27: Eddie Lewis #7 of the USA tangles with Salvador Carmona #18 of Mexico in the second half during their 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying match on March 27, 2005 at Estadio Azteca in Mexico ... more Photo: Brian Bahr, Getty Images Photo: Brian Bahr, Getty Images Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close ESPN won't have Cup qualifier 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

If you want an English broadcast of the U.S.-Mexico World Cup soccer qualifier on Aug. 12, it's not going to be as easy as flipping on ESPN.

Whether you have Comcast, Dish Network or DirecTV, you'll probably have to buy a Latino programming package for the month of August and then cancel it.

The snafu comes at a time of heightened interest in the U.S. team, an increase that has helped fuel antagonism between Telemundo and ESPN.

Telemundo, which holds the rights to the Mexican national team's home games, announced Monday that it will broadcast the 1 p.m. game from Mexico City's Azteca Stadium in Spanish on its main channel and in English on mun2 ("mun-dos"), an English-language channel geared toward young Latinos in the United States.

According to Nielsen Media Research, mun2 is currently in 31 million homes, about half the coverage of Telemundo. In the Bay Area, mun2 is found on Channel 607 on Comcast, 410 on DirecTV and 838 on Dish Network.

An informed source said ESPN wanted to buy the English-language rights, but Telemundo set a price "way higher than reasonable."

During World Cup qualifying in 2001 and '05, the same situation occurred, but ESPN was able to negotiate for the English rights to the U.S.-Mexico qualifier. The difference then was that the U.S. Soccer Federation was a partner with both Telemundo and ESPN.

In 2007, U.S. Soccer switched to another Spanish-language network, Univision. In retaliation, the source said, Telemundo played hardball in the English-language negotiations.

Telemundo spokesman Alfredo Richard wouldn't discuss negotiations with ESPN or any other broadcaster. "We've had the rights to this game for a while," he said. "We're going with the strategy of broadcasting it on our platforms."

Telemundo's parent company is NBC Universal, but Richard said there are no plans "at this time" to broadcast the game on an NBC outlet such as USA Network or Bravo.

ESPN spokesman Mac Nwulu declined to comment on the network's failure to land the rights.

U.S. Soccer spokesman Neil Buethe wouldn't discuss the negotiations either. "With every game, our objective is to provide the broadcast to the widest audience possible, both in English and Spanish," he said. "We don't have the rights to televise this match, nor do our partners at ESPN."

Fans also might watch the game at a sports bar or on an Internet feed.