Soccer without the stadium: How in-studio broadcasts are damaging the viewing experience

It’s a subtle shift that many fans have started to notice — the voices calling soccer matches no longer sound quite as connected to the action. That’s because, increasingly, they aren’t.

Across major networks like FOX, CBS, and even international broadcasters such as Sky Sports and DAZN, more and more live soccer matches are being called from studios rather than the stadiums themselves.

For networks, it’s a cost-cutting measure. For viewers, it’s changing the way the game feels, and not for the better.

In the past few years, remote production has quietly become the default setting for many soccer broadcasts. FOX calls multiple international friendlies and even portions of major tournaments from Los Angeles.

CBS’s coverage of UEFA competitions has at times relied on announcers in London or New York rather than on-site teams. Even TNT Sports in the U.K. and DAZN’s European feeds have used “off-tube” commentary for lower-profile matches.

Back in 2018, FOX Sports Executive Producer David Neal claimed that calling soccer games off of a monitor instead in-person is “standard in the sport.”

“Over half of the matches in America on a global basis in any given year are called off-tube (from monitors not at the stadium),” he said. “To me, it is a non-story. In soccer, it is standard procedure to do matches off-tube.”

From a financial standpoint, the move is understandable. Flying crews and commentators around the world for dozens of fixtures every week is expensive. Centralizing production allows broadcasters to cover more games across more competitions with fewer resources.

But as the cost savings rise, something else is being lost — authenticity.

There’s a reason the great voices in soccer broadcasting. The recognizable narrators of the sport, like Martin Tyler to Andrés Cantor, always emphasize the importance of “feeling” the game.

When commentators are in the stadium, they’re not just describing what they see on a monitor. They’re reacting to the rhythm of the match, the hum of the crowd, the touchline exchanges, and the emotional swings that define any live sport.

Studio calls strip that away. A commentator working from a screen can’t sense the crowd growing restless before a substitution, or feel the roar that accompanies a stoppage-time winner. The result is a flatter broadcast. One that may be technically clean, but certainly emotionally muted.

Fans notice. The cadence is off, the reactions delayed, the descriptions a little too reliant on replays instead of instinct. And for a sport that thrives on atmosphere, that detachment is obvious.

This isn’t just about broadcast aesthetics. It’s about how fans connect with the game. In countries where soccer is still battling for mainstream cultural space, the television experience plays a massive role in how the sport grows.

When networks invest in the matchday experience, like showing the noise, color, and chaos of a live venue, it helps turn casual viewers into lifelong supporters. But when broadcasts feel sterile, that sense of connection fades. New fans don’t feel the same pull.

Players and coaches, too, lose the immediacy of postgame interviews or spontaneous sideline moments that only happen when media are present on-site. It becomes harder for the sport to tell its own stories.

The irony is that the short-term savings might be costing the sport long-term growth. When soccer matches are treated as remote assignments rather than live events, it sends a subtle message: that the product doesn’t merit the same level of care as other major sports.

Compare that to the coverage of the NFL, NBA, or even college football — where commentators are almost always in the building, soaking in every moment. The difference in energy and intimacy is stark. Soccer deserves the same treatment.

Remote commentary will likely remain a part of the modern broadcasting landscape, especially for lower-tier matches or overflow coverage. But for flagship games, such as international tournaments, continental competitions, and top-flight fixtures, fans deserve more than a studio narration.

The game is built on emotion, community, and shared experience. You can’t feel that through a monitor in Los Angeles or London. To truly grow soccer’s footprint, broadcasters have to invest not just in rights, but in presence.

Because when the people calling the game aren’t there to feel it, the audience can’t either.