Pablo Says Fox Keeps Alexi Lalas on Air as 1 Polarizing Voice Drives Soccer Debate
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Jun 25
Pablo Says Fox Keeps Alexi Lalas on Air as 1 Polarizing Voice Drives Soccer Debate
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jun 25
Summary
Pablo said Alexi Lalas’s on-air persona has fueled increasingly hyperbolic debate around his role in American soccer commentary, with many viewers treating him as partly a character act.
Fox still benefits from that reaction, Pablo said, because Lalas keeps people talking and the network is aware of the intensely negative response he can provoke.
Pablo added he has not found Lalas especially bad to watch this summer, arguing Zlatan has been the weaker studio presence instead.
U.S. viewers unhappy with Fox’s coverage still have an alternative during matches by switching to Telemundo’s Spanish-language broadcast.