Americans: Vote with your Remotes, Mouse Clicks

With the future of the Setanta Sports network on unsteady ground, Americans' access to rugby union and league is in jeopardy. If you haven't already subscribed to Setanta in the United States, you probably either can't or won't, but this weekend there's an easier way to help out rugby union in the United States.

ESPN, which doesn't exactly air a lot of rugby union, is showing the USA v. Canada World Cup qualifying match this Saturday at 4:00 p.m. Eastern. If you want to see rugby union on television in the United States, you're only part of the solution if you show ESPN why it's worth their time to broadcast it. "They should show rugby on TV," is a comment lament heard in the United States among enthusiasts, but not all of them step up to make it worth the networks' trouble.

Problem is, it's unlikely that ESPN will know you watched the match unless you are in one of the relatively few households that are used to collect ratings data by Nielsen (or some other group). So how else can you tell ESPN that you like seeing rugby union on television?

If you have access to ESPN360 on the Internet, you may want to watch it there to help the most. Only some Internet providers have access to ESPN360, so you may not have the option, but if you do you may want to watch the match online (a few times). Strangely enough, it can be more positive for a television program's success if you watch it online than if you watch it on television because of how Internet viewing is tracked (plus some tendencies preferences associated with the online audience that are attractive to some advertisers). Incidentally, there is plenty of other rugby and rugby league to see on ESPN360 if you have access.

If you can't or won't watch the match online, you can still us the Internet to cast a vote for rugby union. One option is to send a quick comment to ESPN through their online form to let them know that you are glad to have the match on and want to see more. While you're at it, you can take a second to hit the little "recommend" button on the USA Today story about this week's match to show your support for news coverage of rugby as well.

A drop in the bucket, of course, but not a lot of work and better than nothing. Want to see more rugby on American TV? Do something about it!

In the meantime, the Eagles have their work cut out for them. The United States haven't beaten Canada since 2005 and did not finish strong when the sides met last year. While you're waiting for Saturday, have a look at some moments from the 2008 USA-Canada showdown: