We'll be in Lisbon next week - staying in an apartment that has cable TV. Can someone confirm that we'll be able to see the Formula 1 race on Sunday on Portuguese cable TV? My husband NEVER misses a race and is very concerned that he might not be able to watch the first race of the season. Can someone put his mind at rest?
Thanks!
When I have been there previously it always been shown, it will be a stupid hour in the morning and they may show later rather than live
The Portuguese channel that will show the race lively is Sport TV1 so verify if it's included in the cable TV package of your apartment.
Thanks to both of you. It's the fact that it'll be a stupid hour that's worrying him i.e. that sports bars won't be an alternative at that time (I could tell you stories about the lengths we've had to go to in the past to be able to watch the race whilst travelling....) I'll contact the apartment owner.
Sport TV is a pack of paid channels. Not all cable TV contracts have the sport TV channels , as it's necessary to pay an extra fee. Usually sports bars and normal cafes have Sport TV but they are closed when both the Australian and the Malasian grand prixs take place - about between 6 and 8:00 am. It's stupid hours for us but it's not for the far-east. Europe is not the only place in the world with people keen to watch F1 nowadays. This if your husband wants to see it alive.
Some hotels, many of them actually, have Sport TV in their bar rooms, so what you can do as soon as you arrive to Lisbon is to browse as many hotels as you can to ask if you can come at late night to see the race. Even if the hotel has its bar closed, they might let you stay there if they have sport TV and keep the TV on.
During the sunday day, the grand prix is repeated in Sport TV 4 at 1pm.
Sport TV also transmits sports such as rugby, golf, surf, American football (not played in Portugal), ice hockey (also not played) as well as some stupid things such as that American fake wrestling that nobody watches (...ooops opinion)
Get a Slingbox?
Better yet - start getting him used to the idea that in spite of your best efforts, he may end up missing one race. This will avert the potential for disappointment should it just not work out. Remind him that he'll be missing the race while spending quality time with his wife in Portugal, and that perhaps the cable TV package provided should not be the determining factor in choosing a place to stay.
I'm the biggest San Francisco Giants fan in the world and I'll be missing 18 games while I'm in Portugal. Will I think about it even once? Probably not... But if it's really that huge of a deal, spend the hundred bucks on a Slingbox and be done with it.
Edited by: GIANTSteps