GolTV’s contract to show La Liga matches in the United States ends this season, but the big question is whether GolTV or another broadcaster will pick up the rights for next season.

La Liga Talk received an anonymous rumor this week stating that GolTV has entered a bid to renew the TV rights but MediaPro, a communications company, is unhappy with the bid from GolTV. The bid is allegedly a lot less than when GolTV bid last time.

If GolTV isn’t able to win the bid for next season, maybe Fox Soccer Channel would be interested since there’s a good chance they may lose the Premier League TV rights to ESPN and/or Setanta when bidding closes within the next two months.

La Liga Talk got a rare glimpse behind the scenes at GolTV studios in Miami recently to witness what goes into producing live matches that are shown on U.S. television.

The following video features an interview with GolTV commentator Ray Hudson as well as rare footage of Hudson and fellow commentator Phil Schoen in a soundproof room calling a live game (featuring Real Madrid against Malaga) as well as footage from the studio and video of the Spanish speaking commentators calling the game in their native tongue from the adjoining studio.

Enjoy the video:

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If you want to watch more of Ray Hudson, visit Major League Soccer Talk for another exclusive interview.

As of August 1, GolTV – the 24/7 soccer network – has been removed from DISH Network due to a contract dispute.

According to GolTV, “this occurs despite efforts to continue GolTV’s availability to Dish customers.” DISH Network, in retort, inserted this message when you hit the INFO button where GolTV’s channel used to be: “GolTV has removed this channel after asking for unreasonable terms to renew the contract and we’re working to solve the problem.”

In the meantime, DISH Network is offering free previews of both Setanta Sports and Fox Sports Espanol to its customers. However, even if DISH Network customers subscribed to Setanta and Fox Sports Espanol, that won’t replace the void that’s left with GolTV gone because GolTV has exclusive license rights in the United States to La Liga and Bundesliga, as well as many 2010 World Cup qualifiers and this weekend’s Emirates Cup featuring Real Madrid, Hamburg, Juventus and Arsenal.

For DISH Network, the decision to remove GolTV is idiotic. Hopefully this a short-term disagreement between GolTV and DISH Network that will be resolved soon, but the timing couldn’t be worse and soccer fans will want to make a decision soon whether to leave DISH Network before the new seasons begin. My gut instinct says that this issue won’t be resolved soon especially when GolTV tells readers on its homepage that “You can find GolTV on our current distribution partners,” which includes DirecTV.

If you love GolTV, my recommendation would be to simply cancel your DISH Network subscription and move to DirecTV where you get GolTV there instead. If you’re upset about the situtation, vote with your dollars by leaving DISH but don’t forget to send them an e-mail too to let them know why you’re cancelling and moving to their biggest competitor.

DISH Network can be contacted here.