Not for me it didn't. I could look around on UNation and watch any game I wanted with no registration or logins. They streamed USL Pro, W-League, and even some PDL. Pretty handy for the league. It was mandated that all teams webstream too. Teams got fined for their streaming if they didn't do certain things (announce advertisers, etc.). Agree 100%. I know some MLS teams have streamed on YouTube before too -- watched some SKC and Crew on the site. MLS should help market it now too. They should continuously have a "Watch Now" section on their frontpage. There should also be an archive section where you can watch anything. In today's soccer age, there is no reason why every professional (MLS, NASL, USL Pro) and amateur (PDL, NPSL, and most colleges) should not be webcasting their games (and most of it free).
Just don't understand why tickets cost money, scarves cost money, beer costs money, jerseys cost money, t-shirts cost money, cable TV costs money, satellite TV costs money, gas costs money, nachos cost money, hot dogs cost money, yet streaming of games just has to be free as if it costs no one anything to produce. Or as if that alone, among all consumer goods and services, has no value.
....because the demographic that is most likely to watch any type of streming media has been stealing stuff since the internet was created. They feel it's their right to get it for free.
...or the fact that advertising can pay for this. It's not hard to stream for free. I have been apart of 3 organizations that have streamed everything 100% free -- all dealing with athletics too. We do it as a way of getting our product out there. I am currently apart of an institution that is required to stream EVERY athletic event by conference policy. It's not that hard to do. We do it with 1 camera and 1 announcer (sometimes). I'm not saying professional teams need to do it this exact same way. The professional team I was a member of that we streamed for, had 7 members that all streamed through someone's personal WiFi network on their phone. It's simple.
Here's how the streaming situation looks so far for the USL Pro teams: Orlando City: I'll let someone else comment on our commentary. The camera angles are very odd; the director loves using angles from the ends, especially looking from the South End. Raw stream quality (720p) is very good, which is to be expected since we have the ESPN Innovation Lab at our disposal. LA Galaxy II: They've actually used different graphics packages in different home games. Video quality is good, but so far video and audio have been off-sync. Video was ahead in the home game against OKC 4/7, but audio was ahead in the home game 4/13 against Sacramento. Charlotte Eagles: Audio quality leaves alot to be desired. It's not the YouTube feed's fault; it's a 1080p feed. They still use an SD camera, too. You get interlacing artifacts when you increase the player size. Orange County Blues: Their video is quite good at 720p, audio crystal clear (though it's the same commentator as before, take that for what you will). Arizona United: They turned the feed on about 90 minutes before kickoff. Unfortunately, the feed was only 240p (qVGA). Dayton Dutch Lions: 360p, but widescreen. Charleston Battery: 480p, but widescreen. They're doing things the way they've always done it, which isn't bad, but they could probably use an HD camera upgrade. Richmond Kickers: Feed is 720p. Not sure if the camera quality is quite that high, but it's not bad, and audio is in sync. Wilmington Hammerheads: 720p feed. Good video quality, though a bit choppy at times. Pittsburgh Riverhounds: I'll tell you when they turn off the live feed from Saturday night's match and actually post the replay...
I watched the Dayton - Rochester match on Friday. It was really hard to pick out the ball for a good portion of the match. The stream also jumped a bit. The way that field sits, with the setting sun will create lots of pretty bad 1st half of matches to watch. Just the way the sun drops right into the live of sight of the camera.
Good thing is, only two more matches at that venue. I've never had any issues with a DDL stream though.
I tried to watch the Dayton game last friday but it was basically unwatchable with severe lag, very low quality and not worth the time or frustration. The OC Blues vs Energy game I watched the week previous had good visual clarity and only slight lag - one camera only though.
Tell that to your cable or satellite company. One camera isn't a terrible thing, so long as it's a good viewing angle.
The video quality for the Riverhounds replay is good and I believe 720p. No audio though and obviously no stream at the time. I talked to the video guy before the match and they were having a lot of problems outside of their control with equipment showing up late and some of it just flat out not working. Seemed like he was having a rough night well before the game even started. It should be better (and have an actual stream) for the next home game. From what I understand Orlando uses the odd camera angles because the awnings over some of the stands tend to get in the way.
The awnings that are present are actually the permanent stands at that field. But yeah, that makes sense. I doubt someone's gonna mount a more traditional high-angle camera just for a single season.
I thought I saw during Orlando's second home game they had a high angle camera on a scissor lift or something. Did that not work out?
OKC's feet got jittery at times. Raw video quality was good, and 720p. They could use a more discrete score bug, though. Also, their director loves lingering on surface shots, and needs to switch off from the transitioned cuts to more instant cuts. Sacto needs to mute their replay feed. I could hear the sound on the replay slow and speed up as they were shuttling through it. There was also at least one point where they cut to a replay during the course of play. They could also use a more discrete score bug. Also a 720p feed. Rochester... THEY JUST DIDN'T CARE!!! Their encoding is still at standard def, even though the feed itself is 720p.
As a Rhino fan, this statement is too true in so many aspects. I hope this season is the start of the rebirth.
The biggest thing I've seen through the different broadcasts so far this year (haven't seen them from everyone, but most) is trying to be too complex at times. This is especially true in terms of camera angles. There are many moments where the camera changes to a zoomed shot for little apparent reason, and the ball is then offscreen for a few seconds. I can deal with glare or other environmental issues, but things like the camera switching are jarring as a viewer. Still far better than the nothing that we had for years and years though.
The Arizona game had that kind of camera action on their stream on the weekend - they continually changed the cameras, some were bright and others showed dark video, irritating, but the clarity was good.
Dear Orlando announcers, You are not funny. Please stop trying, you do well enough when you just focus on the game.
Arizona has upped their feed. They are now 720p. They positioned the HD camera on the opposite side as well, which means instead of seeing the crowd, we see the berms on the opposite side. It's mute through about the 4th minute, then they adjust the audio up from there. But the PBP is always on a softer feed than the color guy.
[QUOTE="Rochester... THEY JUST DIDN'T CARE!!! Their encoding is still at standard def, even though the feed itself is 720p.[/QUOTE] That is too bad because from what I have seen again this year, Rochester's Play-By-Play announcer is very good.
At least with you tube it is free and available to a worldwide audience whole match live or on demand unlike the nasl . I think the nasl would have been better served streaming on you tube as well.