Hmm, I just counted twice again and still came up with 38. Here are some other links that confirm the number http://prosoccertalk.nbcsports.com/...s-schedule-means-for-you-the-nbcnbcsn-viewer/ "This season, NBC will have another 41 regular season games (three NBC, 38 NBCSN) brought to you by the same team: Arlo White will be back as the play-by-play man; Kyle Martino will be between the benches; while Ross Thaler will return as your host." http://blog.timesunion.com/sportsmedia/nbc-sports-group-announced-2013-mls-schedule/11568/ "The NBC Sports Group will televise 41 regular-season Major League Soccer games — three on NBC, 38 on NBC Sports Network — beginning Saturday, March 2:" http://blogs.hudsonvalley.com/hudson-valley-sports-tv/2013/01/10/major-league-soccer-tv-schedules/ There will be 38 telecasts on NBC Sports Network, three on NBC, 12 on ESPN2, eight on ESPN and 25 on Spanish-language UniMas (the former TeleFutura).
There's some MLS-created misinformation (or new information) out there, apparently. http://www.mlssoccer.com/schedule?m...357dc43eee9f5e71bf3&form_id=mls_schedule_form That currently looks to list 39 NBCSN regular season MLS games in 2013. http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/artic...l-tv-schedule-includes-87-matches-us-networks That writeup by "MLSsoccer.com Staff" currently has 38 NBCSN regular season MLS games in 2013. But that link/writeup doesn't include the RSL/COL match on 3/16/13 among the NBCSN games. (I think there also is some question around NBC's total coverage of rivalry day. Will it be one NBC broadcast game followed by 3 full match coverages on NBCSN, or only two full matches covered by NBCSN with other "whip-around" the league look-ins and such on NBCSN?)
That was one of two Colorado games that didn't have TV listed with it (either MLS Live or a national network) when the schedule was announced. Maybe they were still working on that game as part of the NBC deal and that's where the confusion came in?
I just hope I dont get the same issue here in Alaska where advertised games were not shown (mostly seattle sounders games)... Cant wait for the season to start
Not sure they could "give up" if they wanted to, within the terms of their contract. More likely than not, a certain number of games in the MLS/SUM contract with NBC/Comcast are required/set to be on OTA each year from 2012-2014. (And for MLS, that appears to be 3 league games per season -- as that was the case for 2012 and looks to be the same for 2013, but who knows what changes might be possible as the season unfolds or within the 2014 schedule.)
Well ABC was supposed to show MLS games when they signed the deal, little by little they stopped, not sure if it was part of the renegotiation or if say a ratings clause in the contract that allowed them to stop if ratings dropped below a level. But we really do not know, so I expect NBC to show games this year and next year, after than (and the next round of contracts) who knows.
That's all I was attempting to say. What happened (a long time ago and initially) with ABC, is likely a somewhat different contractual reality and MLS -- without SUM -- was likely a "weaker" and "less desirable" media partner at the time, relative to the type of contract that MLS/SUM signed with NBC-Comcast to be the "2nd Tier" tv partner for the league just the 2012-2014 period.
No chance they leave Univision/UniMas. Univision is so strong right now that it's essentially network TV and UniMas is #2 among Spanish language broadcasts in the US. Unless they shove the MLS broadcasts into horrible timeslots, the Univision family will keep MLS right for the foreseeable future.
wow, I knew Unimas was big but I did not realize this big. Ignorantly I guess I always assumed Telemundo was #2 behind Univision. That being said if NBCU came in with an all encompassing deal for the next contract for both English and Spanish rights, would you feel Telemundo would be ok?
Of course. I think it might hurt ratings, at least at first, but if the money is there and the networks stay behind the product like they are now, then there's no reason not to take that.
Oh, and as far as being on UniMas goes, it looks like that channel is being given a sports focus that is heavily football related. According to a few reports, it looks like they're going MLS, Liga MX, Mexico National Team, Gold Cup, Confederations Cup, and World Cup in their coverage. I did find one LA Times article that says Telemundo still pulls higher ratings than UniMas, but that UniMas is in more households.
If NBC actually wants to make some scratch off of MLS, it honestly can't hurt to do more cross promotion. More MLS reps on NBC SNF, Notre Dame Football and USA, Bravo etc.
did you see that glorious man united tottenham match? absolutely incredible. nothing I mean NOTHING like a last second goal for a draw. some of the most exciting stuff in that. MLS will be back soon enough. I hope Galaxy find a way to stay competitive in the concacaf champions league till LD comes back.
Back in the 2010-2011 CCL, Columbus did host RSL for a QF on Feb 22, 2011, with the return leg on March 1. In 2013, The CCL starts back up in the first midweek of March, after First Kick weekend in MLS. http://www.concacafchampions.com/page/CL/Schedule/0,,12856,00.html http://www.mlssoccer.com/schedule (CONCACAF begins the knockout stage of their 2012-2013 CL at the QF stage, so there's no rush/need/demand for them to play in Feb -- unlike UEFA which spreads out plays their Round of 16 games from the midweeks of Feb 12 - March 13.)
True that, I most of been thinking group part of Libertadores, I believe that starts in 2 or 3 weeks. Pre-group games of Libertadores actually start today.
I don't expect much to change for MLS on NBC this year until the acquisition of the Premier League. Hopefully, NBC can get that Catholic 7 basketball package and up it's cache even more.
The NHL has exploded out of their lockout with several teams setting new records for local TV ratings and NBC having the most watched regular season broadcast since Gretzky's last game.