MLS 2014 TV Thread (Ratings, contracts etc)

Did anyone argue that? To use most of the expansion money? I don't think anyone has. Improved quality doesn't just mean raise the cap and pump tv revenue into the league. Could also go the route of tweaking the rules to allow more balance with the finances currently available. TFC throwing 80 at two players is far from the most balanced or efficient approach and if the rules were tweaked, TFC could put together a more quality roster for less than 80M.

Likewise, while 70M looks good in 2014, it might not look nearly as good in 2020 in year 6 of a possible 8 deal. And, you have to weigh that against shorter deals, whether with Fox or NBCSN even if for less money and what the league might instead get 3 or 4 years from now, rather than being locked into a deal where the money probably doesn't look that good in the latter half of the time frame.

Locking the league into an 8 yr deal could mean essentially taking less money than they could get with having options and a shorter deal, 5, 6 or 8 years from now.

 

I'm starting to get so tired waiting for any official news. I hope MLS gets this done soon.

Also I'm not sure they would want these negotiations to drag on into when the World Cup is going on. There's a good chance that the USMNT will have a poor showing and I'm not sure we want to be negotiating a deal when there's negative press with soccer in general.

 

I'm of the opinion that a 3 & out for the US at WC2014 won't "hurt" SUM in their negotiations (primarily because the media partners understand the current group/circumstances and the potential future unknowns, regardless).

But some advancement (as unlikely as it may be) into the knockout round(s) in Brazil could significantly enhance SUM's hand.

 

Hey I agree with you!
Anybody that EXPECTS the US to get out of the group stage doesn't understand International soccer. I am not saying we won't get out of the group stage but no-one or company should expect it. I don't think it will affect SUM's negotiations.

 

Why not do a short term deal with NBCSN? I know we worry about them losing EPL but we're good until 2016. That year we also have some nice Olympics lead ins to count on. Then use 2017 as a gauge to see where NBCSN goes with their soccer properties while we negotiate new deals for 2018.

Even if we take a short term loss in the long run we'll probably profit since we'll have much more leverage in '17. I'm very bullish on where we'll be in '17 after this next round of expansion clubs get brought in and NYCFC, Atlanta and LA2 are very likely to up the ante on star power and of course we'll be building rosters with the new CBA salary cap by then.

I just think it's foolish to lock ourselves into an 8 year deal now since we're a bit premature and underrated and thus undervalued.

 

I have to wonder if Bein is lying in wait on the next round of EPL talks. They have all the money they could want to spend if needed.

 

We around here who pay a lot of attention to the game don't expect us to get out of group. But Joe Pulbic who watches once every four years will likely judge the health of American soccer based on one month this summer.

 

Joe Public probably remembers Ghana and knows who Ronaldo is. I think anyone in the world will recognize that Germany is good at soccer right?

 

Maybe, but I don't think it will be Joe Public who is negotiating soccer TV contracts. That is what this conversation was about.

 

I mean, if you want to stay on topic I suppose. I mostly just ramble about whatever hits the top of my skull and bounces out.

 

Joe Public doesn't remember anything that happened before yesterday and couldn't find Ghana on a map.

 

Being a Revs fan that is what I think of when I see Joe Public

 

Be interested to see Revs/Fire on NBCSN rating going h2h with Blackhawks/Blues on NBC.(well from 2nd period on at least)

 

They do but the EPL is smart that even if a BeIn bid is the highest that they would significantly reduce the amount of homes they'll be available in.

With the ratings that's been on NBC, I could easily see the EPL rights at least double when they accept the bids next year.

 

Great numbers !!!

 

If BeIn Sport got in more homes though I would prefer them over Fox. The commentary on BeIn Sport isn't much better but the overall quality of coverage for soccer is miles better than Fox. I would be fine with MLS being on BeIn Sport as well if they were in more homes. I think they've done a good job with Serie A, La Liga and Ligue 1.

 

The studio show I could get the dislike with Fox, but when the EPL was on Fox Soccer, they just used the Sky Sports feed and announcers. Fox wouldn't send Gus Johnson over to call the games live since his top announcing duties are college football and college basketball.

I don't think BeIn has done that great with Serie A in terms of games shown, more live games were shown on Fox Soccer for Serie A. Both La Liga and Serie A have lots of later kickoff times, and if Barcelona or Real Madrid is one of those times, they'll always take priority over anything else, even if there's a more important Serie A game going on simultaneously.

 

I never had Fox Soccer in HD and they used to take a widescreen feed and clip it for standard definition. I still don't have both of the new channels in HD. Along with the crappy studio coverage, that was my biggest gripe.

To be honest there aren't as many marquee Italian football matches as in years past. I'm a lifelong fan but I don't blame them for bumping matches (sometimes they get bumped to the other channel). If Milan and Inter were good I think we'd see more live matches.

 

BeIN sports will remain in oblivian for a long time. My gut feeling is that in a few years, they will be forced to leave this market which is already so saturated. Plus, it is going to be hard for them to compete with established players like ESPN, Fox, NBC, and Univision on their home turf. This ambitious plan by a Middle Eastern company is going to meet the same treatment like Setanta Sports, GolTV, and etc. Limited distribution facing this entity is not going anywhere...

 

Except I've had basically the same cable packages for the last almost 20 years. I've had beIn since it started broadcasting, I never had Setanta or GolTV. beIn is already in more homes than those two ever have been I think.

 

As far as I know, it has somewhere around 6-7 million homes. Unless, it has changed recently. But, regardless, it is below 10 million homes.

 

it has to be more than that thru direcTV alone.

 

Your data is off and out of date:
http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2012/08/23/comcast-agrees-to-carry-new-bein-sport-network553499/

So in 2012 is was 8 million from the satellite providers alone.

 

So far, beIN Sports have seventeen providers carrying this channel.

DISH
DIRECTV
Comcast
Time Warner Cable
Bright House Networks
Verizon FIOS
AT&T U-Verse
Advanced (or Advanced Cable Communications)
Atlantic Broadband
Claro
enTouch Systems
Hotwire
Liberty Cablevision of Puerto Rico
OneLink Communications
RCN
Cox Communications
Cablevision (the most recent)