MLS 2014 TV Thread (Ratings, contracts etc)

So. let say it is around 10 million....BeIN Sports has a long way to go. It can get the content (with the money), but it will face hurdles from moving from a niche package to a Tier 1 or Tier 2 package.

Don't you think ESPN and FOX have a stake in their own turf? The answer is yes. You are playing with the big boys behind their backyard. The likes of Fox, ESPN/Disney, Comcast/Universal/NBC have big huge stake in the US market, and I think they will make it hard for the cash-rich BeIN Sports operating business in America. You will never hear this anywhere, but behind the scenes, you have a lot of dirty politics that get's played.

So, it is a catch 22 for BeIN Sports. BeIN cannot snatch the premier Soccer portfolio's like the EPL, UEFA Champions League, European Championship, the World Cup, and to a lesser degree MLS due to it's limited distribution. BeIN will continue to struggle with distribution meaning it will not be able to get the popular soccer content with niche status.

 

But all in a niche package my friend. It is placed in a low-tiered package.

 

As long as we are discussing limited market penetration, how many homes have FS2? That is where MLS and Bundesliga seem destined to end up in 2015.

 

MLS needs good TV coverage or it will end up like the old NASL. It already is expanding like NASL did before its collapse.

 

No it isn't.

1973 NASL had 9 teams
...
1977 NASL had 18 teams
1978 NASL had 24 teams

That's 15 teams in 5 years and 6 teams in 1 year.

If MLS was adding 6 teams to begin play in a single year, or even 3 teams every year for 5 years, then MLS would be expanding like NASL did before its collapse. MLS is nowhere close to that.

Just count the years it took NASL to go from 18 to 24 teams (1 year), now count the years it is taking MLS to go from 18 to 24 teams ready to play a game (at least 5 or 6 years, depending on when teams #23 and #24 get decided and start playing). MLS isn't anywhere close to the NASL type of expansion.

 

Well we know its at least 6 (teams #17 and 18 started play in 2011, team #22 was just announced to start play in 2017 so #23 and #24 aren't going to be before that and probably after).

 

No it isn't.


You are wrong a lot....well, basically always. It's funny.

 

dont forget how many teams folded while the NASL was rapidly expanding.

 

Soccer was really a niche sport back than...Today, Soccer is mainstream and gaining further grounds.

 

It's not 10M though. There is no reason to say that. Evidence has been shown that it's probably close to FS2 in total distribution. I don't doubt for a second that the big American players will make it difficult for Bein though.

 

There is really little to compare. NASL was a true retirement league with overpaid retired has beens. 3 or 4 teams had decent players. It was a fad. No grass roots effort. The quality on the field was bad. They were doomed to fail the second they tried to become a top league.

 

The tragedy is that if they had been more forward thinking a la MLS then we'd likely have a top league today...

 

This was just posted 2 pages back. Here it is again compared to other channels MLS could be on or has been on.

 

Premier League
0.24 rating NBCSN 7:40 am Saturday Tottenham vs Fulham
0.32 rating NBCSN 9:55 am Saturday Cardiff vs Stoke
0.71 rating NBC 12:30 pm Saturday Chelsea vs Sunderland
0.27 rating NBCSN 6:55 am Sunday Norwich vs Liverpool
0.40 rating NBCSN 9:00 am Sunday Hull vs Arsenal
0.48 rating NBCSN 11:05 am Sunday Eveton vs Manchester United

MLS
0.07 rating NBCSN 4:00 pm Saturday Chicago vs New England (70-110k)

 

I think that's actually good news. We don't want people watching games like that if we are trying to build a fanbase. From the on-air meltdown in the intro to the boring teams and little atmosphere, it was a bad showing for the league.
I wonder if a bunch of casual fans tuned out after the intro.

 

Part of the issue is the schedule makers putting Chi/NE on NBCSN in the first place. Goes back to the issue that MLS does not maximize the tv time it does get.

 

No surprise there.
No DPs to showcase.

 

No lead-in from the EPL and not the most exciting match-up.

 

Local ratings for the Sounders match v. Chivas:

*That is just under the highest rated local Sounders match rating ever, just to clarify. The official rating for last week:

 

Easy to say in hindsight, but the quick boom looked real cool. Low initial start up cost, possible high/quick return.

Silicon valley on a field. Just weren't enough solid teams to make it stick.

 

It is very easy to see who wasn't alive, older than 10, when the old NASL ended. Just so many comments that show no understanding of what was going on business wise and where soccer stood culturally......umm, nowhere.

It is also easy to see the old folks living in a fantasy filled nostalgia world also......the "back in my day" it was all so much better....yeah right.

No matter what the gripes it's better than it's ever been here....in every way, shape and form.
Let's hope these expansion gambles pay off and raise the profile a bit more.

 

I was a teenager (just dated myself) living in Germany. The Cosmos did an exhibition and they were horrific, a laughingstaulk. I remember coming back to the States in 1979 and watching some games. The quality was horrible. Major League Soccer is decades ahead in quality fan base, grass roots.

 

What? You mean losing, and getting terribly outplayed by Wolfsburg, who were near the bottom of BII 2-0 is a poor result? Getting beaten 7-1 by Bayern is a t least respectable...right?

Just like most things....the more time passes the softer the edges/memories in this case become.

It was fun, it was short, it was superficial, it wasn't nearly as good as folks reminisce that it was.

 

Well is not like European teams have ever dropped 7 goals on an MLS team right?