MLS asking FSC for $20M a year

ESPN isn't going anywhere. They negotiated the MLS rights with SUM, which is just part of the package for the 14 WC rights in the US.

FSC, for whatever it's worth, is negotiating, we assume, with only MLS.

Technically a big difference (though we all know the full level of incest in regards to SUM/MLS/USSF)

 

Re: Monday Dec. 20 , 2010

Source?

 

Which means FSC has done fairly well with their subscription base.

However, if one doubled the number of FSC matches (adding a late West Coast match, as an example), I can see doubling of the rights fees as well.

 

FSC makes a decent chunk of its money from subscriber fees. MLS may be banking on Fox's potential fear of losing subscribers if they don't carry MLS games. Honestly, with several games/week from England/Spain on the ESPN networks (including espn3), FSC isn't as necessary to the casual soccer fan as it used to be. If I didn't get GolTV included with my package, I would probably not be an FSC subscriber anymore if they didn't re-up with MLS.

 

Re: Monday Dec. 20 , 2010

Report: MLS asks FSC for $20m/yr

 

If FSC ever got around to striking a deal with Comcast to carry FSC HD, they would probably substantially increase their MLS viewership numbers.

Top 25 Multichannel Video Programming Distributors as of June 2010
1 Comcast Corporation 23,559,000
2 DirecTV 18,870,000
3 Dish Network Corporation 14,318,000
4 Time Warner Cable, Inc. 12,859,000
5 Cox Communications, Inc. 15,194,000
6 Charter Communications, Inc. 4,824,000
7 Verizon Communications, Inc. 3,203,000
8 Cablevision Systems Corporation 3,064,000
9 AT&T, Inc. 2,504,000
10 Bright House Networks LLC 2,264,000

 

%$#*! Comcast ... seriously.

 

Why not? ESPN2 on Thursday (Sundays during football season); Versus on Friday night; FSC with a Saturday evening doubleheader and

Telefutura with the afternoon weekend game.

 

Personally i would like a english version of the telefutura game because i just wanna know what the hell is going on.

 

Since we are all speculating here, if I were MLS, I would be packaging MLS games with other SUM products, such as international friendlies, USMNT & Mex NT games, along with other things like English language Super Liga matches.

$20 million for MLS alone does seem like an awfully big jump. But who knows? MLS went from paying for TV time to getting around $xxx (not sure what the figure is today - $10 million?) a year.

 

3 mil from FSC. There ratings are up on FSC, so maybe that is worth a future investment.

 

I think this is good news. This shows that MLS is in the big time with the other American leagues and isn't going to be allowing itself to be treadted like a minor league.

 

FSC's counter argument would be, "Ya, our base is up because of the EPL and the UEFA Champions League and not MLS".

That would be a smart retort, especially since ESPN/2 has gotten on the bandwagon promoting the EPL in the US.

Maybe FSC should sub out some CL matches back to ESPN/2 (again).

 

Plus, what interesting Euro matches FSC does air are always reaired on Fox's RSN's within 24 hours in crystal clear HD to the 99.99% of people who don't get FSC's "HD" channel

 

Again never even new they were on ESPN but that would be great!

I think MLS should take the VS deal because they will actually promote it!

 

As a gay man, I deeply resent any association of Christian Miles' play-by-play skills with homosexuality. That's a cause for action.

I do, most sincerely, hope that this public slap at FSC (there is no way this came from FSC, unless they love public attention being drawn to the fact that Uncle Rupert spends less on them than he does on Shepard Smith's hair) is not a precursor to MLS rolling out its own channel (as the Don has previously mentioned). Their track record with Major League Soccer Soccer and the clowns at Neulion makes me shudder at the prospect.

 

What about MLS on Roku, I get all the major sports I even can get cricket (willow tv) AFL aussie rules and even hurling. I know for my PS3 I get Nhl Mlb.

 

I have a feeling MLS might be on all three of the networks mentioned in this thread.

And given the big price that MLS is asking of Fox, I'm sure they're packaging in other goodies with it besides just MLS games and are saying that the package is not for sale separately. This way if Fox manages to separate everything, they'll have to pay even more for the separation premium.

 

This is actually very good news. During a period when the perception of MLS on TV is wrapped in disappointment the league still feels there's a market for substantial (relatively) rights fees. $20 mill is certainly an unrealistic opening salvo in negotiations but clearly a big increase is envisioned.

The league will obviously point to expansion (see why the South and Florida are needed) and hoped for new high profile DPs as justification. FSC has to decide where its vision of soccer's future stands. Don Garber has stated many times that some incremental increase in ratings that push MLS beyond other niche leagues is not the league's goal. Instead MLS is painting a picture of a possible future where MLS takes it's rightful place as #5 in a new big 5 team sports hierarchy.

It will be interesting to see if FSC buys into this perspective at all. MLS is probably also hopeful that as FSC's stake in MLS grows they'll put more resources into the broadcasts up to and including finally biting the bullet and cutting the deals with the major cable carriers to get the channel on HD.

 

I don't even want to think about the $20 million number yet because even the $7 million Fox has supposedly offered is very good news IMO. Remember, these deals were done in 2006 when MLS had 12 teams and started paying in 2007 when the league had expanded to 13. Simply put, there are more mouths to feed now, and my concern has been that each team's pro rata share of the TV money might actually go down. Even if MLS expands to 20 teams during the life of this new deal, each team will get a nice annual bump (from about $230,000 in 2007 to $333,333 when MLS hits 20 teams).

That's great news.

 

Would this $20M be in addition to monies received from Canadian TV and does anyone know what that number is?

 

I think they're paying like 5 dollars per game...Just kidding. Not alot of money tho..

 

I wouldn't say it's great, but it's a damn lot more positive than some here seem to glean. Just another step on the ladder, and patience isn't a virtue.

FOX was actually seriously considering dropping MLS last go round because they didn't want to pay a dime for it. It was much closer to happening than most realize. The FSC heads wanted to go all Europe, EPL heavy of course, as they didn't think MLS was worth anything. After ESPN ponied up it was hard for them to call themselves America's Soccer Channel and then not have the local league.

Coming from that to this is quite an admission and a step forward.

While the ratings may not be super, and probably won't be for another couple of cycles, there is an admission of actual value!
We matter!

Don't laugh folks, it's not that long from being considered trash.

We are allowed in the house now.

Step by step.

 

Have some of you negotiated for anything in your lives? Ever?

 

This is curious indeed. Could MLS be playing both sides of an expected World Cup bidding war? And what else could SUM be throwing on the table to get FSC to bid higher? SUM has many properties that fit FSC's demo, particularly the "we love European soccer so much we'll watch Everton's reserves play Bologna's reserves in Topeka" crowd.

Yes, and I paid roughly 10 times what a colleague paid for the same crappy souvenir at the Great Wall. I suck at it, which is while I'll be cautious in what I say about these negotiations. In the abstract, $20M/year for something that draws less than 100K per broadcast seems absurd. But there's surely more on the table, and we don't know how much is a stance and how much is what they really want. (See negotiations, CBA, 2009-10.)