We could some excitement like this debacle last fall: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlvOUG8nuZ4"]David Garrard Hail Mary TD to Mike Thomas..Jaguars vs. Texans 2010‏ - YouTube[/ame]
The deal expires after 2014, so it will be on the heels of, rather than the eve of, the World Cup. But I think your point still stands.
I'd say the difference is that CNBC (as far as we know) didn't have their people hacking into dead peoples phones to sell papers. Murdoch, regardless of his political leanings, is a special kind of evil.
ESPN has 2014. 2018 and beyond have not been awarded to anybody. I hope when negotiations for 2018 come around, FIFA and/or Blazer and/or a resurrected, Zombie-like Jack Warner apparition can leverage World Cup rights to increase MLS' exposure again. I expect bidding for 2018 to get crazy -- if MLS can somehow be bundled in there, it could be a true watershed moment for the league. The only way we're going to see a significant bump in the salary cap is if TV revenues climb significantly. 2014 will be a huge year for MLS' growth.
Awesome AWESOME news. Very happy about this. Almost double the number of households if I'm not mistaken, and I think that number will grow with their NHL/UFC and now MLS broadcasts. The rebranding shouldn't hurt either.
Yes, because it was actually Murdoch that did this and not people working at a newspaper that he has no day-to-day part in and is connected to by being chairman of the paper's parent company, a massive media conglomerate which probably keeps him pretty busy.
This is fantastic news! This deal is a major milestone for the league. It shows that MLS is moving into the American mainstream.
Same here. I'd gladly pay a subscription to Versus/NBC Sports Network online. Or maybe they could have something like ESPN3. I get that through my internet service provider.
They recently announced they are going to put a few Notre Dame football games on NBC Sports starting next year, as well. And they are gunning for the Big East TV package for football and basketball. Basically put, Comcast is actively seeking additional properties for the channel formerly known as Versus. One thing I wonder is if NBC will get into the bidding for additional soccer properties to compliment MLS. When do the contracts for the likes of Serie A or La Liga become available? Or maybe stuff like Copa America (esp if it expands to add more CONCACAF teams) or the Gold Cup.
Comcast Sports Net also show Philly, San Jose and DC games locally (maybe a few other cities?), so this makes sense. I know the Union ratings are solid, not sure about the others.
FSC seems to be dead lock to EPL and GOLTV with La Liga If they can nab comps like the UEFA Euro's and Europa League as well as the CONCACAF Champions League, they would really be making in roads on FSC in terms of soccer. They don't need any leagues outside of the MLS to be honest.
It would be nice if FSC returned to the programming it used to carry when it was FSW - rugby, aussie rules, and a much more broad base of soccer, including Bundesliga, Eredevisie, EPL, and Argentina.
I'm just happy that I will actually start getting all of the Timbers games in HD next year! Granted, most of the games which the Timbers have on FSC are home games, I do still DVR them to catch all of the plays/intricacies I missed while attending the game. I have mixed feelings about whether I would want a PORvSEA game on NBC main network. While I think the atmosphere would come across well, if the quality of play matches what we saw on both sides of the ball for both those games this year, it will be a poor showing for how the league has progressed.
This thread is growing too quickly to keep up with so someone may have mentioned this. Could COMCAST be thinking bigger than first realized? It is obvious that this MLS deal is the start of putting together a bid for the 2018/2022 rights but what I forgot was that COMCAST owns the second largest Spanish channel in Telemundo. They might be thinking of going after both the English and Spanish rights for 2018/2022, of which MLS would fit perfectly into(note that all MLS contracts, including Univision expire in 2014).
Well someone should tell your coach to stop employing big/fast goons and start employing soccer players.
The numbers also mean that some weeks will have multiple national televised games on NBCSN alone. That may just make-up for the weeks that ESPN takes off. But if they are going to do two same day broadcasts it either means two announcer teams, or the game is called from a studio. I really hope it is not the latter.
Yeah, I responded as the news was breaking . . . saw initially four US games and 6 total network games. I am good to go. Although, still only two network games kinda sucks - but better than none on FSC
Or mid-week games. We have those from time to time, and with having an odd number of teams in the league next year, it is likely that we will have at least the same number, if not more.