MLS Local TV Markets & ESPN 2

[GIO17]

The reason I am bringing this up is that I can't believe how each club isn't being show enough in their local markets or how the local markets are doing a wonderful job. ESPN 2 has to be added to this because if a certain club/or clubs are the match of the week then the local market won't have their broadcasters doing it.

Here are the best and the worst of both East & West clubs.

MLS East

Chicago Fire

FSN Chicago= 9
Comcast Chicago= 3
ESPN 2= 6
All together 18

Columbus Crew

FSN Ohio= 4
UPN 53= 5
ESPN 2= 2
All together 11

DC United

Comcast Mid Atlantic= 14
ESPN 2 & ABC= 10
All together 24

MetroStars

MSG Network= 19 (Some games FSN NY has Spanish Language Broadcast)
FSN New York= 4 (Dosne't count for Spanish Language Broadcast)
ESPN 2= 6
All together 29

New England Revolution

FSN New England= 14
WB 56 Boston= 10
CN8 New England= 1
ESPN 2= 5
All 30 games

MLS West

Colorado Rapids

FSN Rocky MTN= 8
Alttitude= 3
ESPN 2= 2
All together 13

FC Dallas 96

FSN SouthWest= 5
KFWD 52= 4
ESPN 2= 4
All together 13

Kansas City Wizards

Metro Sports= 5
ESPN 2= 1
all together 6

Los Angeles Galaxy

KCAL 9= 9
KWHY 22 Spanish= 4
ESPN 2= 5
All together 18

San Jose Earthquakes

FSN Bay Area= 8
ESPN 2/ABC= 7
All together 15

What does this mean? Either Fox sports World or HD Net bails out maybe 2 thru 5 clubs.

Fox Sports World is the official broadcaster for the Galaxy with 9
HD Net really bails out the Wizards with 11.

With the MetroStars situation They do this with the Mets as well. When the clubs are on MSG Network. They do a simulcast on FSN New York in Spanish. So the Spanish Radio Announcers are also on TV. It doesn't happen alot with the Metro only a few times here and there. But once the Metro are on FSN NY by themsleves it's all English.

Basically what this means is that the clubs showing less games on their local markets need to do a better job getting a better TV deal. The Wizards either need to talk to the Royals for their RSTN or FSN Mid West.

Now talking about the two new clubs. Does Real Salt Lake get shown on FSN Rocky Mountain since the Rapids are going to be on Alttitude Sports Net in Denver now? And what about the Chivas USA side? Does LA Based KWHY 22 in Spanish show all their games now? or will FSN West & or West 2 show the matches now.

But that's my little pet peave about the TV Deals for the clubs.

We all know that the Metros, DC, & Revs are covered completly. or close to it.

[FoxBoro 143]

Thank the lord that I dont live in KC. Wow that's got to suck.

[ElJefe]

What does this mean? Either Fox sports World or HD Net bails out maybe 2 thru 5 clubs.

Fox Sports World is the official broadcaster for the Galaxy with 9
HD Net really bails out the Wizards with 11.

With the MetroStars situation They do this with the Mets as well. When the clubs are on MSG Network. They do a simulcast on FSN New York in Spanish. So the Spanish Radio Announcers are also on TV. It doesn't happen alot with the Metro only a few times here and there. But once the Metro are on FSN NY by themsleves it's all English.

Basically what this means is that the clubs showing less games on their local markets need to do a better job getting a better TV deal. The Wizards either need to talk to the Royals for their RSTN or FSN Mid West.
Considering that ESPN2 only showed one Wizards game this year and Fox Sports World didn't show any, I'm not sure that all the fingers should be pointed at the Wizards.

[monster]

You can't really say that "FSW bails out" teams since they often (if not always) take a local feed and just add talking heads from a studio.

[kenntomasch]

Yes, but Brian - FSW loves soccer and ESPN hates soccer. That trumps everything. :)

MLS teams make their own decisions about their local broadcasting efforts (or their parent companies do). Some teams have decided it is in their best interests to make as many games as possible available to their fans, and others see it as an expense they don't want to incur.

I've heard the opinion expressed that there should be one broadcast produced of every MLS game, with announcers determined like the NFL does theirs. There'd be five or six "crews" of PBP/Color/Sideline/Producer who are sent to the game site to do the game. Now, there are some split feeds where one team will use most of the pictures from the primary feed and augment it with a couple cameras and its own announcers, but it's a pain and it usually causes problems production-wise. And while it's not a straight doubling of the cost to do two feeds, there is an additional expense. If the league just produced 180 (next year) telecasts of 180 games and used MLS announcers and called it the "MLS TV Network" or something, it might simplify that and ensure that every game was at least available on TV.

Of course, it would mean fewer jobs for announcers, but it might be an idea worth pursuing.

(Just as an aside, I've thought MLS should hire one guy in each MLS city to do official league webcasts of every game played in that city, the same way. No travel costs, cheap webcasting costs. Since it's seemingly much easier to get Spanish radio in MLS markets than English radio---on traditional radio outlets---this might be a way to make the audio of every game available. If MLS or SUM could do a soccer audio channel on Sirius or XM, that would be cool, too. I'd listen to that all the time in my car.)

[ElJefe]

Yes, but Brian - FSW loves soccer and ESPN hates soccer. That trumps everything. :)

MLS teams make their own decisions about their local broadcasting efforts (or their parent companies do). Some teams have decided it is in their best interests to make as many games as possible available to their fans, and others see it as an expense they don't want to incur.

I've heard the opinion expressed that there should be one broadcast produced of every MLS game, with announcers determined like the NFL does theirs. There'd be five or six "crews" of PBP/Color/Sideline/Producer who are sent to the game site to do the game. Now, there are some split feeds where one team will use most of the pictures from the primary feed and augment it with a couple cameras and its own announcers, but it's a pain and it usually causes problems production-wise. And while it's not a straight doubling of the cost to do two feeds, there is an additional expense. If the league just produced 180 (next year) telecasts of 180 games and used MLS announcers and called it the "MLS TV Network" or something, it might simplify that and ensure that every game was at least available on TV.

Of course, it would mean fewer jobs for announcers, but it might be an idea worth pursuing.
That's actually a decent idea. Right now, somewhere around 95% of the league's games are broadcast on standard TV somewhere, whether it be on ABC, ESPN2, or a local broadcast, with most of the remaining games on HDNET.

And if you provide a single standard feed for each MLS game (or even every games that isn't on ABC/ESPN2), you obviously have to centralize the TV production, which is something that is currently left to individual teams. Now, I'm sure that AEG and Kraft would be happy to share the production cost with everyone, HSG isn't as committed to locally broadcasting their games (as you can see by the number of games that were broadcast for the Burn, Wizards, and Crew) and they probably wouldn't be too jazzed to have to increase the amount of money that they're currently spending on TV production meet their share.

There's also problem is this issue of local sponsorship on local TV broadcasts. If sponsors would be willing to deal with not having their ad copy read on the air by the announcers, then I suppose that the appropriate graphics, specific to the relevant markets, could be inserted somewhere along the line.

[AndyMead]

Thank the lord that I dont live in KC. Wow that's got to suck.

Living in KC isn't the problem. It's being a Wizards fan outside of KC, that's the problem.

It wouldn't be so stark if the espn2 and FSW game were evenly spread amongst the 10 teams.

[AndyMead]

Considering that ESPN2 only showed one Wizards game this year and Fox Sports World didn't show any, I'm not sure that all the fingers should be pointed at the Wizards.

Actually FSW showed the Wizards at Columbus game on June 12th after the Rapids at United broadcast on Comcast Mid-Atlantic was canceled due to contractual obligations to carry a rescheduled Balitmore Orioles game.

[Sachin]

Yeah, but no one wants to see the Wizards.

:D

Sachin

[kenntomasch]

That's actually a decent idea.

I can't take credit for it. It was brought up to me by Kenny Stern, but it may or may not have been his idea.

And if you provide a single standard feed for each MLS game (or even every games that isn't on ABC/ESPN2), you obviously have to centralize the TV production, which is something that is currently left to individual teams. Now, I'm sure that AEG and Kraft would be happy to share the production cost with everyone, HSG isn't as committed to locally broadcasting their games (as you can see by the number of games that were broadcast for the Burn, Wizards, and Crew) and they probably wouldn't be too jazzed to have to increase the amount of money that they're currently spending on TV production meet their share.

Yeah. And I could be wrong, but I thought I heard someone say that the Revs are the only ones that don't utilize Winner Communications for their TV production. It would have to be centralized. MLS has a guy in charge of television production, but in single-entity, this could be one thing that could be standardized for economy of scale, cost reduction, and quality control issues.


There's also problem is this issue of local sponsorship on local TV broadcasts. If sponsors would be willing to deal with not having their ad copy read on the air by the announcers, then I suppose that the appropriate graphics, specific to the relevant markets, could be inserted somewhere along the line.

Chicago and Columbus did a shared feed earlier this month, and I believe they read copy for both teams, and they combined some elements (like the LaSalle Bank Pregame Show also had whatever the Crew's sponsor was on it). Some of the stuff could probably be combined and some of the stuff could probably be inserted locally, you'd think.

[AndyMead]

Regular Season Games: 150

Games not broadcast this season: 12
MAY 01 not shown MLS 021 - Colorado at Kansas City
MAY 15 not shown MLS 030 - Kansas City at DC United
MAY 29 not shown MLS 041 - Colorado at Chicago
JUN 05 not shown MLS 086 - Kansas City at Los Angeles
JUN 12 not shown MLS 050 - Colorado at DC United (CSN-DC/FSW bounced by Orioles game)
JUN 26 not shown MLS 061 - Colorado at Columbus
AUG 14 not shown MLS 143 - Colorado at Chicago
SEP 01 not shown MLS 093 - Kansas City at Chicago
SEP 04 not shown MLS 115 - DC United at Chicago
SEP 08 not shown MLS 120 - Columbus at San Jose
SEP 10 not shown MLS 123 - Kansas City at Colorado
SEP 25 not shown MLS 132 - Colorado at Kansas City

What really sucks is that FSW showed the Mauricio Cienfuegos Farewell Match that was played on June 5th before KC@LA countless times over the two weeks following the game.

[Sachin]

Oh... NOW I understand.

ESPN doesn't hate soccer, they just hate the Wizards.


:D

Sachin

[AndyMead]

2004 MLS Broadcast Log





APR 03 ABC 1:2 MLS 001 - San Jose at DC United
APR 03 FSNY 3:1 MLS 002 - MetroStars at Columbus
APR 03 HDNet 3:1 MLS 002 - MetroStars at Columbus
APR 03 FSC 0:0 MLS 003 - Chicago at Kansas City
APR 03 FSRM 1:1 MLS 004 - Colorado at Dallas
APR 03 FSW 2:3 MLS 005 - New England at Los Angeles
APR 03 FSNE 2:3 MLS 005 - New England at Los Angeles
APR 03 KWHY-22 2:3 MLS 005 - New England at Los Angeles (Spanish)

APR 10 espn2 0:0 MLS 006 - Chicago at San Jose
APR 10 CSN-DC 1:1 MLS 007 - DC United at Los Angeles
APR 10 HDNet 1:1 MLS 007 - DC United at Los Angeles
APR 10 FSW 1:1 MLS 007 - DC United at Los Angeles

APR 14 TeleTico 0:2 CCC - Chicago (USA) at CD Saprissa (CRC) (Spanish)
APR 17 espn2 2:3 MLS 008 - DC United at MetroStars
APR 17 FSW 3:1 MLS 009 - San Jose at New England
APR 17 FSBA 3:1 MLS 009 - San Jose at New England
APR 17 WLVI-56 3:1 MLS 009 - San Jose at New England
APR 17 WWHO-53 0:1 MLS 010 - Columbus at Kansas City
APR 17 CSN-CHI 2:0 MLS 011 - Dallas at Chicago
APR 17 HDNet 1:1 MLS 012 - Colorado at Los Angeles
APR 17 FSRM 1:1 MLS 012 - Colorado at Los Angeles
APR 17 KCAL-9 1:1 MLS 012 - Colorado at Los Angeles

APR 24 espn2 1:0 MLS 013 - Chicago Fire at DC United
APR 24 MetroSports 0:1 MLS 014 - Kansas City at Dallas
APR 24 FSW 0:1 MLS 015 - San Jose at Colorado
APR 24 FSBA 0:1 MLS 015 - San Jose at Colorado
APR 24 WWHO-53 0:2 MLS 016 - Columbus at Los Angeles
APR 24 HDNet 0:2 MLS 016 - Columbus at Los Angeles
APR 25 MSG 1:2 MLS 017 - New England at MetroStars
APR 25 FSNE 1:2 MLS 017 - New England at MetroStars

MAY 01 espn2 1:1 MLS 018 - DC United at San Jose
MAY 01 FSSW 0:0 MLS 019 - Dallas at Columbus
MAY 01 HDNet 0:0 MLS 019 - Dallas at Columbus
MAY 01 KCAL-9 1:2 MLS 020 - Los Angeles at New England (-)
MAY 01 WLVI-56 1:2 MLS 020 - Los Angeles at New England
MAY 01 FSW 1:2 MLS 020 - Los Angeles at New England
MAY 01 not shown 0:2 MLS 021 - Colorado at Kansas City
MAY 01 MSG 0:3 MLS 022 - MetroStars at Chicago

MAY 07 FSRM 0:0 MLS 023 - New England at Colorado
MAY 07 CN8(NE) 0:0 MLS 023 - New England at Colorado
MAY 08 espn2 3:1 MLS 024 - Los Angeles at Dallas
MAY 08 CSN-DC 1:1 MLS 025 - Columbus at DC United
MAY 08 FSO 1:1 MLS 025 - Columbus at DC United
MAY 08 FSW 1:1 MLS 025 - Columbus at DC United
MAY 08 FSC 2:2 MLS 026 - Chicago at Kansas City
MAY 08 MSG 5:5 MLS 027 - MetroStars at San Jose
MAY 08 HDNet 5:5 MLS 027 - MetroStars at San Jose

MAY 15 espn2 0:1 MLS 028 - New England at Columbus
MAY 15 MSG 1:1 MLS 029 - Chicago at MetroStars
MAY 15 FSW 1:1 MLS 029 - Chicago at MetroStars
MAY 15 CSN-CHI 1:1 MLS 029 - Chicago at MetroStars
MAY 15 not shown 0:1 MLS 030 - Kansas City at DC United
MAY 15 FSBA 2:1 MLS 031 - San Jose at Dallas
MAY 15 HDNet 2:1 MLS 031 - San Jose at Dallas
MAY 15 FSRM 1:1 MLS 032 - Colorado at Los Angeles

MAY 19 CSN-DC 4:2 MLS 033 - Los Angeles at DC United
MAY 19 HDNet 4:2 MLS 033 - Los Angeles at DC United
MAY 19 KWHY-22 4:2 MLS 033 - Los Angeles at DC United (Spanish)
MAY 22 espn2 1:1 MLS 034 - MetroStars at New England
MAY 22 KFWD-52 0:2 MLS 035 - Dallas at Kansas City
MAY 22 CSN-DC 1:2 MLS 036 - DC United at Colorado
MAY 22 FSW 2:4 MLS 037 - Los Angeles at San Jose
MAY 22 HDNet 2:4 MLS 037 - Los Angeles at San Jose
MAY 22 KCAL-9 2:4 MLS 037 - Los Angeles at San Jose
MAY 23 espn2 3:1 MLS 038 - Columbus at Chicago

MAY 29 FSW 1:0 MLS 039 - DC United at New England
MAY 29 CSN-DC 1:0 MLS 039 - DC United at New England
MAY 29 WLVI-56 1:0 MLS 039 - DC United at New England
MAY 29 FSBA 0:1 MLS 040 - San Jose at Columbus
MAY 29 HDNet 0:1 MLS 040 - San Jose at Columbus
MAY 29 not shown 0:1 MLS 041 - Colorado at Chicago
MAY 29 espn2 1:4 MLS 042 - Dallas at Los Angeles
MAY 30 MSG 0:1 MLS 043 - Kansas City at MetroStars
MAY 30 MetroSports 0:1 MLS 043 - Kansas City at MetroStars

JUN 02 FSNE 3:2 MLS 044 - New England at Kansas City
JUN 05 espn2 0:3 MLS 045 - DC United at Chicago
JUN 05 FSW 2:0 MLS 047 - Dallas at MetroStars
JUN 05 FSSW 2:0 MLS 047 - Dallas at MetroStars
JUN 05 MSG 2:0 MLS 047 - Dallas at MetroStars
JUN 05 not shown 2:1 MLS 086 - Kansas City at Los Angeles
JUN 05 FSW ------- Mauricio Cienfuegos Farewell Match
JUN 06 FSNE 2:1 MLS 046 - Columbus at New England

JUN 09 HDNet 1:0 MLS 048 - Kansas City at Colorado
JUN 12 espn2 2:3 MLS 049 - Chicago at Los Angeles
JUN 12 not shown 0:0 MLS 050 - Colorado at DC United
JUN 12 FSW 2:2 MLS 051 - Kansas City at Columbus
JUN 12 MetroSports 2:2 MLS 051 - Kansas City at Columbus
JUN 12 FSNE 1:3 MLS 052 - New England at Dallas
JUN 12 HDNet 1:3 MLS 053 - MetroStars at San Jose
JUN 12 MSG 1:3 MLS 053 - MetroStars at San Jose

JUN 19 espn2 1:2 MLS 054 - Los Angeles at MetroStars
JUN 19 CSN-DC 1:3 MLS 055 - Columbus at DC United
JUN 19 WWHO-53 1:3 MLS 055 - Columbus at DC United
JUN 19 WLVI-56 3:1 MLS 056 - Kansas City at New England
JUN 19 HDNet 3:1 MLS 056 - Kansas City at New England
JUN 19 FSW 1:1 MLS 057 - San Jose at Chicago
JUN 19 FSBA 1:1 MLS 057 - San Jose at Chicago
JUN 19 FSRM 1:1 MLS 058 - Dallas at Colorado

JUN 23 HDNet 3:0 MLS 059 - MetroStars at Los Angeles
JUN 23 FSNY 3:0 MLS 059 - MetroStars at Los Angeles
JUN 26 espn2 1:1 MLS 060 - DC United at Dallas
JUN 26 not shown 2:1 MLS 061 - Colorado at Columbus
JUN 26 WLVI-56 1:2 MLS 062 - MetroStars at New England
JUN 26 FSW 1:2 MLS 062 - MetroStars at New England
JUN 26 MSG 1:1 MLS 062 - MetroStars at New England
JUN 26 HDNet 1:1 MLS 063 - Kansas City at San Jose
JUN 27 KCAL-9 1:0 MLS 064 - Los Angeles at Chicago

JUN 30 HDNet 3:2 MLS 065 - Colorado at MetroStars
JUN 30 FSNY 3:2 MLS 065 - Colorado at MetroStars
JUL 03 espn2 2:6 MLS 066 - MetroStars at DC United
JUL 03 FSW 0:2 MLS 067 - Chicago at Columbus
JUL 03 FSC 0:2 MLS 067 - Chicago at Columbus
JUL 03 HDNet 1:5 MLS 068 - Dallas at Kansas City
JUL 03 KFWD-52 1:5 MLS 068 - Dallas at Kansas City
JUL 04 FSNE 0:1 MLS 069 - New England at Colorado
JUL 04 HDNet 0:1 MLS 069 - New England at Colorado
JUL 04 FSBA 1:2 MLS 070 - San Jose at Los Angeles
JUL 04 KWHY-22 1:2 MLS 070 - San Jose at Los Angeles (Spanish)

JUL 07 HDNet 2:1 MLS 071 - Dallas at San Jose
JUL 07 FSSW 2:1 MLS 071 - Dallas at San Jose
JUL 10 espn2 0:2 MLS 072 - San Jose at MetroStars
JUL 10 WWHO-53 0:0 MLS 073 - Columbus at Dallas
JUL 10 HDNet 0:1 MLS 074 - DC United at Kansas City
JUL 10 CSN-DC 0:1 MLS 074 - DC United at Kansas City
JUL 10 FSW 0:2 MLS 076 - Colorado at Los Angeles
JUL 10 FSRM 0:2 MLS 076 - Colorado at Los Angeles
JUL 11 FSC 1:1 MLS 075 - New England at Chicago
JUL 11 WLVI-56 1:1 MLS 075 - New England at Chicago

JUL 14 FSC 1:3 MLS 077 - Chicago at New England
JUL 14 KWHY-22 0:0 MLS 078 - Los Angeles at Colorado (Spanish)
JUL 17 espn2 3:1 MLS 079 - Colorado at San Jose
JUL 17 CSN-DC 1:1 MLS 081 - Los Angeles at DC United
JUL 17 KCAL-9 1:1 MLS 081 - Los Angeles at DC United
JUL 17 FSW 1:1 MLS 081 - Los Angeles at DC United
JUL 17 WLVI-56 1:1 MLS 082 - New England at Columbus
JUL 17 HDNet 1:0 MLS 083 - Kansas City at Dallas
JUL 17 MSG 1:1 MLS 089 - MetroStars at Chicago

JUL 24 FSC 1:2 MLS 080 - Chicago at MetroStars
JUL 24 FSNY 1:2 MLS 080 - Chicago at MetroStars
JUL 24 CSN-DC 1:5 MLS 088 - DC United at Dallas
JUL 24 espn2 0:0 MLS 090 - Columbus at Colorado
JUL 24 FSW 2:2 MLS 110 - Los Angeles at Kansas City
JUL 24 KWHY-22 2:2 MLS 110 - Los Angeles at Kansas City (Spanish)
JUL 24 FSNE 2:2 MLS 119 - New England at San Jose

JUL 28 HDNet 1:2 MLS 084 - Dallas at Columbus
JUL 28 FSSW 1:2 MLS 084 - Dallas at Columbus
JUL 28 FSNY 2:1 MLS 085 - MetroStars at Kansas City
JUL 28 CSN-CHI MLS 099 - Chicago at Colorado
JUL 31 ABC 3:2 MLS ASG - MLS All-Star Game

AUG 07 espn2 2:2 MLS 091 - Columbus at New England
AUG 07 FSRM 0:1 MLS 092 - Colorado at Dallas
AUG 07 FSW 0:2 MLS 094 - DC United at San Jose
AUG 07 HDNet 0:2 MLS 094 - DC United at San Jose
AUG 07 CSN-DC 0:2 MLS 094 - DC United at San Jose
AUG 08 MSG 0:3 MLS 095 - Los Angeles at MetroStars
AUG 08 KCAL-9 MLS 095 - Los Angeles at MetroStars

AUG 11 CSN-DC 1:3 MLS 096 - Colorado at DC United
AUG 11 FSNE 3:0 MLS 097 - New England at Dallas
AUG 11 FSBA 1:2 MLS 104 - San Jose at Chicago
AUG 14 espn2 2:0 MLS 098 - San Jose at Kansas City
AUG 14 FSW 2:2 MLS 100 - New England at DC United
AUG 14 WLVI-56 2:2 MLS 100 - New England at DC United
AUG 14 WWHO-53 0:0 MLS 101 - Columbus at Los Angeles
AUG 14 not shown 3:0 MLS 143 - Colorado at Chicago
AUG 15 MSG 1:0 MLS 102 - Dallas at MetroStars
AUG 15 FSSW 1:0 MLS 102 - Dallas at MetroStars

AUG 18 HDNet 1:2 MLS 103 - Kansas City at Columbus
AUG 21 FSO 2:2 MLS 105 - DC United at Columbus
AUG 21 WLVI-56 2:1 MLS 106 - Kansas City at New England
AUG 21 FSW 2:1 MLS 106 - Kansas City at New England
AUG 21 HDNet 0:1 MLS 107 - MetroStars at Colorado
AUG 21 FSRM 0:1 MLS 107 - MetroStars at Colorado
AUG 21 MSG 0:1 MLS 107 - MetroStars at Colorado
AUG 21 KFWD-52 0:3 MLS 108 - Dallas at San Jose
AUG 21 espn2 1:1 MLS 109 - Chicago at Los Angeles

AUG 28 espn2 0:0 MLS 111 - DC United at New England
AUG 28 FSC MLS 112 - Chicago at Dallas
AUG 28 FSW MLS 112 - Chicago at Dallas
AUG 28 HDNet 0:0 MLS 113 - Colorado at San Jose
AUG 29 WWHO-53 MLS 114 - Columbus at MetroStars

SEP 01 not shown MLS 093 - Kansas City at Chicago
SEP 04 espn2 MLS 087 - San Jose at New England
SEP 04 not shown MLS 115 - DC United at Chicago
SEP 04 FSW MLS 116 - Los Angeles at Columbus
SEP 04 KCAL-9 MLS 116 - Los Angeles at Columbus
SEP 04 MSG MLS 117 - MetroStars at Kansas City
SEP 04 Altitude MLS 118 - Dallas at Colorado

SEP 08 not shown MLS 120 - Columbus at San Jose
SEP 10 not shown MLS 123 - Kansas City at Colorado
SEP 11 HDNet MLS 121 - New England at MetroStars
SEP 11 MSG MLS 121 - New England at MetroStars
SEP 11 FSNE MLS 121 - New England at MetroStars
SEP 11 espn2 MLS 122 - Dallas at DC United
SEP 11 FSW MLS 124 - San Jose at Los Angeles
SEP 11 FSBA MLS 124 - San Jose at Los Angeles

SEP 18 FSW MLS 126 - Chicago at DC United
SEP 18 CSN-DC MLS 126 - Chicago at DC United
SEP 18 CSN-CHI MLS 126 - Chicago at DC United
SEP 18 WLVI-56 MLS 127 - Colorado at New England
SEP 18 MSG MLS 128 - MetroStars at Columbus
SEP 18 KCAL-9 MLS 129 - Los Angeles at Dallas
SEP 18 HDNet MLS 130 - San Jose at Kansas City

SEP 22 GolTV USOC Final - Chicago at Kansas City
SEP 25 CSN-DC MLS 131 - DC United at Columbus
SEP 25 not shown MLS 132 - Colorado at Kansas City
SEP 25 MSG MLS 133 - MetroStars at Dallas
SEP 25 FSNE MLS 134 - New England at Chicago
SEP 25 HDNet MLS 135 - Los Angeles at San Jose
SEP 25 FSW MLS 135 - Los Angeles at San Jose
SEP 25 KCAL-9 MLS 135 - Los Angeles at San Jose

OCT 02 FSO MLS 136 - Chicago at Columbus
OCT 02 FSC MLS 136 - Chicago at Columbus
OCT 02 HDNet MLS 137 - Dallas at New England
OCT 02 FSNE MLS 137 - Dallas at New England
OCT 02 FSW MLS 137 - Dallas at New England
OCT 02 CSN-DC MLS 138 - DC United at MetroStars
OCT 02 MSG MLS 138 - DC United at MetroStars
OCT 02 Altitude MLS 139 - San Jose at Colorado
OCT 02 MetroSports MLS 140 - Kansas City at Los Angeles

OCT 06 HDNet MLS 125 - Columbus at Chicago
OCT 06 FSO MLS 125 - Columbus at Chicago
OCT 09 MSG MLS 141 - Columbus at MetroStars
OCT 09 HDNet MLS 141 - Columbus at MetroStars
OCT 09 FSNE MLS 142 - New England at DC United
OCT 09 FSW MLS 142 - New England at DC United
OCT 09 CSN-DC MLS 142 - New England at DC United
OCT 09 KFWD-52 MLS 144 - Dallas at Los Angeles
OCT 09 MetroSports MLS 145 - Kansas City at San Jose
OCT 11 FSW 2004 MLS HOF Game - Chicago vs MetroStars

OCT 16 FSW MLS 146 - Chicago at New England
OCT 16 FSC MLS 146 - Chicago at New England
OCT 16 FSNE MLS 146 - Chicago at New England
OCT 16 KCAL-9 MLS 147 - Los Angeles at Kansas City
OCT 16 HDNet MLS 148 - San Jose at Dallas
OCT 16 WWHO-53 MLS 149 - Columbus at Colorado
OCT 16 Altitude MLS 149 - Columbus at Colorado
OCT 17 espn2 MLS 150 - MetroStars at DC United

[kenntomasch]

Good stuff, Andy.

So, since I'm lazy, what was the final tally of how many of the 150 games were available on MLS Direct Kick? Enough so that people who complained should STFU?

[AndyMead]

Good stuff, Andy.

So, since I'm lazy, what was the final tally of how many of the 150 games were available on MLS Direct Kick? Enough so that people who complained should STFU?

Not all the broadcasts were available via DirectKick and the three flavors of DirectKick (DirecTV, DISH, and iNDemand) differed slightly. None of the Altitude broadcasts made it to DirecTV - probably due to Altitude's contract with DISH Network - but they were on iNDemand.

But every game that was broadcast somewhere was available on at least some form of the DirectKick package. The broadcasts not available were redundant broadcasts.

This list isn't guaranteed to be complete, either. I'm sure I missed some redundant non-DirectKick regional and over-the-air broadcasts.

As noted before, I think there were 4 Fox Sports New York spanish feeds of MSG Network games. Additionally Fox Sports Cincinatti carried most of the Fox Sports Ohio games. And Fox Sports en Espanol - I believe - carried all of the games listed as Fox Sports World, too.

I think that at least one other CCC game featuring an MLS side was broadcast in-market (San Jose or Chicago), but I'm not entirely sure.

[kenntomasch]

I think the only CCC game was the Saprissa vs. Chicago game, and only on Comcast local access in Chicago. I watched it and did a PBP AIM chat on it.

But it appears as though, for the most part, well over 100 of the 150 games were available on Direct Kick.

One thing - CSN Chicago didn't technically exist until October 1. Those Fire games listed as CSN-Chicago were carried on Comcast cable, but on differing local access channels depending on where you lived (and some areas couldn't get them at all). Just semantics.

Edit: Off that list, the leaders in games shown:

HDNet..............33
Fox Sports World...28
ESPN2..............24
MSG................18
CSN DC.............15
Fox Sports NE......13
KCAL-TV............10
WLVI-TV............10
FSN Chicago.........9
FS Rocky Mountain...9
FS Bay Area.........8
WWHO-TV.............7
FS New York.........5
FS Southwest........5
KWHY-TV.............5
MetroSports.........5
Comcast Chicago.....4
FSN Ohio............4
KFWD-TV.............4
Altitude............3
ABC.................2
CN8 NE..............1

[monster]

I have wondered why MLS didn't do the central broadcasting thing. Maybe not announcers, but crews and equipment. Especially as they expand into the promotion of events and online broadcasting of press conferences and such, I wonder why they don't just have a broadcasting department that handles everything.

they probably have a small crew, but you think doing it yourself owuld - in the long run - be cheaper than hiring WinnerCom.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I agree that it would make things more seamless.

[AndyMead]

Super Secret decoder

National:
ABC/espn2
FSW/FSE - Fox Sports World/Fox Sports en Espanol
HDNet - HD Network
GolTV

Chicago Fire
CSN-CHI - Comcast local cable feed (note: Comcast SportsNet Chicago coming soon)
FSC - Fox Sports Net - Chicago
TeleTico - Costa Rican feed rebroadcast on local Chicago cable

Colorado Rapids
Altitude - Kroenke Sports owned sports network
FSRM - Fox Sports Net - Rocky Mountain

Columbus Crew
FSO - Fox Sports Net - Ohio (also seen on Fox Sports Net - Cincinatti)
WWHO-53 - UPN Network

Dallas Burn
KFWD-52 - independent station
FSSW - Fox Sports Net - Southwest

DC United
CSN-DC - Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic

Kansas City Wizards
MetroSports - KC MetroSports

Los Angeles Galaxy
KCAL-9 - Independent station
KWHY-22 - Canal 22 (Spanish) (Telemundo, I think)

MetroStars
FSNY - Fox Sports Net - New York
MSG - Madison Square Garden Network

New England Revolution
CN8 - local cable News Channel 8
FSNE - Fox Sports Net - New England
WLVI-56 - WB Network

San Jose Earthquakes
FSBA - Fox Sports Net - Bay Area

[kenntomasch]

Because it's much more cost-efficient to hire people in Kansas City who do sports production all the time (freelancers) if they're available than drop-shipping them into a market.

Most MLS teams will only travel their announcers and a producer, with the rest of the people who push the buttons mostly coming from a pool of people who do freelance broadcast production for a living. Things were a little stretched in New England this past weekend because FOX gobbled up a lot of the production folks to augment their coverage of the ALCS and the Patriots/Seahawks game as well as the Revs' feed and the Chicago feed of that MLS game. Luckily, in a market as large as NY, LA, Chicago or Boston, you can find people, but other markets don't have as large a pool to draw from.

Basically, the people behind the scenes live in one area and most make a living taking independent contractor checks from networks and teams who hire them for the day to work on a production. Winnercom may cut the checks (I don't know if they do or not), but they're not employees of Winnercom. I think Winnercom supplies the producers and the general way of doing things. I think.

[Jasonma]

But every game that was broadcast somewhere was available on at least some form of the DirectKick package. The broadcasts not available were redundant broadcasts.


I'm not sure this is accurate. The HDNet-only games did not appear in the Direct Kick package as far as I can tell. Only if a non-HD source was also broadcasting the game did they get carried on the Direck Kick package (Or at least the InDemand version).