Thought I would start a thread for sharing details on this. Anyone have details on how to watch 4th round matches if your team is not at home?
I assume you mean third round? USL Live has the following matches listed for the 28th: DC @ Richmond Colorado @ Orlando San Jose @ Charleston
I see people bringing up the idea of a MLS network I guess similar to the networks of the other leagues in the U.S. but people don't seem to get that those networks don't broadcast many games. They are mostly vehicles for other programming that the leagues produce. They can get the providers to carry the channels because of the leverage that those leagues have with the broadcasters for coverage of their games. Here is what Wikipedia has to say about carriage of the MLB network: Even if there was a MLS Network, how would MLS get the providers to carry it? Hold DirectKick over their heads and tell them that if they don't pick it up MLS will take that away? That wouldn't get you very far. And just as sidenote, "begging the question" means to avoid providing any proof of a statement by including the conclusion as part of the initial claim, not to bring it up. "MLS gets low TV ratings because no one watches it" is begging the question. It just restates the original claim with providing any additional information.
Wednesday games Go to MLS team websites for live stream info—except Portland? (didn’t see anything there) Chicago Fire vs Charlotte Eagles http://www.chicago-fire.com/matchday/live/may-29/chavchi LA Galaxy vs Carolina RailHawks –audio and chat only?: http://www.lagalaxy.com/gameday/live Columbus Crew vs Dayton Dutch Lions http://www.thecrew.com/match/usoc-crew-vs-dayton-dutch-lions New York Red Bulls vs Reading http://www.newyorkredbulls.com/live Houston vs FC Tucson http://www.houstondynamo.com/stream Seattle Sounders vs Tampa Bay http://events.soundersfc.com/2013/matches/usoc-01-at-tampa-bay/index.html Portland vs Wilmington—maybe a link for live stream will show up later? http://www.portlandtimbers.com/
Portland streamed their U-23 squad USOC game last week. They stream pretty much everything not televised. I would check for a link later.
Chicago Fire playing Columbus Crew right now... http://www.chicago-fire.com/matchday/live/june-12/chivclb
TheCup.us 47 mins · A source tells TheCup.us that the 2015 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup Final will be broadcast on either FOX Sports 1 orFox Sports 2 as part of a USSF/SUM deal with FOX Sports. No word on any early round broadcasts. http://thecup.us/source-2015-us-open-cup-final-to-be-broadcast-by-fox-sports/
If branded and marketed properly this tournament could find viewership in this country. The NCAA Basketball Tournament wasn't an overnight success. It wasn't until 1982 until all the games were televised and once they were the tournament grew each year. The tournament got more popular because they did almost everything right as far as branding and marketing goes. There are a lot of similarities if you think about it. A tournament that had been around since 1939 with very little interest outside of the student body and niche fan support. The popularity of the sport grows (mainly because of the NBA, Magic, Bird, Lakers and Celtics etc) and the interest in the NCAA and the tournament gets increased support. It wasn't an overnight success, though. It still took almost two more decades before March Madness infected our collective sports zeitgeist. US Open is in kind of a similar situation. The increased popularity of soccer and the increased popularity of MLS are good things for the tournament. But, if the people who run the US Open don't take advantage of it and brand and market the tournament properly then its not going to make a lot of difference. And it won't happen over night. Take lessons from the NCAA tournament and take the right steps along the way so you can get to the point where the tournament has become part of 0ur sports culture. I think the changes they have made have been good ones. Going to a last of 16 team fixed bracket is good because it's easier to market as a tournament (fill out your bracket etc). It's what the American sports fan is used to. The Final has a broadcast partner. The next step would be to get the semi final on TV. Then the quarterfinal. Then the last 16 fixed bracket. The disadvantage the tournament has from a marketing point of view is that it doesn't occur over a couple of weeks or even a month like March Madness. It's broken up over the season with the semi-final being over a month and a half before the final. So it's not a tournament you can really dive into and get interested in in the way you can the NCAA. It takes a little more commitment and attention span.
The FA Cup, Copa del Rey, Coppa Italia, UEFA Champions League, and other competitions are also broken up. Of course those have better clubs than the U.S. Open Cup though.