News: MLS Consolidating Local TV rights in 2022

Seems like a bad move--- so now the local tv rights to the clubs will be handled by the league. Will they bundle them together along with the national tv rights the next time the media contract is up? Does that mean that from now on MLS will no longer appear on local tv channels because only the huge conglomerates like the affiliates of foxsports net and cbs sports net will be the ones able to have enough dough to bid ?

 

Streaming.

A NBC Sports/PL-type deal where one or two games are available nationally, the rest via the internet.

Thx,

Jay!

 

Fox sports sold all of its regional sports networks to the mouse, who now has to sell them to someone else. Lots of players in that game and no leader AFAIK.

Pay for streaming similar to ESPN+ and the USL is the most likely. Except a lot more expensive. YouTube, Amazon, ESPN, all are possibilities.

 

I have never lived in an MLS TV market. (I take that back. For a short time I lived in Michigan and we got local Columbus Crew matches via FOX Sports Net). I now live in Western South Dakota. The point is that for guys like me things won't change much. I have ALWAYS had a subscription service to follow my team and the league. I'm actually VERY happy with the ESPN+ deal. It's currently $60 per year and does NOT require any other ESPN subscription via cable, satellite, or streaming package. Which is great for cord cutters like me. I suspect that MLS will go the streaming route. Have no idea which platform, but it's probably gonna be fine with me....

 

This could be the end of local TV on traditional broadcast/cable/satellite channels. If ESPN buys all of the rights, it could have its national TV games on its regular channels and then everything else on ESPN+. An upside would be the probable end of local streaming blackouts. A downside would be the audience is restricted to people actively seeking a subscription. It also could be on a streaming service more expensive than ESPN+.

I could be wrong and even if one company takes over all of the rights, they might still be able to sublicense to a traditional TV channel for local broadcasts.

A lot of uncertainties to be sure. How does Canada fit into all of this? And would they do a worldwide-available streaming service? Is this the end of bundling MLS and US national team TV contracts?

 

Are the owners that have some sort of stake in local broadcast (Kroenke-Altitude, Yankees-YES, etc.) going to want to give up their content to a streaming service?

 

I believe Canada is already ahead of the curve on this. The three Canadian teams currently have all of their games broadcast nationally already. MLS' streaming package in Canada is handled DAZN.

 

That's how it is now, but that doesn't tell us how it will be in 2022 and beyond.

 

If I remember correctly ESPN2 during college football season could show different games in different markets due to regional broadcasts. Could they do the same here? Have a set time for the local games and set broadcasts regionally, then do the national broadcasts at a set time. Would fans be interested in that?

 

I think Mach1 could be right. NFL does something similar. First two time slots on a Sunday have multiple games split by market. You can pay to stream for out of market games. Then the best matchups are put in the primetime spots for a national audience. Hopefully MLS it trying to match that. Taking games off normal TV in local markets kills of exposure. I think the Chicago Blackhawks tried that a while back thinking TV drove fans away from showing up in person. Did not work how they thought it would.

 

We're used to seeing it with networks, I'm just making the comment that it could be possible with cable channels too.

And the NFL is an interesting analogy. They're the other major league in the US that does not have local TV contracts. Granted, they're bigger than MLS, but its proof that the model can work. Especially if you're promoting parity.

If I'm MLS, I'm looking very closely at the viewership numbers LAFC is getting. They're in a large market, and a team with good buzz, so they're a good test on what a "best" case would probably be on viewership for all the other teams going streaming. If their numbers are poor, I'd think very carefully about doing it for everyone else. As much as we like to talk about stadiums and attendance, it's broadcast viewership (and the money that follows) that'll push the league to the next level. It might be a smart idea to take a lower bid if it means you get more exposure. Play the long game.

 

When I first heard about the idea of the league centralizing local broadcast deals, I felt (and still kinda feel) that it wasn't a great idea, if only because teams should know their own fans and markets better than MLS does.

However, after yesterday's debacle with DC's FloFC agreement...

I can see some benefit to having MLS involved. Maybe not for full control, but at least to maybe provide some oversight so individual teams don't shoot themselves in the foot. Ooof.

This, essentially.

 

FloFC seems to be charging $30 per month for FCC fans without cable or antennas.

 

Or we'll be lucky enough to end up with FloFC buying exclusive worldwide rights to all games.

 

But that would leave the league one less Business Metric to use in a case for relocating an under-performing team................


*Clearly taking a dig at PSV for the last local TV deal in Columbus.

 

Seems a tad expensive.. Daaaaaaamn.

 

They've also announced a reduced price $150 annual rate. I'm not sure if that's just for FCC or they have other programming too.

 

There's only one FloSports subscription so far. You get the entire network.

 

Do they have other stuff too, besides MLS games?

 

https://www.flosports.tv

Yes. At a quick glance, it is all super obscure stuff from other countries.

 

Evidently my login goes back to 2006 probably from FloTrack. I've mostly used the service over the years for track and field and wrestling.

 

So.. Stupid question.. Does the $13/month give you access to all of FloSports, or just specific sports? Just for fun I clicked the Join link and it made me select one of their sports, from which I had to select the Join link again and this time it took me to an actual join form.

And don't get me started on how stupid that sequence is.. FFS, I already selected Join, I shouldn't have to select it again after selecting the sport. Hell, just take me straight to the Join process and make the selecting of a sport one of the steps in the process (or don't even make me choose a sport if the $13/month is for all of their sports). My inner UX designer has been triggered...

 

It's for all sports, but it may force you to login on every single page just to piss you off.

 

I'd love to see the bounce rate at each login step.