This is a really fair assessment. I'll chime in and say that his call today was better than in the past, and that I think he's slowly, slowly improving, but not at the kind of rate you'd expect from a guy who's going to be the voice of the league here in the US. FOX's production overall, though, still seems like a glossy veneer over a halfassed effort. They need to start using their whole ass; they just bid all that money for MLS and US games; they could stand to learn a lot from NBC. Specifically, that you can't use the NFL formula and expect it to work with non-casual fans.
Yeah it was a little better. Unfortunately, every time he corrects one flaw, he adds another (like adding the "straight away" thing in the past 2 games he's called, for instance, but fixing some others). He's also poor with pronunciation of some of the players which is one of those mistakes that can really highlight an analysts lack of familiarity with the players and make him sound worse than he is. It isn't completely awful, like some of the shit I've heard in other broadcasts - like this week watching the Canadian Championship analyst call the GK a "goaltender" like it was a 1980s U.S. broadcast - but still, for such a big network who has made such an investment, they can do better.
FOX is terrible covering soccer. Enjoy MLS games in SD on FOX Sports 2. I do not think ratings will increase.
Anyone know how the money is split up between MLS and U.S. Soccer? Obviously the lion's share goes to MLS due to the number of games, but I'm interested to know how much of that money ends up in U.S. Soccer coffers. I couldn't find the details in any of the articles I have read so far.
@Rick Shaw You can't find those numbers because they are not officially released. The best we can do is to use some financial forensics on the US Soccer Annual financial report from last year and extropolate that forward for a rough estimate of the break down of the money. We did this back in January in the MLS TV thread. After crunching the numbers and making some agreed upon estimates, we came out with roughly 80% goes to MLS the rest goes to SUM and US Soccer. The SUM equation has been further complicated by the fact that SUM sold off 25% of the company to Provudence Partners, so in some form they are going to take a cut of the deal. While it is most certainly not exactly right, assuming 80% comes into MLS will put you in the right ball park. One note, I would not assume that the money will 100% go into the salary cap. I think it will be spread around.
They said in the press conference that FS1 would be the primary channel. The big wig representing Fox said FS2 would only be employed during a rare conflict and used the US Open tournament as an example. We are expecting around 5 or less of the 34 games will be on FS2 but won't know for sure until the schedule is released. FS2 has been in HD since the day it launched on Direct TV.
Many of us who follow this in depth think that Fox will go with John Strong, who is the current voice of MLS on NBCSN and does a very good job. He might be the best American born soccer announcer ever and he is only 28. He already works for Fox on other soccer properties and seeing he won't be needed on NBC next year, it is an easy transition. During the press conference announcing the deal, the Fox big wig was asked directly if Gus would call MLS games. His answer was "we have not talked to Gus at all about calling MLS but he does enjoy calling soccer games" If I had to guess, I bet Gus calls the US Nats games on Fox.
MLS wouldn't get money it does without US games packaged together. Gus is horrible. Dave O'Brien calling 2006 World Cup games for ESPN is who he reminds me of. Doesn't know the game and FOX thinks he can learn on the job. FS2 is still SD here in Ohio for cable customers. Problem I have with the deal is FOX never puts an effort into soccer broadcasts. Be it Euro games or MLS. Their coverage is terrible.
It is a symbiotic relationship which is why they are paired together. MLS brings the content in terms of hours and US Soccer brings a small amount of high profile games. But make no mistake about, the deal was in the large majority MLS. As I am sure you saw in the press conference, it was 95% focused on MLS with just a small mention of US Soccerwhich obviously made sense since the bulk of the deal was MLS based
Yeah he does look old but was born in 1985. When you factor in most good announcers don't really peak until late 30's through their 40's, I believe he is someone who we should allow to find his ceiling. He has a strong base to build off of and I really hope he moves full time to Fox next year.
Some excerpts from an article on how Fox is viewing Gus Johnson's work: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/mo...ohnson-world-cup-espn-mark-jackson/?eref=sihp I personally dislike Wynalda more than Johnson. Wynalda to me doesn't seem to have any gravitas and is too chatty for the in-match commentary, but I think he would be great as the halftime analyst.
JP Dellacamera is still employed by FOX so he's another option. I wouldn't mind seeing him behind the mic again.