USL Pro to stream all games for free, good article

Discussion in 'United Soccer Leagues' started by RobtheAggie, Jan 29, 2014.

  1. ThePonchat

    ThePonchat Member+

    #ProRelForUSA
    United States
    Jan 10, 2013
    I've Been Everywhere Man
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Not for me it didn't. I could look around on UNation and watch any game I wanted with no registration or logins. They streamed USL Pro, W-League, and even some PDL.

    Pretty handy for the league. It was mandated that all teams webstream too. Teams got fined for their streaming if they didn't do certain things (announce advertisers, etc.).

    Agree 100%. I know some MLS teams have streamed on YouTube before too -- watched some SKC and Crew on the site.

    MLS should help market it now too. They should continuously have a "Watch Now" section on their frontpage. There should also be an archive section where you can watch anything.

    In today's soccer age, there is no reason why every professional (MLS, NASL, USL Pro) and amateur (PDL, NPSL, and most colleges) should not be webcasting their games (and most of it free).
     
  2. kenntomasch

    kenntomasch Member+

    Sep 2, 1999
    Out West
    Club:
    FC Tampa Bay Rowdies
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Just don't understand why tickets cost money, scarves cost money, beer costs money, jerseys cost money, t-shirts cost money, cable TV costs money, satellite TV costs money, gas costs money, nachos cost money, hot dogs cost money, yet streaming of games just has to be free as if it costs no one anything to produce. Or as if that alone, among all consumer goods and services, has no value.
     
    Blando13 repped this.
  3. Zoidberg

    Zoidberg Member+

    Jun 23, 2006
    ....because the demographic that is most likely to watch any type of streming media has been stealing stuff since the internet was created. They feel it's their right to get it for free.
     
  4. ThePonchat

    ThePonchat Member+

    #ProRelForUSA
    United States
    Jan 10, 2013
    I've Been Everywhere Man
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    ...or the fact that advertising can pay for this. It's not hard to stream for free. I have been apart of 3 organizations that have streamed everything 100% free -- all dealing with athletics too. We do it as a way of getting our product out there.

    I am currently apart of an institution that is required to stream EVERY athletic event by conference policy. It's not that hard to do. We do it with 1 camera and 1 announcer (sometimes). I'm not saying professional teams need to do it this exact same way. The professional team I was a member of that we streamed for, had 7 members that all streamed through someone's personal WiFi network on their phone. It's simple.
     
  5. Macsen

    Macsen Moderator
    Staff Member

    Nov 5, 2007
    Orlando
    Club:
    Orlando City SC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Ads.
     
  6. Macsen

    Macsen Moderator
    Staff Member

    Nov 5, 2007
    Orlando
    Club:
    Orlando City SC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Here's how the streaming situation looks so far for the USL Pro teams:

    Orlando City: I'll let someone else comment on our commentary. The camera angles are very odd; the director loves using angles from the ends, especially looking from the South End. Raw stream quality (720p) is very good, which is to be expected since we have the ESPN Innovation Lab at our disposal.

    LA Galaxy II: They've actually used different graphics packages in different home games. Video quality is good, but so far video and audio have been off-sync. Video was ahead in the home game against OKC 4/7, but audio was ahead in the home game 4/13 against Sacramento.

    Charlotte Eagles: Audio quality leaves alot to be desired. It's not the YouTube feed's fault; it's a 1080p feed. They still use an SD camera, too. You get interlacing artifacts when you increase the player size.

    Orange County Blues: Their video is quite good at 720p, audio crystal clear (though it's the same commentator as before, take that for what you will).

    Arizona United: They turned the feed on about 90 minutes before kickoff. Unfortunately, the feed was only 240p (qVGA).

    Dayton Dutch Lions: 360p, but widescreen.

    Charleston Battery: 480p, but widescreen. They're doing things the way they've always done it, which isn't bad, but they could probably use an HD camera upgrade.

    Richmond Kickers: Feed is 720p. Not sure if the camera quality is quite that high, but it's not bad, and audio is in sync.

    Wilmington Hammerheads: 720p feed. Good video quality, though a bit choppy at times.

    Pittsburgh Riverhounds: I'll tell you when they turn off the live feed from Saturday night's match and actually post the replay...
     
  7. RobtheAggie

    RobtheAggie Member+

    Sep 10, 2001
    Middle Georgia
    Club:
    Rochester Rhinos
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I watched the Dayton - Rochester match on Friday. It was really hard to pick out the ball for a good portion of the match. The stream also jumped a bit. The way that field sits, with the setting sun will create lots of pretty bad 1st half of matches to watch. Just the way the sun drops right into the live of sight of the camera.
     
  8. ThePonchat

    ThePonchat Member+

    #ProRelForUSA
    United States
    Jan 10, 2013
    I've Been Everywhere Man
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Good thing is, only two more matches at that venue.

    I've never had any issues with a DDL stream though.
     
  9. Prosoccercdn

    Prosoccercdn Member+

    Aug 6, 2011
    Club:
    FC Edmonton
    Nat'l Team:
    Canada
    I tried to watch the Dayton game last friday but it was basically unwatchable with severe lag, very low quality and not worth the time or frustration.

    The OC Blues vs Energy game I watched the week previous had good visual clarity and only slight lag - one camera only though.
     
  10. kenntomasch

    kenntomasch Member+

    Sep 2, 1999
    Out West
    Club:
    FC Tampa Bay Rowdies
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Which is, of course, why ESPN is also completely free.
     
  11. Macsen

    Macsen Moderator
    Staff Member

    Nov 5, 2007
    Orlando
    Club:
    Orlando City SC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Tell that to your cable or satellite company. o_O

    One camera isn't a terrible thing, so long as it's a good viewing angle.
     
  12. Vesty

    Vesty Member

    May 8, 2007
    Pittsburgh
    Club:
    Pittsburgh Riverhounds
    The video quality for the Riverhounds replay is good and I believe 720p. No audio though and obviously no stream at the time. I talked to the video guy before the match and they were having a lot of problems outside of their control with equipment showing up late and some of it just flat out not working. Seemed like he was having a rough night well before the game even started. It should be better (and have an actual stream) for the next home game.

    From what I understand Orlando uses the odd camera angles because the awnings over some of the stands tend to get in the way.
     
  13. RobtheAggie

    RobtheAggie Member+

    Sep 10, 2001
    Middle Georgia
    Club:
    Rochester Rhinos
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I thought the same thing. It makes sense because of the psudo-temporary nature of the stands, etc.
     
  14. Macsen

    Macsen Moderator
    Staff Member

    Nov 5, 2007
    Orlando
    Club:
    Orlando City SC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    The awnings that are present are actually the permanent stands at that field. But yeah, that makes sense. I doubt someone's gonna mount a more traditional high-angle camera just for a single season.
     
  15. Vesty

    Vesty Member

    May 8, 2007
    Pittsburgh
    Club:
    Pittsburgh Riverhounds
    I thought I saw during Orlando's second home game they had a high angle camera on a scissor lift or something. Did that not work out?
     
  16. RobtheAggie

    RobtheAggie Member+

    Sep 10, 2001
    Middle Georgia
    Club:
    Rochester Rhinos
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Chicago Fire had one camera at midfield and the sound and picture quality were good.
     
  17. Macsen

    Macsen Moderator
    Staff Member

    Nov 5, 2007
    Orlando
    Club:
    Orlando City SC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    OKC's feet got jittery at times. Raw video quality was good, and 720p. They could use a more discrete score bug, though. Also, their director loves lingering on surface shots, and needs to switch off from the transitioned cuts to more instant cuts.

    Sacto needs to mute their replay feed. I could hear the sound on the replay slow and speed up as they were shuttling through it. There was also at least one point where they cut to a replay during the course of play. They could also use a more discrete score bug. Also a 720p feed.

    Rochester... THEY JUST DIDN'T CARE!!! Their encoding is still at standard def, even though the feed itself is 720p.
     
  18. RobtheAggie

    RobtheAggie Member+

    Sep 10, 2001
    Middle Georgia
    Club:
    Rochester Rhinos
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    As a Rhino fan, this statement is too true in so many aspects. I hope this season is the start of the rebirth.
     
  19. gsterp

    gsterp Member+

    Jul 16, 2003
    College Park
    The biggest thing I've seen through the different broadcasts so far this year (haven't seen them from everyone, but most) is trying to be too complex at times. This is especially true in terms of camera angles. There are many moments where the camera changes to a zoomed shot for little apparent reason, and the ball is then offscreen for a few seconds. I can deal with glare or other environmental issues, but things like the camera switching are jarring as a viewer.

    Still far better than the nothing that we had for years and years though.
     
  20. Prosoccercdn

    Prosoccercdn Member+

    Aug 6, 2011
    Club:
    FC Edmonton
    Nat'l Team:
    Canada
    The Arizona game had that kind of camera action on their stream on the weekend - they continually changed the cameras, some were bright and others showed dark video, irritating, but the clarity was good.
     
  21. gsterp

    gsterp Member+

    Jul 16, 2003
    College Park
    Dear Orlando announcers,

    You are not funny. Please stop trying, you do well enough when you just focus on the game.
     
    Mikey mouse repped this.
  22. ThePonchat

    ThePonchat Member+

    #ProRelForUSA
    United States
    Jan 10, 2013
    I've Been Everywhere Man
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Watching DDL v. Charleston. Feed is low quality, but sound and stream have zero problems.
     
  23. Macsen

    Macsen Moderator
    Staff Member

    Nov 5, 2007
    Orlando
    Club:
    Orlando City SC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Arizona has upped their feed. They are now 720p. They positioned the HD camera on the opposite side as well, which means instead of seeing the crowd, we see the berms on the opposite side.

    It's mute through about the 4th minute, then they adjust the audio up from there. But the PBP is always on a softer feed than the color guy.
     
  24. socceramericanstyle

    Sep 6, 2011
    [QUOTE="Rochester... THEY JUST DIDN'T CARE!!! Their encoding is still at standard def, even though the feed itself is 720p.[/QUOTE]

    That is too bad because from what I have seen again this year, Rochester's Play-By-Play announcer is very good.
     
  25. si2009

    si2009 New Member

    Jun 25, 2009
    Club:
    Wolverhampton Wanderers
    At least with you tube it is free and available to a worldwide audience whole match live or on demand unlike the nasl .
    I think the nasl would have been better served streaming on you tube as well.
     

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