Why no Local TV

Discussion in 'D.C. United' started by Nick79, Mar 1, 2019.

  1. Nick79

    Nick79 Member

    May 4, 2015
    Club:
    Olympiakos Piraeus
    I've been a DC United fan for awhile. I live in Baltimore area, and basically, I am a TV FAN. I've only been to one game in person. But what is pissing me off is, I used to get ALL OF THEIR GAMES on Comcast! Now they have gone to a pay streaming service, so according to the schedule, there will now be only 13 DCU games on regular TV between FS1 and ESPN and Unimas? So how exactly do they grow the sport if it's on some obscure streaming service that you have to pay for? I'm also a Baltimore Blast fan, and you know what, I have more access to that, through free YouTube MASL Channel (FREE!) than to MAJOR LEAGUE Soccer? Basically I'd think only people that are already fans will pay for this, it won't grow the fan base. I'll just watch the 13 games available on TV. even MAJOR Arena Soccer has a better streaming deal for the fans.
     
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  2. pr0ner

    pr0ner Member+

    Jan 13, 2007
    Alexandria, VA
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Because Flo is paying DC United, and none of the local outlets will do the same. QED.
     
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  3. fatbastard

    fatbastard Member+

    Aug 1, 2003
    Lincoln (ish), Va
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Yep - it sucks - and not in a good way :(

    I'm hoping DirectKick will show the away feeds without blacking them out.

    Otherwise I guess I'll follow the scores on twitter - though even there the DCU twitter account that used to do that seems to have disappeared.

    It's a great way to drive fans away from your team, I'll give them that.
     
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  4. Nick79

    Nick79 Member

    May 4, 2015
    Club:
    Olympiakos Piraeus
    Myself, I'm not a big enough fan to be looking at Twitter wondering what's happening. When they're on TV though, I watch, and DVR it if I'm busy at that time. So now, basically, I'll just watch the 13 games, that's it.
     
  5. UnitedBorn

    UnitedBorn Member+

    Dec 7, 2015
    301
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    #5 UnitedBorn, Mar 1, 2019
    Last edited: Mar 1, 2019
    For $5/month you can watch all the games if you really want to with espn +. You have options if you really want to watch the games.


    This assumes Baltimore is not apart of the blackout market*
     
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  6. QuietSide

    QuietSide Member

    Oct 18, 2002
    Are you sure about that?
    I thought under the FLO deal the "in market area" was Virginia (from Richmond north), DC, all of MD, and all of DE.
     
  7. UnitedBorn

    UnitedBorn Member+

    Dec 7, 2015
    301
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I'll take my comment back as I'm not sure of the blackout region under the new deal.
     
  8. pr0ner

    pr0ner Member+

    Jan 13, 2007
    Alexandria, VA
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    That is what DC United's FAQ says about the deal.
     
  9. griffin1108

    griffin1108 BigSoccer Supporter

    Dec 5, 2003
    Virginia
    Considering that DCU hasn't been on Comcast for several years, I guess you haven't been watching much.:confused: I understand the consternation over the FloFC deal, but your post almost appears to be trolling. Using the Blast as an alternative for "free" access really isn't relevant. If MLS is somehow a "niche sport" (I don't believe it is), well human pinball certainly is, that's why its free. No one would pay for broadcast rights.
     
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  10. PSURoss

    PSURoss Member+

    Sep 30, 2002
    DC Burbs
    The annoying thing is that the price of cable continues to rise, what the (subjective) quality of what the networks offer via cable continue to decline in value. 2 years ago, all the EPL games were free. Now half of them are on NBCSports Gold. You got a lot of Serie A games that are no on ESPN+. Fox had tons of Champions and Europa League games on cable. Now you pay 80 bucks and it doesn't get you any Europa League coverage. The Flo thing is just a joke.

    There's no recognition on the part of of the cable company that Red Bull cliff diving, bobsledding and motorcycle racing make the cable package less valuable.
     
  11. shawn12011

    shawn12011 Member+

    Jun 15, 2001
    Reisterstown, MD
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Can anyone verify the blackout market? a FAQ does not verify it for me. It's propaganda.
     
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  12. Lovac1

    Lovac1 Member

    Jun 6, 2012
    I don’t think anyone will truly know until the first Flo game. Last year I watched several games on ESPN+ live, and I’m in Germantown, so we’ll just have to wait and see.
     
  13. song219

    song219 BigSoccer Supporter

    Apr 5, 2004
    La Norte
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    Vanuatu
    #13 song219, Mar 4, 2019
    Last edited: Mar 4, 2019
    This comprises half of the sports I've watched in the last month that wasn't soccer or basketball. :D
     
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  14. PSURoss

    PSURoss Member+

    Sep 30, 2002
    DC Burbs
    LOL. Full disclosure, we're planning on our 3 yo making the Olympics as a skeleton slider. Baby girl is flat out crazy.
     
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  15. song219

    song219 BigSoccer Supporter

    Apr 5, 2004
    La Norte
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    Vanuatu
    Skeleton was another one of the sports I've watched in the last month. :)
     
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  16. fatbastard

    fatbastard Member+

    Aug 1, 2003
    Lincoln (ish), Va
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States


    Maybe in 2023 DCU will be on TV again ;)
     
  17. PSURoss

    PSURoss Member+

    Sep 30, 2002
    DC Burbs
    Bye Flo

    [​IMG]
     
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  18. Section 107

    Section 107 Member+

    DCU
    United States
    Jul 18, 2018
    paywall for entire article. This might be good. Right now supporters can watch the away FLO games for $6/mo (join the SE's or Barra to get the discount).

    Or go on the interwebs and watch every game for free.....

    DCU likes FLO because 1) FLO is paying and 2) they can know immediately exactly who is watching, what (games only or all the other content, too?), when, where and for how long. That kind of CRM data is very valuable. They can potentially get that info from the cable/internet providers also but it is much less convenient and more expensive. Will be interesting to see what the league comes up with.

    Me? I will continue to watch any/all games via the interwebs for free.....
     
  19. GumbyG

    GumbyG Member+

    DC United
    Mar 22, 2007
    Chesapeake, VA
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    It's almost like you don't think they'll win the MLS contract.
     
  20. UnitedBorn

    UnitedBorn Member+

    Dec 7, 2015
    301
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    If the DC United test case works out well for Flo I can see them putting a bid in for all local rights, same with youtube tv.
     
  21. PSURoss

    PSURoss Member+

    Sep 30, 2002
    DC Burbs
    They will not have enough VC money to play for an MLS wide contract. We'll be on FOX or ESPN most likely.
     
  22. pr0ner

    pr0ner Member+

    Jan 13, 2007
    Alexandria, VA
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Flo apparently has the money to chase after another MLS team's local rights, though:

     
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  23. UnitedBorn

    UnitedBorn Member+

    Dec 7, 2015
    301
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I'm talking about local rights.

    Fox /ESPN aren't buying local rights for all MLS teams.
     
  24. DC Braveheart

    DC Braveheart Member

    D.C. United
    Scotland
    Jan 2, 2001
    Oak Hill, VA
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    Scotland
    How much is the data worth if no-one buys the FLO package? I'm a die hard - don't miss a home game for nothin* and I'm not buying it ... what does that tell them :)

    *unless, of course, my wife tells me I can't go :)
     
  25. D C B 2 3

    D C B 2 3 Member+

    Nov 18, 2007
    VA
    I have not yet subscribed to FLO. I don't know why, it could be a basic hesitation to subcribe to yet another streaming service. I do feel like I am starting to get buried by all the "small" subscriptions. I watch the games religiously and I love re-watching particulalrly interesting matches so that may end up being the forcing function for me.

    It's going to be interesting to monitor Twitter this weekend to see how many DCU fans still are not aware of the FLO deal.
     
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