Apple TV

Discussion in 'D.C. United' started by shawn12011, Oct 5, 2022.

?

Will you be willing to pay Apple to watch DC United games?

  1. Yes

    22 vote(s)
    53.7%
  2. No

    19 vote(s)
    46.3%
  1. JayRockers!

    JayRockers! Member+

    Aug 4, 2001
    https://theathletic.com/3736063/2022/10/27/mls-apple-tv-broadcasts/?source=user_shared_article

    Apple isn’t paying for the production, MLS is. If MLS can’t get the games on TV without problems (like the recent MTL playoff game) using 5th choice on-site production trucks there’s nothing Apple can do.

    9ED0921A-E6F8-45B8-B94B-8E9767688A6F.jpeg

    The article also states they’re probably 8-12 months behind where they need to be for Feb 25, 2023.

    Even if Flo was only that far behind, with greater experience in streaming sports than MLS has, their attempt was dogshit and never got better.

    Thx,

    Jay!

    I’d be surprised if we get any sort of preseason streaming audio/video. You know, when MLS should be working out the kinks…
     
    revelation, Winoman and shawn12011 repped this.
  2. shawn12011

    shawn12011 Member+

    Jun 15, 2001
    Reisterstown, MD
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    My rubric for success is people being willing to pay Apple to watch MLS. I also suspect despite your assertion that would be their rubric as well. Not nearly enough people will be willing to pay. Now where you are wrong is this is not based upon my negative outlook. This is based upon facts right in front of me. Not one person I work with even know what MLS is. I suspect that is the case where most of us work. So therefore they are banking upon the current MLS fan base. Which means a very limited base of money for Apple to draw from and thus Apple will be disappointed and ditch this fiasco early before the end of this however many years they signed up for.
     
  3. morrissey

    morrissey Moderator
    Staff Member

    Feb 18, 2000
    West Los Angeles, Calif
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Everyone at my place of business knows what MLS is so I guess my anecdotal evidence balances out yours. Apple isn't naive - neither are any other steaming provider. They have all of the data about viewership, subscriber base for previous MLS package data and they chose to bid for it anyway. Maybe they increase it based on the offerings but If you think the fact that MLS isn't on the radar amongst boomers is some sort of omen about how this service will perform you would be incorrect. You complain incessantly about how DC (and MLS) is going after a different market than you with their promotions and in stadia experience and somehow thing they aren't doing the same thing with the Apple service?
     
    Q*bert Jones III repped this.
  4. shawn12011

    shawn12011 Member+

    Jun 15, 2001
    Reisterstown, MD
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I will concede you may work in a different environment. No where that I have worked has anyone know what MLS is. Vaccine manufacture, retirement home, Baltimore City schools, banking, process controls, real estate.

    Your second point confuses me. Most boomers change their interest based upon the wind and the latest social media app. They are different market than me. That is who Apple thinks will buy MLS because everyone of them has an iPhone, which is not true. I know lots of Android users, I have an iPhone. Most of their iPhone users are not buying MLS. I am not saying this will fail ala, Flo Sports in 1 year but what did they sign? A 10 year deal. No way this thing last 10 years. 5 years or less, take the under on this bet.
     
  5. morrissey

    morrissey Moderator
    Staff Member

    Feb 18, 2000
    West Los Angeles, Calif
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Neither apple or MLS thinks boomers will have anything to do with this service.
     
    Alejandro 10 and shawn12011 repped this.
  6. shawn12011

    shawn12011 Member+

    Jun 15, 2001
    Reisterstown, MD
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    So we are back again to non-STH MLS fans, not a lot of money available there. Especially since this group are not willing to buy season tickets.
     
    GlennAA11 repped this.
  7. morrissey

    morrissey Moderator
    Staff Member

    Feb 18, 2000
    West Los Angeles, Calif
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    MLS is getting money from Apple to put this on their service. If apple ends up with NFL Ticket as well that will only improve the streaming infrastructure. There is a different paradigm at work here and only apple knows what their goals are for this service. Whatever those goals are I believe that they would like some subscriber growth YOY but that is not likely what drove the deal.
     
  8. Section 107

    Section 107 Member+

    DCU
    United States
    Jul 18, 2018
    I think apple doesn't care as much as about subscription dollars as it does just getting folks to log in to their servers so they can hoover up all viewers info and, once on the platform, the viewers will find other content. More eyeballs on their platform mean more advertising dollars for them.

    Interest in top level US soccer will get a mighty spike in the runup/wake of WC26 (as happened after US94) supported by more international star players coming over - look what getting Mr. Posh Spice did back in the day, and Zlatan and a couple of others more recently. The influx of Apple's cash is going to dramatically affect roster spend - beginning next year with a $550k increase and ending with '26 spend just shy of a $4M increase over 2022 spend. That should make for a lot of quality players.

    So yeah, folks other than pale, stale and male will be accessing the apple platform in significant numbers and it will be worth it for your apple stockholders.

    Over time the percentage of games behind the paywall will increase, all as planned.
     
    GlennAA11 and shawn12011 repped this.
  9. shawn12011

    shawn12011 Member+

    Jun 15, 2001
    Reisterstown, MD
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States

    And yet United will spend that 4.550 M on unknown South/Central Americans that will flop.
     
  10. shawn12011

    shawn12011 Member+

    Jun 15, 2001
    Reisterstown, MD
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States

    Apple might want the NFL but I doubt they get it. At the end of the day I am saying that I doubt this lasts the full 10 years.
     
  11. Q*bert Jones III

    Q*bert Jones III The People's Poet

    Feb 12, 2005
    Woodstock, NY
    Club:
    DC United
    I have a strong suspicion that you used to think that the internet would be a fad.
     
    sitruc and griffin1108 repped this.
  12. shawn12011

    shawn12011 Member+

    Jun 15, 2001
    Reisterstown, MD
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States

    No as an IT professional who worked at the NSA I saw the internet before you guys. I knew what it would become.
     
  13. morrissey

    morrissey Moderator
    Staff Member

    Feb 18, 2000
    West Los Angeles, Calif
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    As someone who connected to BBSs and a pre-mosaic internet in 5th grade I can tell you that none of us knew what it would become.
     
  14. Section 107

    Section 107 Member+

    DCU
    United States
    Jul 18, 2018
    not true. even back then we all knew it would be used more and more for porn....!
     
    shawn12011, fatbastard and song219 repped this.
  15. revelation

    revelation Member+

    Dec 17, 1998
    FC St. Pauli
    Club:
    FC Sankt Pauli
    Well the Internet is for porn...
     
    anotherfan and shawn12011 repped this.
  16. song219

    song219 BigSoccer Supporter

    Apr 5, 2004
    La Norte
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    Vanuatu
    Speaking of easy things to predict, has porn taken over the so called metaverse yet?
     
  17. morrissey

    morrissey Moderator
    Staff Member

    Feb 18, 2000
    West Los Angeles, Calif
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    alt.binaries.pictures.
     
    shawn12011, TowsonDad and revelation repped this.
  18. shawn12011

    shawn12011 Member+

    Jun 15, 2001
    Reisterstown, MD
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    well our little poll here is leaning slightly no, hmmmm. o_O
     
  19. Section 107

    Section 107 Member+

    DCU
    United States
    Jul 18, 2018
    Wow, now that truly is a throwback....!
     
  20. GlennAA11

    GlennAA11 Member+

    Jun 12, 2001
    Arlington, VA
    I agree there is plenty to be skeptical about. I'll pay the $100 to watch all of the games. But I am unusual. The ratings have always been minuscule. There's no reason to believe very many people are going to pay. Since there's supposed to be a stand-alone subscription (as best I can tell) I don't know how they're going to suck people into their ecosystem. How many season ticket holders are there league-wide anyway? I guess they're trying to work out some deal to get the old partners to show some games. I don't know how that will breakdown.
     
    Dan Kohner repped this.
  21. Section 107

    Section 107 Member+

    DCU
    United States
    Jul 18, 2018
    Wouldn't we love to see the pitch numbers from MLS?!?! :)

    There is a reddit from around February this year with sourced numbers of season ticket FTEs for ~15 teams with the average being 17.3k and median 15k and totaling around 260k. I think an average of 10k each for the rest of the league is reasonable (early last year I heard DC had about 7,800) so ~400k overall would seem to be reasonable.

    Add in fans who dont pony up for stadium seats, out of market fans, and a bump from MLS players in WC22 and WC26, plus messi coming to MLS, and might they have a draw getting up to around 600k....?

    But that's just seats, not individual fans. Corporate accounts cut down that number significantly. and for example, I have had 3 seats and neither I nor either of my two boys would spend any time, let alone money, to watch MLS games except for United. I suspect most season ticket holders are similar...so cut the actual viewers from season tickets holders at least in half.

    And thanks to the interwebs anything on AppleTV or any other "network" is available free of charge on demand. That doesnt help, either.
     
    Winoman repped this.
  22. Dan Kohner

    Dan Kohner Member

    DC United
    United States
    Jan 18, 2017
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    So how does one know which DC United matches will be in the "Free Section" or in the "Pay Section"? It makes sense that nobody wants to pay for a subscription when most of their team's match will be in the "Free Section" and vice versa.
     
    revelation repped this.
  23. QuietSide

    QuietSide Member

    Oct 18, 2002
    I have no idea.
    Presumably the "broadcast" schedule will come out at some point in the future, maybe all in advance, maybe on a week-to-week basis.

    I suppose they could go in two directions.

    Put some "high profile" matches in the free section to try and draw attention to the league and maybe get some subscriptions, at which point we'll likely never be in the free section...

    Or put the crappy matches in the free section and make people pay for the good stuff, at which point you'll probably be able to watch every DC United game for free...
     
    revelation and Winoman repped this.
  24. Dan Kohner

    Dan Kohner Member

    DC United
    United States
    Jan 18, 2017
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
  25. shawn12011

    shawn12011 Member+

    Jun 15, 2001
    Reisterstown, MD
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States

    Wow talk about pricing yourself out of the market. At those prices they will get 34 subs.
     

Share This Page