No Cobi is a plus, I'll give you that. The list is ok. I'm super happy that Kyndra was hired. I think she's the smartest and easiest to listen to analyst that they hired. Twellman is a bad hire. He's barely (and I mean barely) made bearable when he's being carried by studs Jon Champion and Ian Darke. No such talent exists on this list to reign in all of Twellman's crappyness. Clearly they need to hire a lot more people (pbp especially). I wonder why they are doing this in waves.
My biased heart is very happy for Steve Cangialosi. I hope they grab Tyler Terens (recently PbP for the Fire, had been doing CCL before that) and Mike Watts (ESPN's USL guy).
Got my hands recently on a document MLS distributed to its clubs last month. In it, the league lays out expectations for what each of its club's needs to provide in terms of video content for this new Apple deal. I'll thread some details here.— Pablo Iglesias Maurer (@MLSist) January 10, 2023 This is promising (you have to read through the tweet thread to see it all) as to what sort of initial content will be on the service for each team beyond the matches.
Starting with Friday's announcement of the start date and now with the announcing setup in place, time for the 2023 thread. Old thread pared and here we go.
MLS finalizing Apple TV talent, owners consider best-of-three playoff format: Sources - The Athletic More Apple TV content in here. Some more names expected to be hired listed here. It also confirms that some of the longest serving (JP, Dave Johnson and Shep Messing) are out. beyond the tv content, some interesting info on playoff structure changes and creation of an "internal transfer market" in the league. Great article. Subscribe to the Athletic if you don't.
Had it for $1/mo and it still felt overpriced. The soccer coverage is okay, but nearly everything else is the absolute bottom of the barrel.
Very happy, believe it or not, that Marcelo "strong strength" Balboa was picked up but they picked the weaker of the two options from Colorado.
Couldn’t be happier to announce I will be a part of the @MLS project with @AppleTV. The ability to unapologetically cover @MLS is something that hasn’t been done in 27 years. @AppleTV is making that possible. The @MLS fan deserves this moment & this coverage. #MLS pic.twitter.com/hbYv5b1LTn— Taylor Twellman (@TaylorTwellman) January 10, 2023
Does anyone know if there will be national TV MLS games still? Or are all MLS games going to be on Apple TV? essentially, I have to pay $100 a year to watch any MLS?
30+ regular season games on Fox/FS1 for traditional tv. There will also be a bunch of games streaming on AppleTV (which is free) and on AppleTV+ (which has a monthly fee, but maybe you have it already or we're considering it)
Here is how I see the hierarchy of MLS games and their cost to view Apple TV games = free, other than the need for a device and internet connection Fox games = free, other than the need for a TV and antenna, can be viewed via Fox app Apple TV+ games = $6.99/month, or 3 months free with Apple device purchase, or bundle with Apple One, $16.95/mo individual or $22.95/mo for family plan FS1 games = requires cable subscription that includes FS1, price per month varies but ranges from ~$40 to ~$100 or more depending on package and channels received, Sling, YouTubeTV, Comcast, Verizon, DirecTV, Spectrum, etc. I doubt anyone is going to subscribe to cable specifically for FS1 for MLS. If you want MLS games, the MLS Season Pass is the better value by far. All games on MLS Season Pass = $14.99/mo or $99/season, $12.99/mo or $79/season if you already have Apple TV+, Season ticket holders get one MLS Season Pass per Season Ticket account. If you get this, you can access all games and do not need to pay for any other service (i.e. cable or Apple TV+)
I was really hoping they would hire Danny Higginbotham as an analyst. He' was excellent for the Union the past two seasons, and on NBC and ESPN. He just brings a class and intelligent perspective on the game few American Analysts bring. Plus he doesn't treat the viewer like they are dumb.
"Twellman: MLS Season Pass can be like when Apple created the iPhone" (MLSsoccer.com - Tuesday, 1/10/23) -G
Call it a guess but they did say every team can start a local radio broadcast team that you can sync with the MLS+ broadcast with your home team if you want. I have a feeling that the Union which is on Fox Gambler might have their radio team with JP & Danny. I wouldn't be surprised if more teams do this and have them be part of their local radio broadcast.
"MLS, Apple tout new broadcast partnership: ‘The MLS fan deserves to be treated with respect’" (TheAthletic.com - Wednesday, 1/11/23) -G
That's up to the club if they want to have a radio broadcast team. The Union just used the local tv broadcast as their radio feed so I could see them continue if they wanted.
I don't think it's a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but every single article is full of flashing red warnings that they aren't ready for go-live and it's probably going to be a bit of a mess initially.
Hopefully streaming will be different than regular tv. On Sunday's I mute the tv and listen to the Giants play-by-play guys on the radio, but tv is 10 seconds behind. I guess it's good if you're multi-tasking, because it gives you a heads up when a big play is coming, but other than that it's a tad annoying.
I try finding the stream of the radio call and then sync that up. It's a pain, but sometimes it really works.
You get the delay because you're receiving two completely separate transmissions. If it's embedded in the app as an alternate audio choice, it should be fine, unless they completely mess up the tech. e.g, Click here for Spanish, click here for local radio, etc.
Talk about a missed opportunity to replicate that first MLS photo from 1995 or 96. Break those jerseys out!