TV Revenue in the US for Soccer vs Other Sports

Discussion in 'Soccer in the USA' started by HighburyForever, Feb 21, 2007.

  1. HighburyForever

    HighburyForever Red Card

    Oct 15, 2006
    Wooloomooloo, New South Wales
    Club:
    Zenit St Petersburg
    Nat'l Team:
    Russia
    People are saying the US media doesn't want to show soccer because of poor advertising revenue frold mam commercials. This doesn't make sense to me because it would seem they couke just as much with soccer.

    If you watch the World Cup on ABC or ESPN, they would put a company's logo in the corner of the screen for almost 15-20 minutes at a time. Granted, it's not as intricate as a commercial but it's certainly more exposure than a 30 second TV spot. You would think having a company's logo or product on TV for 15 minutes at a time should command more money than a short TV ad.

    There has to be some marketing research to back this up. Any marketing majors here?
     
  2. Stan Collins

    Stan Collins Member+

    Feb 26, 1999
    Silver Spring, MD
    Nah, a commercial is better for revenue purposes. Just think about it for a second. . . a commerical takes up the whole screen with nothing else going on, and you get sound.
     
  3. tmcdaniel

    tmcdaniel New Member

    Feb 26, 2006
    La Porte, Texas
    No doubt and is no secret advertising pays the bills for sports. The highest ad payments in the USA are for sports. The little icon they place on the screen does not sell products. Watch what happens over the next couple of years as soccer continues to grow in the USA. You probably will see 2 or 3 minute timeouts in each half. Basketball is losing to soccer and as an avid american sports fan, I can see it from the ground level. College sports and soccer are rising fast. People say soccer is boring in the USA but those people don't understand soocer, yet. When the media boosts it's coverage, soccer will grow by leaps and bounds.
    Barcelona vs Liverpool was an awesome game yesterday. I bet it isn't on the front page of ESPN website even though they showed it. Go Look!
     
  4. MNAFETSC

    MNAFETSC Member

    Feb 5, 2000
    Blacksburg
    Yah plus overtimes, shoot outs, and the clock counting down....
     
  5. sidis

    sidis Member

    Jun 2, 2006
    Itaguaí-RJ - Brazil
    in brazil we try a game with 22:30 minutes quartes with larger time out after 2nd quarter (like basketball)
    not work properly, the team correct his defensive strategies in this time out and the goals per game was worst and the telespectators don't like more ads.

    you can put more ads before the game begin and in dead ball moments.

    you can easily put advertising in narration, in brazil when a player kick the ball to far from goal the narrator say in portuguese "bandeirantes the sport channel".
     
  6. the rodg

    the rodg New Member

    Dec 16, 2006

    I agree, the problem is how to get the commercial time without compromising the integrity of the game?
    15 min pre-game plus 1/2 time (15min.) = 15 total of commercial time ?
    Im sure they have many angles, but they better not mess up my game by throwing in some t.v. time out, that would be wrong on so many levels.
    I say, let the fan base grow some more (ive been a fan for 25+years so i can wait another 1-3 more years)
    say 1-3years, then with the sponsors begging to have just a bit of time
    sell them a 10x20 foot 3-dimentional (looking)banner next to the touch line by a goal for ohhhhhhhh 1/2 mil a game???
     
  7. MNAFETSC

    MNAFETSC Member

    Feb 5, 2000
    Blacksburg
    Ive always thought something like radio commercials might work. Have the announcers shut up for a couple minutes and have audio ads go through and/or during dead ball situations have a quick graphic of a sponsors pass through the screen. Another thing that migh work is when they show interviews of players with a smaller screen at the corner of picture that might be possible for commercials as well.
     
  8. sidis

    sidis Member

    Jun 2, 2006
    Itaguaí-RJ - Brazil
    thats works and is used in brazil transmissions.
     
  9. leg_breaker

    leg_breaker Member

    Dec 23, 2005
    Funny how in England we've had football broadcast for decades but never needed to show adverts during the game, or radio commercials instead of commentary.

    Why do they need it in Brazil?
     
  10. sidis

    sidis Member

    Jun 2, 2006
    Itaguaí-RJ - Brazil
    Beucase we broadcasting our games in a region of the size of dozen englands, with a lot of geographic problems, regional tv channels, 12 great teams, a lot more games being played at same time, a 3rd world country etc etc?
     
  11. tmcdaniel

    tmcdaniel New Member

    Feb 26, 2006
    La Porte, Texas
    I watch a lot of mexican games on Deportes, can't speak spanish though, lol.
    They show ads superimposed off the field. Like a huge FORD advertisement, with animation and all but no sound.
    The difference between England and the USA, we are always looking to make a buck, you've always had soccer (footie) so your sponsors accept how they advertise. We already have 3 major sports and soccer is slowly gaining but the reason it can't break through is because there is not enough commercial advertisement time available so no money for stations to make. They would rather show POKER, which is not even a damn sport.

    BTW, you will see more and more articles about the lack of air time for soccer because it is growing fast.
     
  12. ZeekLTK

    ZeekLTK Member

    Mar 5, 2004
    Michigan
    Nat'l Team:
    Norway

    People are not watching for ads, so the "problem" is not how to show more of them... no one wants to see them.

    The problem is there is too many damn ads.

    There doesn't need to be that much advertising. It doesn't even work either. I've never bought a Ford Truck and don't ever plan to, no matter how many god damn ads they show me for it.

    And while I'm on this rant, let me add that the stupidest thing I've ever heard of is those stupid banners they have all around the stadium at every game. Seriously what is the point of those? All it says is "Toyota" or whatever... it doesn't even show what your product is, it just says your name. That's not helping your company much, if at all. No one is going to come back from a game and go "oh, I saw a banner for XXX company at the game, I think I'll buy something they make." That's the biggest waste of money ever.
     
  13. MNAFETSC

    MNAFETSC Member

    Feb 5, 2000
    Blacksburg


    So what your saying is there should be no commercials? Whether you realize it or not advertisements and commercials do have an effect on the mass. Its funny how you mention ford trucks considering the F150 is by far the most popular model of trucks and one of the top selling vehicle of any kind ( I think it is or very recently was the number one selling vehicles of any type). Everywhere I look theres someone driving an F150 ( I even own one). Something tells me if it wasnt for all the advertising the F150 and Ford trucks in general wouldnt be as popular.
     
  14. ButlerBob

    ButlerBob Moderator
    Staff Member

    Nov 13, 2001
    Evanston, IL
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Maybe it's because for the longest time you only had 3 tv stations and that was run by the goverment. Also, don't you have or used to have a tv tax? Where if you had a tv you had to pay the tax. So you really didn't need commercials to pay for programming.
     
  15. MNAFETSC

    MNAFETSC Member

    Feb 5, 2000
    Blacksburg
    Correct me if Im wrong but dont you have to suscribe to sky to watch the premier league so essentially skys already making its money w/o advertising? Where as here we dont have to pay additonal fees to watch NFL, MLB, MLS, etc unless we get the league package.
     
  16. Sykotyk

    Sykotyk Member

    Jun 9, 2003
    Ohio
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Having the 'name' on a billboard or sideboard, or on the screen is just to keep your company's name 'out there'. It works better for a highly competitive field. For instance, restaurants, pizza chains, hotels, etc.

    It's not so much to 'sell' yourself to unwitting spectators, it's just to keep your company's name from escaping them when they _want_ to go out to eat, order pizza, or stay at a hotel...

    To actually sell a product or service by ads, you need to have a commercial.

    Sykotyk
     
  17. denver_mugwamp

    denver_mugwamp New Member

    Feb 9, 2003
    Denver, Colorado
    I've always thought a solution would be to have 1 or 2 "Tivo" commercial breaks per half for the TV viewsers only. The live game would continue without interruption while TV would go to a commercial break. Then, after the comercials, the game TV would pick back up from where it had stopped. Sure, the live game and the TV would not be in sync, but this would allow commercials to be shown.
     
  18. GunnerJacket

    GunnerJacket Moderator
    Staff Member

    Sep 18, 2003
    Gainesville, GA
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Here's an idea: Don't change the feature or integrity of the game, and instead base your spending on whatever advertising you can get! :D

    US college games on TV already feature a variant of the TV time-out in the middle of each half. Not sure if they do it at a fixed time or wait for a break in the play. I think that's the first thing that might get a look at as I know of a pro few coaches willing to support it. I also don't mind the occassional roll-over commercials mentioned on the Mexican league broadcasts. (Plenty of US announcers I'd rather tune out anyway.)

    Otherwise my initial comment is what I'll hold to. For the leagues making millions they're not going to find a noticable increase in revenue without seriously impacting the game, so the answer to making more profit is simply "spend less money." For the leagues on the financial fringe there are other avenues that should be explored or it's a sign that the format of the league is unfeasible. There is no natural law or mandate that suggests every league must be capable of millionaire players and billionaire owners.
     
  19. bbsbt

    bbsbt Member+

    Feb 26, 2003
    Those board banners around the field are just for maintaining brand awareness & loyalty. They are not there to sell any specific item.

    And yes, whether you realize it or not, both brand awareness and loyalty do play a significant role in influencing consumers.
     
  20. tompatton

    tompatton New Member

    Oct 2, 2006
    Something else to consider is that the other 3 major sports are now struggling to maintain ad revenue because of Tivo and DVR's.

    The technology allows people to fastforward through commericials, which completely saps the value of the paid tv spot.

    Bad news for the other major sports is good news for soccer. If soccer can capitalize on a new source of advertising revenue, they will have an advantage in attracting bigger deals.

    In NASCAR they are experimenting with banners that wrap the entire tv screen. It doesn't affect the programming much, and has more impact than a stagnant logo in the corner.
     
  21. MNAFETSC

    MNAFETSC Member

    Feb 5, 2000
    Blacksburg
     
  22. Monkey Boy

    Monkey Boy Member

    Jul 21, 2006
    Madison, WI
    Club:
    FC Bayern München
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    This doesn't affect Nascar because there isn't anything to watch on the screen in the first place. So there's no loss in filling it with ads.

    I don't like the idea for soccer though since it's a real sport to watch. There's already enough lost by poor camera work.
     
  23. Sykotyk

    Sykotyk Member

    Jun 9, 2003
    Ohio
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    This sounds strangely akin to the argument of small-market U.S. sports teams wanting sponsors on their uniforms, saying it would 'level the playing field' in terms of finance. That's all well and good until the Yankees, Lakers, Red Wings, etc go and get even more money for a sponsor than the small market team.

    If soccer comes up with some clever way to squeeze money from a commercial-less broadcast, so too will the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB. In fact, you already see it with the 'tag line' ads read by the announcer when coming back from commercial.

    Sykotyk
     
  24. fuzzyBunny

    fuzzyBunny Member

    Aug 24, 1999
    Palo Alto CA
    With the 30 second skip hack, this is the only way I will watch an NFL game. The break between plays comes out almost to exactly 30 seconds. I can watch every play in an NFL game in under 45 minutes. It made watching the Raiders almost bearable.
     
  25. Undisputed4

    Undisputed4 New Member

    Mar 10, 2007
    America doesnt see great soccer. If americans saw some top european teams they might enjoy it. I think alot of people find the MLS very boring and judge all of soccer on it.
     

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