Major League Soccer and Versus in Early Talks

This argument would hold more water if you couldn't watch just about any small conference college basketball tournament and find top-notch production value and announcing. As usual, you're just making dumb comments without thinking the whole thing through.

 

It would be nice if we had ESPN, Versus, and FSC at the same time and the highest bidder gets 1st choice of what game or games they want to show.

I didn't Mention the Univision because its good for those who speak spanish but i just perfer english. lol
but same with them on the bidding war.

One thing i like about Versus is that it seems like it wants to challenge ESPN in a sports network war. If so and MLS succeeds on VERSUS then it would challenge ESPN to step up on its MLS support. I mean really who wants to watch poker and worlds strongest man.

 

My vote is for Ben Rycroft and Duane Rollins for MLS VERSUS announcers.

 

I want someone to explain to me how Sullivan acquired his accent. Lots of mumbo jumbo - very little insight.

Whoever is in charge should get Adrian Healy to do the games. He's very good.

 

IDK about this. The only reason hockey ratings are getting better is because they have a big fanbase and now there in more homes.

 

He acquired it from a "Snapshot"...Trust me on this.

 

As long as John Skipper's in charge, stay with ESPN.

 

Two or three major things need to happen with FSC, first make it easy for FSC to be available on all cable outlets, and second have the game of the week on when there's no other MLS games on TV "someone else had mention this as few posts above" and finally, have better color commentors.
I guess after spending big bucks on CL and the rights for EPL. they're aren't any more money left to improve on the step-child of sport's world MLS.

 

Agree, he's fighting the soccer haters in the ESPN family tooth and nail..

 

If you want to be on a channel with broader market penetration, you switch channels. FSC won't be a part of a standard cable or satellite package anytime soon. Versus is.

 

FSI (and FOX Cable) want FSC moved from sports packs to expanded digital basic tiers (i.e. the same tier where Versus, SPEED, Golf Channel, etc. are placed).

Time Warner, DISH Network, and AT&T UVerse have agreed.

DirecTV is the biggest holdout (and that's likely the reason why FSC HD is NOT available on DirecTV.)

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The issue for MLS Saturday: FSC no longer wants to pay a rights fee for it, and NewsCorp apparently has no interest in getting involved in a bidding war for U.S. video rights to World Cups 2018 and 2022 (you may have noticed that Mr. Rupert Murdoch doesn't really like to do big business deals with FIFA or the IOC presumably because of the way FIFA and the IOC have allegedly conducted business over the years) so NewsCorp does not have a "political" reason to lose any more money on MLS.

(I am assuming that FSC will be rid of MLS after 2010. One would suspect that MLS is operating under the same assumption.)

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The new Comcast/NBC Universal combination offers a "one-stop shop" for MLS/SUM and FIFA:

English-language free-to-air broadcast: NBC, Universal Sports

Englihs-language pay: Versus, CNBC (weekends only)

Spanish-language free-to-air broadcast: Telemundo

Spanish-language pay: mun2

One can imagine MLS/SUM getting a deal done for MLS Saturday on Versus (with a handful of games moving over to CNBC or Universal Sports due to schedule conflicts i.e. NHL and Le Tour de France) and mun2 (with a handful of games possibly getting exposure on Telemundo).

The MLS deal will be the "price of admission" Comcast/NBCU will have to pay if they want to bid against ESPN, Inc. and Univision Communications, Inc. for U.S. video rights to World Cups 2018 and 2022.

 

I can confirm that I just got a postcard from Uverse telling me that Fox Soccer Channel is being moved down from the U300 tier to the U200 tier effective July 1, 2010. Versus is currently on the U200 tier.

U200 is about $15 cheaper a month than U300.

 

On a lighter note , does anyone around here has any inside info about FSC HD coming to Fios any time soon..

 

What kind of ratings do you see versus getting?

 

After reading through this thread I maybe confused because this seems very strange to me, so somebody correct me if I'm wrong.

If things happen as some are suggesting in 2010-2011 FSC, a North American sports channel dedicated to the sport of soccer will have no top division soccer from North America, but will instead show only english and italian league games during the weekend mornings with no live games or original matches in the evening prime-time hours. This seems counter productive to growing larger audiences.

Also why would MLS be opposed to dropping their rate to keep their visibility on FSC, while at the same time adding another national broadcast partner in Versus. I don't know why MLS would leave ESPN, but then again clearly after reading through this thread I don't necessarily understand the world of broadcasting.

Also there has been some mention of MUN2, which broadcasts in English and is not a spanish channel although located on the Spanish tier. I believe MUN2 had an FMF game of the week on Saturdays this spring with english commentary, which I found to be awesome. I wouldn't mind seeing that as an outlet for a simulcast of a telefutura/univision spanish broadcast of an MLS game with english commentary.

Those are just some thoughts. Obviously I would like every game broadcast nationally so i can stop watching games on my computer... although the online MLS cast is very good this year.

Ramble over.

 

There's a point where ad revenue and profits mean more than Skipper's support of soccer - you question whether or not they are really behind MLS or just behind the World Cup and the elite soccer exhibitions, Nats games, etc. that they get on.

I suspect if Skipper could have made the money work they would have gotten a piece of the Champions League but some good EPL games are probably the best they can fit it into their schedule.

 

FSI can't make any money with MLS unless MLS pays for air time.

Because FOX doesn't seem to want to bid for U.S. rights to World Cups 2018 and 2022, it no longer has a "political" reason to lose money on MLS when EPL match re-airs and Premier League TV content will be available to fill Saturday nights.

FSI wants MLS to pay to get TV time on FSC the way the NSCAA (college coaches), WPS (women's league), or USL get on FSC.

On the other hand, MLS wants a TV network to pay rights fee.

The two sides are so far apart (according to my source) that MLS has no choice but to play the "price of admission to bid for World Cup 2018/2022 video rights" card with Comcast/NBCU in order to attempt to extract a rights fee from Comcast to put MLS on Versus (and possibly mun2).

mun2 is an hybrid English/Spanish channel targeting young Hispanics. mun2 had aired futbol in Spanish in the past, when a Mexico friendly had to be moved to mun2 on short notice because Telemundo had to cover a breaking news event.

 

1. We care about MLS, not FSC. Without MLS, that channel can go under for all I care. They think their business is in Europosing so let them go that way. Don't get caught up in what's "right." They are a business unaffiliated with US Soccer.

2. FSC has no visibility compared to Versus. FSC is on a special tier package while Versus is on basic in many areas. There's no value in being attached to a soccer-specific channel if nobody can watch it. As for spreading themselves across three channels, that's just rough on the lazy viewer who can't be bothered to flip around and search.

 

I wonder how much versus would be willing to pay.

whatever they pay is going to be in hopes for a future payoff.

and if ESPN holds the rights to 26 games, playoffs, and the MLS cup.

versus will get what 20-30 games at 150K viewers hopefully?

they would be in the same position as FSC.

maybe they can go into a revenue sharing deal where Versus pays production and then spits any revenue 70/30 with the league.

without playoffs or the MLS CUP, I cannot see versus having any incentive to pay for MLS rights fee.

 

I suspect that MLS would be happy to extract $2 million/season from Versus.

What MLS cannot afford to do is to do a time-buy deal with FSC or anyone else. If that were to happen, then ESPN Inc. and Univision Comm. won't want to pay rights fees either.

 

Funny, FSC has always been in the basic digital tier where I am, and Versus has always been in the sports tier ($5/month, along with GolTV and NHL Network among others).

Versus, however, is in HD on my system, where FSC is not.

 

Suspect that you are served by Time Warner, which slots FSC in digital basic.

Comcast has always slotted FSC in premium digital or digital sports tiers.

DirecTV has always slotted FSC in the sports tier.

 

You would be incorrect. Cablevision actually. FSC has been in digital basic for as long as I've had it, which is four years or so.

 

I have Time Warner in WNY and Versus is on traditional basic. I had to get digital in order to have FSC (which it is on digital basic).