Don Garber had this to say in an article on Sports Illustrated: "There's more soccer on television than any other sport by far,'' Garber said. "You've got European soccer. You've got Mexican soccer. You've got Major League Soccer. There's way too much soccer on television. I think all of us got to figure out a way to narrow that window so you can get a situation like the NFL has, a couple of days a week, short schedule, something that's very compelling and very targeted.'' Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/soccer/news/20130425/mls-new-york-stadium.ap/#ixzz2RZSe6RMm As a soccer fan, I do not agree that there is too much soccer on TV. I rather like the amount of soccer on television and I don't want anybody colluding to restrict coverage. What exactly is Don suggesting? His statement that they need to 'narrow the window' that soccer is on TV is offensive. He wants to take our games away. Something must be done. Ideas?
Wow. Make one Kanye West reference in a thread title and see what you get. At the very least, you must agree that Don Garber's comments show a casual disdain for the choices now available to soccer fans to watch a variety of games every day of the week. Now that would make for a snappy thread title. But come on people, as soccer fans who presumably watch multiple leagues, if you don't find Garber's comments objectionable also, then I'm surprised. Let me tell you where I think he's going with this. A limited number of games on basic cable/satellite packages, and a whole lot of games on pay-per-view. What else could he have in mind with what he said?
I've noticed there are less Mexican league games on Telemundo and Univision than there were a few years ago. Spanish language networks hate Mexicans.
Don Garber doesn't care about soccer fans. He cares about the owners and what the owners tell him to do. He's a commissioner.
Garber's angle here is that keeping a tight control on supply allows a league to maximize their income in their terms. Yeah, ain't happening in soccer.
Well, considering the amount of soccer I watch, I'd say my girlfriend would certainly agree with Garber on this one.
Like the NFL? LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL Definitely too much for MLS LLC. Don't forget national side. Welcome to the World's Game!
The fact that you thought that would be funny and/or good pretty much explains everything. I mean really, you expected something else in response ? DCU1996 swinging and missing on the point ? LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL The point he made was very good actually. What ? DAFUQ are you talking about ? It's 2013, not the mid-90's ... you're late on the greeting.
Uh... yea good point for the sake of MLS LLC to control the supply and the market like NFL monopoly. Welcome to the World's Game.
Uh yeah ... "a couple of days a week, short schedule, something that's very compelling and very targeted" How is that controlling the supply and market ? The hell are you talking about ? Garber is making mention to the fact that the NFL TV schedule is very compact and focused rather than all over the place.
Seriously WTF are you talking about?? Then make MLS TV schedule compact, focused, compelling, and targeted. Read before posting. It's like saying there are too much Movies in the theaters. I wish my movie is the only one in theaters LOL Welcome to the World's Game!
Don Garber wants to collude with other leagues and television partners to reduce the amount of soccer on television and there are people here defending that statement. I realize posting something critical of Garber here may be akin to going on Chicago Bulls boards and saying LeBron James is better now than Michael Jordan ever was, but it was not my intent to skewer a local hero. Garber has undeniably been a great commisioner in almost all facets. The one glaring weakness is television ratings, and he wants to increase those by restricting our access to other attractive sources. I think that is wrong, and I thought I would get a little more agreement. Now, it's awfully unlikely that he will be successful, but do you really want Don Garber deciding if you can watch Roma play Lazio in a cup game on a Wednesday? If you think that MLS television ratings should come at the expense of our ability to watch (American players playing in) foreign leagues, then put that in writing here. I would be interested to know how many of you feel that way.
Garber is not quoted as saying this & if he did, so what. He has about as much ability to do this as I have to control all of the gold in the world. Garber's main job is to act as the mouthpiece of the MLS Board of Governors & if he says something outrageous that gives MLS more press I'm sure they are happy. I'm positive they don't feel bound by anything he says. If it makes it any easier on you think of Garber as a MLS version of Seth Blatter.
"X hates Y" isn't exactly some obvious, exclusive reference. (Especially when what Kanye actually said was, "George Bush doesn't care about black people.")
I couldn't agree more. A much better, and much more accurate thread title would have been, as Sitruc originally corrected, "Don Garber doesn't care about soccer fans."
I don't have to agree with that. Because I know what he meant. The cornucopia of soccer available on television - while a boon to fans - is tough if you're trying to run a soccer league and so much of what is out there not only competes with what you're trying to sell, it is of demonstrably higher popularity. Also, an increased supply of anything makes any individual piece slightly less special and valuable. Example: Monday Night Football, which is now just the last football game of the weekend, instead of a special event. Another example: every single college football game telecast. That's what he meant.
Pro tip: In a ranking of Kanye jokes, "I'm-a let you finish" ranks far ahead of "X doesn't care about Y".
You know, I wish you had posted this a week ago. A week ago, I wasn't a moderator of this forum, and I would have been free to tell you just how insane I think you are in much more colorful terms. Instead, I'll just say this: I don't blame Don for hating soccer fans, because reading this forum makes me hate them a lot.
If all Garber meant to say was that there is a lot of competition, then I would have had no problem with that, as it's patently obvious. But he went a step further than that. And since you can translate Garberese, then please explain what "all of us got to figure out a way to narrow that window" means, if it doesn't mean reduce the amount of soccer on TV. As for your NFL example, I would say that increasing the supply of football on television over the years has made the NFL an awful lot more money than when they were a broadcast television 2 games on Sunday affair, and has also made the fans happier. The NFL wants more of its product out there, not less, and it has benefitted the league and fans greatly.