MLS 2013 TV Ratings

Discussion in 'MLS: News & Analysis' started by MLSFan123, Jan 2, 2013.

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  1. Boloni86

    Boloni86 Member+

    Jun 7, 2000
    Baltimore
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    Gibraltar
    Thnx ... that explains it. Had to be something screwy because I can't remember the last time this league had 5 games kicking off at the same time. Must be some kind of record.

    Still think the league could of spread things out a little even when it was just 4 games ... I only have 2 DVR tuners in the house dammit.
     
  2. Totoro

    Totoro Member+

    Dec 3, 2009
    Colorado
    Do they typically move game times when there's an evening Mariners game?

    There was an M's game that night, and it ended up a weird one. The Mariners were no-hit for 6.2 innings but it was still tied at 2-2. They ended up with 1 hit and a 4-2 win. And yes, they were outdrawn by the Soundres.
     
  3. sedlie

    sedlie Member+

    Apr 5, 2011
    That game was in Houston.
     
    JasonMa repped this.
  4. revsfan603

    revsfan603 Member

    New England Revolution
    Jun 20, 2013
    New Hampshire
    Club:
    ADO Den Haag
    does anyone know if theres a way to get the mls stream of the week viewership/ratings?
     
  5. Totoro

    Totoro Member+

    Dec 3, 2009
    Colorado
    :oops:

    Maybe they wanted everyone to get home in time to see the weird near-no hitter. Yeah, that's it.
     
  6. ukraine76

    ukraine76 Member

    Feb 8, 2001
    New York
    Club:
    New York Red Bulls
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I absolutely agree. And this week there were 2 nationally televised games going up against everything else. Expect bad ratings for them. I went to RBNY-RSL game, which pretty much meant that there was no way for me to watch either one of the nationally televised. This week it would make so much more sense to have a nationally televised game at 7pm on Sunday following Gold Cup final - even realizing they would be on different channels.
     
  7. stingbee30

    stingbee30 Member

    Mar 16, 2006
    I'm expecting the next TV rights cycle is going to address situations like this. It doesn't make sense to have a national game competing at the same time when other key markets (big markets like Seattle, LA, NY, etc). MLS audience is a niche/fledgling number at this moment. You could take about 50K-100k away from your national TV ratings when have that many local games competing at the same time. But, I'm optimistic that ESPN/Disney are going to be more accommodating in the next cycle, and will commit more resources and money towards this league. The key is consistency.
     
  8. ldcda

    ldcda Member

    Jul 1, 2012
    MLSFan123 and Stupid_American repped this.
  9. Stupid_American

    Stupid_American Member+

    Jan 8, 2003
    New York, NY
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  10. redinthemorning

    redinthemorning Member+

    Apr 26, 2011
    Club:
    Houston Dynamo
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Is that regional MLB coverage? From the Fox Sports website, it looks like Mets @ Nationals on the East Coast, Cards @ Braves in CST areas and the South, and Angels @ A's on the West Coast.

    Also, any luck finding Spanish numbers?
     
  11. ldcda

    ldcda Member

    Jul 1, 2012
  12. revsfan603

    revsfan603 Member

    New England Revolution
    Jun 20, 2013
    New Hampshire
    Club:
    ADO Den Haag
    Ill be honest i had no clue that the MLB game was on at 4:00, i think they switched the schedule last minute because of the ufc or just failed to publicize it, i normally watch MLB on Fox every week but the scheduling screwed it for me.
     
  13. jond

    jond Member+

    Sep 28, 2010
    Club:
    Levski Sofia
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    NBC EPL/MLS schedule is out.

    I've talked a few times in recent months with NBC Sports president of programming Jon Miller about the company's Premier League plans, including last October and last April. On both of those occasions, Miller told me NBC plans to cross-promote MLS on its EPL broadcasts. There was also talk of EPL-MLS doubleheaders when possible. So how will that theory be put into practice? Here's a combined schedule of NBC's broadcasts for both leagues. The MLS games are in italics. One thing you'll notice: there are very few true doubleheaders. Perhaps now that the EPL schedule is out, NBC and MLS can get together and find a way to get more of them. ESPN proved that MLS broadcasts get ratings bumps when they follow EPL broadcasts.

    http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/...r-League-TV-schedule-and-how-MLS-fits-in.html
     
    ielag repped this.
  14. evilmonkeycmand

    Jun 29, 2011
    North Carolina
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I assume NBC isn't paying the most to televise the EPL, so the schedule was probably set without NBC input. I would guess that it up to MLS to work with NBC to make a double-header happen, by rearranging our schedule now.
     
  15. jond

    jond Member+

    Sep 28, 2010
    Club:
    Levski Sofia
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Soccer's rise in America is often hyped, and sometimes overhyped or casually dismissed, in various ways. Whether or not MLS is growing properly, or the popularity of European football vs. the American game, is a discussion for another day. What this weekend's Gold Cup Final confirms is this: if you put the U.S. men's national team on broadcast television, people will tune in.
    The Gold Cup Final aired on Fox Sunday afternoon, and it drew a solid 1.7 rating. That's typically higher than the average for the regular season of hockey, college basketball, as well as many non-major golf tournaments. It also showed proper incremental growth between the three Fox Gold Cup broadcasts featuring Team USA. Its round-robin win over Costa Rica drew a 0.7, while its quarterfinal win over El Salvador drew a 1.2.
    Ratings can change from the overnights to the final, but this much is known: only one sports broadcast drew a higher overnight than the Gold Cup Final this weekend and that was the final round of the RBC Canadian Open on CBS, which drew a 1.8. That means that the final of a tournament that many soccer fans themselves admit is somewhat mediocre scored higher ratings than a primetime UFC bout on Fox, Fox's Saturday MLB broadcast and ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball. All three drew a 1.6 rating.

    http://www.sbnation.com/2013/7/29/4568194/gold-cup-final-wins-the-ratings-weekend-over-ufc-baseball
     
    HailtotheKing repped this.
  16. Stupid_American

    Stupid_American Member+

    Jan 8, 2003
    New York, NY
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    sitruc and MLSFan123 repped this.
  17. ldcda

    ldcda Member

    Jul 1, 2012
    MLSFan123, RfrancisR and Stupid_American repped this.
  18. yellowbismark

    yellowbismark Member+

    Nov 7, 2000
    San Diego, CA
    Club:
    Club Tijuana
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I'm not a big all-star fan, but I know it is one of the league's marquee events. It's a big PR thing for the league.

    So how is it that I can't find a single piece of content about it on the front of ESPN.com? There is no mention whatsoever of the event anywhere on the front page of - not even in one of those tab things under the big photo headline....

    Complaining about ESPN is a ticket to ridicule from certain posters on here. To those posters, how the hell do you explain this away while keeping the ESPN is good to MLS narrative? I mean, even that gimpy Messi & friends bs friendly had some kind of space on the front of ESPN in the lead up to it. To those hypothesizing that ESPN will start to do more now that they lost some of their other soccer properties, when is that supposed to start?

    ESPN seriously does a shit a job with covering MLS. At this point, I really wouldn't care if the league did an exclusive deal with one of the other cable sports networks.
     
  19. redinthemorning

    redinthemorning Member+

    Apr 26, 2011
    Club:
    Houston Dynamo
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I largely agree with you until we get here:
    ESPN provides decent soccer coverage; the powers that be in Bristol have decided to do a shit job promoting it though.

    Reminds me of their hockey coverage. What little ESPN lets on air (the NCAAs, occasional Barry Melrose spots on Sports Center, etc.) isn't awful, and some of their online coverage is actually great. They just don't seem to give a damn about letting their audience know that it's out there.

    Admittedly, it's different in MLS' case because ESPN actually has a vested interest MLS, unlike the NHL. I actually wouldn't be opposed to letting NBCSN have the whole package, but based on what the league has put out there, that doesn't seem to be in the cards.
     
  20. yellowbismark

    yellowbismark Member+

    Nov 7, 2000
    San Diego, CA
    Club:
    Club Tijuana
    Nat'l Team:
    United States

    They are covering the sport of soccer more - I agree, but I'm specifically talking about MLS.
     
  21. evilmonkeycmand

    Jun 29, 2011
    North Carolina
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I believe he meant that when they show the MLS, they do a good job of covering it; they just don't talk it up on SC, or promote the match at all.
     
  22. redinthemorning

    redinthemorning Member+

    Apr 26, 2011
    Club:
    Houston Dynamo
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    And this is what greets you on ESPNFC.com right now:
    [​IMG]

    It's just that, awful name aside, ESPN FC is off in it's own little corner of the ESPN universe.
     
  23. yellowbismark

    yellowbismark Member+

    Nov 7, 2000
    San Diego, CA
    Club:
    Club Tijuana
    Nat'l Team:
    United States

    or on the front of espn.com or include MLS scores in the ticker at regular intervals

    The presence of MLS is buried no matter what the medium ESPN is using.
     
  24. Justin O

    Justin O Member+

    Seattle Sounders
    United States
    Nov 30, 1998
    on the run from the covid
    Club:
    Seattle
    And damn nearly out hit by the Sounders.
     
  25. jond

    jond Member+

    Sep 28, 2010
    Club:
    Levski Sofia
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I agree. Soccer coverage is increasing rapidly as well as the number of soccer watching fans in this country. The other week five of ESPN's top 10 plays one day were soccer highlights. More coverage of international soccer. The EPL will be all over the place in about two weeks. We just saw the 1.7 rating the GC final pulled in on Fox. People are watching soccer.

    Yet, MLS is not benefiting. ESPN has less coverage of MLS than the past couple seasons IMO and there has been zero lead up to the AS game, unlike last year where I saw a number of commercials/advertisements and more mentions of the game leading up to it.

    My worry is this is highlighting the gap in play and that will only continue a few weeks from now with the EPL all over tv. We have more soccer watching fans than ever yet MLS really hasn't seen any bump in ratings. MLS can keep touting parity but IMO it doesn't change until there's a few "super teams" and bigger name star talent. A guy like Zusi won't budge ratings. I stand by my point you can't sell parity all that well to a neutral fan or out of market fan. You will need star power.

    Seems there's two options with all this soccer coverage. One, potential fans piggyback off the coverage over to MLS, enjoy it and become fans of the league. Or two, potential fans watch the higher quality soccer on tv, give MLS a chance, are turned off by the disparity in quality and stick to watching the EPL and the NT. The latter is what appears to be happening. Soccer ratings going up yet those fans are ignoring MLS. And IMO the pressure is on MLS as with this new EPL deal fans will start identifying more with EPL clubs and can watch them every week. Still can't watch your favorite MLS team most weeks unless you pay extra for a package. It won't be that case for the EPL. Much more access to it. And if you're a casual fan, watch a couple EPL games on Sun on say NBCSN and another of their networks, then turn on the ESPN MLS game of the week, and if it's anything like the LA/Col game a couple days ago, you'll be turned off, the gap will be highlighted, and you'll wait for more EPL next week.

    I don't like that but that's what I see happening, unfortunately.
     
    BrodieQPR repped this.

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