MLS 2016 TV Thread (Ratings, Historical Data, Contracts etc)

delo_pata · May 5, 2016

DBR70 said: ↑

Anybody else having issues with MLS live? Watched two games on replay from Saturday and it keeps pausing and skipping forward.
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I'm having a terrible time with MLS Live on a Roku 3. Frequent buffering, then stream comes back in a minute or two, but sometimes never comes back. I've uninstalled, reinstalled, rebooted everything, etc. I've got plenty of bandwidth, and every other app, like Netflix, Youtube, Plex, works fine.

I wrote to the help folks and they said they'd forward it to their tech people. That was last weekend. Haven't heard a peep since. I'm going to ask for a refund and go back to the cable PPV.

superdave · May 5, 2016

ItalianMLSfan said: ↑

Game 8: 215k (HOU vs SEA) Sunday 5:00pm 10/18/2015
Game 2: 386k (HOU vs SEA) Sunday 4:00pm 4/10/2016
So regarding this game there is a quite positive trend, and considering the other 5 games i can say numbers are quite ok too.
Direct comparison for FS1:
Game 32: 156k (LA vs POR) Sunday 7:00pm 10/18/2015
Game 6: 270k (LA vs POR) Sunday 9:30pm 4/10/2016
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Your basic argument has merit, however, in these two examples, you're comparing games that didn't compete with the NFL with games that did.

ceezmad · May 5, 2016

Superdave you are such a buzzkill.

Boloni86 · May 5, 2016

Meh ... we might have one more relevant TV deal after our current deal is up, but by 2030 the traditional TV model will be obsolete. No more TV channels, no more remotes and probably no more TV sets. Soccer game content is still far cheaper to produce than a show so it'll still be very valuable asset on streaming platforms even if ratings stay flat. Whether that content gets sold to you directly from the league or contracted through a 3rd party like Netflix remains to be seen. But in essence the consumer will purchase direct subscription either on a game by game basis, or maybe a 34 game package for one specific team or maybe an entire league package. The amount of advertising we'll have to sit through will decrease drastically. Instead of sitting through 30 meaningless ads, you'll have 2 or 3 highly personalized and targeted ads that are selling you a product you're already looking for.

MLS live is already here. I can already get my MLS fix strictly on that platform. The network broadcasts have little to no unique value unless you're one of those fans that needs to see every game. That's where the future is headed. Perhaps it was naive to expect TV ratings to skyrocket at a time when we're seeing traditional TV in the last throes of its existence.

ceezmad · May 5, 2016

ok this came up

http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/...fDomain=groups.google.com&st_refQuery=/forum/

The ICC’s TV viewership was decent, too. Last year, it saw a high of 693,000 viewers for Manchester United versus FC Barcelona on the Fox broadcast channel. Most of the other matches generated between 200,000 and 300,000 viewers on FS1, which are relatively good numbers for the down summer months.
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The series’ three-year deal with Fox ended last season, and the event’s organizers were looking forward to negotiating a new deal........
Relevent Sports, expected to see a significant bump from its original three-year deal worth more than $2.2 million in total.

Those hopes, however, ran into the realities of the sports rights marketplace in 2016.
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The property ended up signing a three-year deal with ESPN at terms well below its initial ask, according to several sources who added that ESPN is paying less than $500,000 in the deal’s first year for the series, a figure that includes a lot of marketing and promotion. The price increases in the next two years.
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So the money grab summer friendlies took a hit on their TV deal.

Conference USA is putting the finishing touches on a new deal with CBS and ESPN that will pay it much less than its previous deal.

As the Big Ten Conference doubled its annual payout (and still has one significant package left to sell) last month
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But networks have started questioning the theory that all live sports matter, and they have been negotiating tougher deals with smaller properties that they feel will not help affiliate sales or ad sales.
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“Those properties are not game changers for cable channels,” said one network executive who asked for anonymity to speak frankly about existing sports rights deals. “They are not driving affiliate conversations. This is a market where the true litmus test is how does it help our affiliates and add value to advertisers.”.......The networks have secured the biggest sports rights into the next decade (like the NFL, NBA and MLB) at huge increases. That has caused them to cut costs on smaller properties.
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So basically the rich are going to get richer and the "not game changing" properties are in for some decreases.

he networks’ belt-tightening became public last fall, when ESPN fired about 300 employees in a cost-cutting move. Fox Sports is in the process of accepting buyouts from longtime employees and further layoffs are possible, as it also cuts costs.

But network executives pushed back on the idea that cord cutting and cord shaving is causing this new fiscal responsibility. They say that so much more of their money now is tied up in big rights deals that it can’t afford smaller deals with smaller properties that bring in smaller ratings.
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So it is still a long time until 2022 (2021 when negotiations will happen), but how is MLS going to be treated, are we going to fall into the category of the Big 10 or are we going to fall in the category of Conference USA.

asoc · May 5, 2016

ceezmad said: ↑

ok this came up

http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/...fDomain=groups.google.com&st_refQuery=/forum/

So the money grab summer friendlies took a hit on their TV deal.

So basically the rich are going to get richer and the "not game changing" properties are in for some decreases.

So it is still a long time until 2022 (2021 when negotiations will happen), but how is MLS going to be treated, are we going to fall into the category of the Big 10 or are we going to fall in the category of Conference USA.

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Maybe our current deal is better than we thought all things considered.

deejay · May 6, 2016

ceezmad said: ↑

So it is still a long time until 2022 (2021 when negotiations will happen), but how is MLS going to be treated, are we going to fall into the category of the Big 10 or are we going to fall in the category of Conference USA.
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MLS Live growth was 60% in 2015 (http://www.sportsvideo.org/2016/02/...-mls-live-touts-60-year-over-year-sub-growth/)
The only other year I found has 50% growth in 2012 (http://pressbox.mlssoccer.com/content/mls-digital’s-suite-products-continues-see-significant-growth)

Not sure if the growth has always been like that particularly with the years that those rights were supposedly going to ESPN. Still, even a "modest" 10% growth doubles subscribers in 7 years. Let's also not forget that the price for the package went up from $59 to $79 from 2012 to 2015.

ceezmad · May 6, 2016

deejay said: ↑

MLS Live growth was 60% in 2015 (http://www.sportsvideo.org/2016/02/...-mls-live-touts-60-year-over-year-sub-growth/)
The only other year I found has 50% growth in 2012 (http://pressbox.mlssoccer.com/content/mls-digital’s-suite-products-continues-see-significant-growth)

Not sure if the growth has always been like that particularly with the years that those rights were supposedly going to ESPN. Still, even a "modest" 10% growth doubles subscribers in 7 years. Let's also not forget that the price for the package went up from $59 to $79 from 2012 to 2015.
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The article talks about the NFL deal with yahoo and twitter a little.

They say it may be to drum up competition for the rights.

I don't think the NFL feels like they can hold out just the NFL network vs the TV networks.

So the NFL may (my own insinuation) not feel subscribers alone will replace TV network money.

Then again they are probably just trying to maximize all sources or revenue, over the air, subscriber, social media, the NFL sure knows how to do it.

DanielCzech · May 10, 2016

Sunday:

LA GALAXY/NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION (ESPN) 225k

D.C. UNITED/NEW YORK CITY (FS1) 199k

Tom Ado · May 10, 2016

Add 24k for DC/NYC on Fox Deportes.

http://sportstvratings.com/spurs-th...sports-tv-ratings-for-sunday-may-8-2016/4970/

That 225k for a Galaxy match on big ESPN was considerably lower than what I predicted.

Stupid_American · May 11, 2016

Updated to include the latest numbers from the past weekend. Thanks to all who provided data. (Note: No one else posted the combined Unimas/UDN number, but I found it on the Sports TV Ratings twitter feed)

==================================================

MLS 2016 Regular Season TV Viewership Summary

Home teams listed first. All times are Eastern.

Averages are only listed if we have compiled all the games for a specific network.

FS1 (all ratings for 2.5 hour window unless specified)
Game 1: 267k (SEA vs KC) Sunday 7:00pm 3/6/2016
Game 2: 175k (SJ vs POR) Sunday 7:00pm 3/13/2016
Game 3: 184k (KC vs TOR) Sunday 7:00pm 3/20/2016
Game 4: 261k (ORL vs POR) Sunday 8:00pm 4/3/2016
Game 5: 183k (NYC vs CHI) Sunday 7:00pm 4/10/2016
Game 6: 270k (LA vs POR) Sunday 9:30pm 4/10/2016
Game 7: 138k (DAL vs KC) Sunday 7:00pm 4/17/2016
Game 8: 176k (RBNY vs ORL) Sunday 8:00pm 4/25/2016
Game 9: 199k (KC vs LA) Sunday 8:00pm 5/1/2016
Game 10: 199k (DC vs NYC) Sunday 8:00pm 5/8/2016

Fox Deportes (all ratings for 2.5 hour window unless specified)
Game 1: 24k (SEA vs KC) Sunday 7:00pm 3/6/2016
Game 2: 51k (SJ vs POR) Sunday 7:00pm 3/13/2016
Game 3: 21k (KC vs TOR) Sunday 7:00pm 3/20/2016
Game 4: 36k (ORL vs POR) Sunday 8:00pm 4/3/2016
Game 5: 29k (NYC vs CHI) Sunday 7:00pm 4/10/2016
Game 6: 67k (LA vs POR) Sunday 9:30pm 4/10/2016
Game 7: 38k (DAL vs KC) Sunday 7:00pm 4/17/2016
Game 8: 32k (RBNY vs ORL) Sunday 8:00pm 4/25/2016
Game 9: 60k (KC vs LA) Sunday 8:00pm 5/1/2016
Game 10: 24k (DC vs NYC) Sunday 8:00pm 5/8/2016

ESPN (all ratings for 2.5 hour window unless specified)
Game 1: 362k (POR vs COLU) Sunday 4:00pm 3/6/2016
Game 2: 386k (HOU vs SEA) Sunday 4:00pm 4/10/2016
Game 3: 229k (ORL vs NE) Sunday 3:30pm 4/17/2016
Game 4: 180k (SJ vs KC) Sunday 4:00pm 4/25/2016
Game 5: 302k (POR vs TOR) Sunday 4:00pm 5/1/2016
Game 6: 225k (LA vs NE) Sunday 4:00pm 5/8/2016

ESPN2 (all ratings for 2.5 hour window unless specified)
Game 1: 197k (NYC vs TOR) Sunday 5:00pm 3/13/2016
Game 2: 179k (DC vs COLO) Sunday 5:00pm 3/20/2016

ESPN Deportes:
Game 1: 72k (POR vs COLU) Sunday 4:00pm 3/6/2016

UDN: (all ratings for 2 hour window unless specified)
Game 1: 148k (LA vs DC) Sunday 10:00pm 3/6/2016
Game 2: 84k (ORL vs CHI) Friday 7:00pm 3/11/2016
Game 3: 98k (NYC vs ORL) Friday 7:00pm 3/18/2016
Game 4: 41k (NE vs RBNY) Friday 7:00pm 4/1/2016
Game 5: N/A (PHI vs ORL) Friday 7:00pm 4/8/2016
Game 6: 109k (HOU vs LA) Friday 7:00pm 4/15/2016
Game 7: 51k (RBNY vs DAL) Friday 7:00pm 4/29/2016
Game 8: 93k (ORL vs RBNY) Friday 7:00pm 5/6/2016

UniMás: (all ratings for 2 hour window unless specified)
Game 1: 320k (LA vs DC) Sunday 10:00pm 3/6/2016
Game 2: 198k (ORL vs CHI) Friday 7:00pm 3/11/2016
Game 3: 182k (NYC vs ORL) Friday 7:00pm 3/18/2016
Game 4: 144k (NE vs RBNY) Friday 7:00pm 4/1/2016
Game 5: 192k (PHI vs ORL) Friday 7:00pm 4/8/2016
Game 6: 198k (HOU vs LA) Friday 7:00pm 4/15/2016
Game 7: 192k (RBNY vs DAL) Friday 7:00pm 4/29/2016
Game 8: 166k (ORL vs RBNY) Friday 7:00pm 5/6/2016
=======================================

Non-US numbers

Canada

Game 1: 96k NYR vs TFC: Sunday 3/6/2016 TSN
Game 2: 205k VAN vs MON Sunday 3/6/2016 TSN
Game 3: 62k NYC vs TFC Sunday 3/13/2016 Sportsnet One

England
Game 1: 100k CHI vs NYC Sunday 3/6/2016 Sky Sports

Bubba1971 · May 11, 2016

Tom Ado said: ↑

Add 24k for DC/NYC on Fox Deportes.

http://sportstvratings.com/spurs-th...sports-tv-ratings-for-sunday-may-8-2016/4970/

That 225k for a Galaxy match on big ESPN was considerably lower than what I predicted.
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Noon on Sunday against the NBA playoffs and no one was worried/cares about New England (sorry, but it's true!) That explains the low attendance as well. If I was going to circle a down week for ESPN this was it.

Stan Collins · May 11, 2016

Total consumption of soccer on all national US networks:

2003 - 4.0 billion minutes of viewing
2011 - 18.9 billion
2015 - 42.2 billion
— Michael Mulvihill (@mulvihill79) May 11, 2016

@mulvihill79 I should note that's on all English-language networks. Also we used Women's WC years for a measure of consistency
— Michael Mulvihill (@mulvihill79) May 11, 2016

lfcli30 · May 12, 2016

The Sunday afternoon time slot remains the absolute worst, particularly in the summer months. That has really been the only negative part of this TV deal.

sidefootsitter · May 12, 2016

Total consumption of soccer on all national US networks:

2003 - 4.0 billion minutes of viewing
2011 - 18.9 billion
2015 - 42.2 billion

ya but it's spread out between the same 422 Big Soccer members.

Chowda · May 12, 2016

Boloni86 said: ↑

Meh ... we might have one more relevant TV deal after our current deal is up, but by 2030 the traditional TV model will be obsolete.
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Don't you think the technology to control digital media will be ironclad by 2030? If it is, the media corporations will still be shelling out for the rights to broadcast live sporting events.

deejay · May 12, 2016

Chowda said: ↑

Don't you think the technology to control digital media will be ironclad by 2030? If it is, the media corporations will still be shelling out for the rights to broadcast live sporting events.
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LOL, no.

ElJefe · May 12, 2016

delo_pata said: ↑

I'm having a terrible time with MLS Live on a Roku 3. Frequent buffering, then stream comes back in a minute or two, but sometimes never comes back. I've uninstalled, reinstalled, rebooted everything, etc. I've got plenty of bandwidth, and every other app, like Netflix, Youtube, Plex, works fine.

I wrote to the help folks and they said they'd forward it to their tech people. That was last weekend. Haven't heard a peep since. I'm going to ask for a refund and go back to the cable PPV.
Click to expand...

This has been my experience with MLS Live as well. We've got plenty of bandwidth and I don't have any problems with other streaming services, just MLS Live.

deejay · May 12, 2016

ElJefe said: ↑

This has been my experience with MLS Live as well. We've got plenty of bandwidth and I don't have any problems with other streaming services, just MLS Live.
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It's probably the provider. Video services are often throttled. This actually illegal but there seems little effort to punish it.

Stupid_American · May 17, 2016

Updated to include the latest numbers from the past weekend (via sportstvratings.com). REQUEST: Did anyone see the combined UniMás/UDN number? I couldn't find it on the Sports TV Ratings Twitter feed, so - for now -- I've notated the UniMás section with a "???".

EDIT: Found it.

==================================================

MLS 2016 Regular Season TV Viewership Summary

Home teams listed first. All times are Eastern.

Averages are only listed if we have compiled all the games for a specific network.

FS1 (all ratings for 2.5 hour window unless specified)
Game 1: 267k (SEA vs KC) Sunday 7:00pm 3/6/2016
Game 2: 175k (SJ vs POR) Sunday 7:00pm 3/13/2016
Game 3: 184k (KC vs TOR) Sunday 7:00pm 3/20/2016
Game 4: 261k (ORL vs POR) Sunday 8:00pm 4/3/2016
Game 5: 183k (NYC vs CHI) Sunday 7:00pm 4/10/2016
Game 6: 270k (LA vs POR) Sunday 9:30pm 4/10/2016
Game 7: 138k (DAL vs KC) Sunday 7:00pm 4/17/2016
Game 8: 176k (RBNY vs ORL) Sunday 8:00pm 4/25/2016
Game 9: 199k (KC vs LA) Sunday 8:00pm 5/1/2016
Game 10: 199k (DC vs NYC) Sunday 8:00pm 5/8/2016
Game 11: 241k (POR vs NYC) Sunday 8:00pm 5/15/2016

Fox Deportes (all ratings for 2.5 hour window unless specified)
Game 1: 24k (SEA vs KC) Sunday 7:00pm 3/6/2016
Game 2: 51k (SJ vs POR) Sunday 7:00pm 3/13/2016
Game 3: 21k (KC vs TOR) Sunday 7:00pm 3/20/2016
Game 4: 36k (ORL vs POR) Sunday 8:00pm 4/3/2016
Game 5: 29k (NYC vs CHI) Sunday 7:00pm 4/10/2016
Game 6: 67k (LA vs POR) Sunday 9:30pm 4/10/2016
Game 7: 38k (DAL vs KC) Sunday 7:00pm 4/17/2016
Game 8: 32k (RBNY vs ORL) Sunday 8:00pm 4/25/2016
Game 9: 60k (KC vs LA) Sunday 8:00pm 5/1/2016
Game 10: 24k (DC vs NYC) Sunday 8:00pm 5/8/2016
Game 11: 35k (POR vs NYC) Sunday 8:00pm 5/15/2016

ESPN (all ratings for 2.5 hour window unless specified)
Game 1: 362k (POR vs COLU) Sunday 4:00pm 3/6/2016
Game 2: 386k (HOU vs SEA) Sunday 4:00pm 4/10/2016
Game 3: 229k (ORL vs NE) Sunday 3:30pm 4/17/2016
Game 4: 180k (SJ vs KC) Sunday 4:00pm 4/25/2016
Game 5: 302k (POR vs TOR) Sunday 4:00pm 5/1/2016
Game 6: 225k (LA vs NE) Sunday 4:00pm 5/8/2016
Game 7: 224k (KC vs ORL) Sunday 4:00pm 5/15/2016

ESPN2 (all ratings for 2.5 hour window unless specified)
Game 1: 197k (NYC vs TOR) Sunday 5:00pm 3/13/2016
Game 2: 179k (DC vs COLO) Sunday 5:00pm 3/20/2016

ESPN Deportes:
Game 1: 72k (POR vs COLU) Sunday 4:00pm 3/6/2016

UDN: (all ratings for 2 hour window unless specified)
Game 1: 148k (LA vs DC) Sunday 10:00pm 3/6/2016
Game 2: 84k (ORL vs CHI) Friday 7:00pm 3/11/2016
Game 3: 98k (NYC vs ORL) Friday 7:00pm 3/18/2016
Game 4: 41k (NE vs RBNY) Friday 7:00pm 4/1/2016
Game 5: N/A (PHI vs ORL) Friday 7:00pm 4/8/2016
Game 6: 109k (HOU vs LA) Friday 7:00pm 4/15/2016
Game 7: 51k (RBNY vs DAL) Friday 7:00pm 4/29/2016
Game 8: 93k (ORL vs RBNY) Friday 7:00pm 5/6/2016
Game 9: 49k (DC vs RBNY) Friday 7:00pm 5/13/2016

UniMás: (all ratings for 2 hour window unless specified)
Game 1: 320k (LA vs DC) Sunday 10:00pm 3/6/2016
Game 2: 198k (ORL vs CHI) Friday 7:00pm 3/11/2016
Game 3: 182k (NYC vs ORL) Friday 7:00pm 3/18/2016
Game 4: 144k (NE vs RBNY) Friday 7:00pm 4/1/2016
Game 5: 192k (PHI vs ORL) Friday 7:00pm 4/8/2016
Game 6: 198k (HOU vs LA) Friday 7:00pm 4/15/2016
Game 7: 192k (RBNY vs DAL) Friday 7:00pm 4/29/2016
Game 8: 166k (ORL vs RBNY) Friday 7:00pm 5/6/2016
Game 9: 163k (DC vs RBNY) Friday 7:00pm 5/13/2016
=======================================

Non-US numbers

Canada

Game 1: 96k NYR vs TFC: Sunday 3/6/2016 TSN
Game 2: 205k VAN vs MON Sunday 3/6/2016 TSN
Game 3: 62k NYC vs TFC Sunday 3/13/2016 Sportsnet One

England
Game 1: 100k CHI vs NYC Sunday 3/6/2016 Sky Sports

Lordofthepit75 · May 18, 2016

To those complaining about MLS Live stream I just wanted to say it actually works perfect for me. I never have any problem. I would call my internet provider because I honestly have no trouble.

4four4 · May 18, 2016

I am guessing people don't have fast enough internet in our state we have the fastest internet in the whole Galaxy. Kind of like Flash Gordon and the 21st century. Lol

Sounders78 · May 18, 2016

Lordofthepit75 said: ↑

To those complaining about MLS Live stream I just wanted to say it actually works perfect for me. I never have any problem. I would call my internet provider because I honestly have no trouble.
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Both my mom and I have issues when using MLS Live on AppleTV but do not when using it on our computers or iPads. I also have issues with it using Roku. I have no issue watching live games on ESPN or UniMas on the Roku. It does seem the issue is MLS Live in certain contexts.

ArsenalMetro · May 18, 2016

MLS Live cuts out 3-4 times per game if I use my ChromeCast. Works fine if it's just in the computer. There's clearly an issue.

justink · May 18, 2016

TFC vs Vancity got 162k on TSN saturday night. Best for TFC this season. 2nd best for Vancity. With EPL decided, it was also top rated soccer game on the weekend.

https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/e...rise-to-an-unprecedented-level-225149744.html