So then what should MLS have done? When you answer remember these two facts: 1. Ratings showed, especially local ratings, that in most markets and nationally only die-hards were watching. The numbers in some markets were regularly less than 100K watching a game. 2. Because of that, NBC/CBS/TNT/Univision weren't interested in bidding, and ESPN was barely interested. FOX had some interest, and Apple showed up with a real bid. So, given that reality, what should MLS have done instead of taking the Apple offer? (Also consider the situation that with the recent rash of RSN's going bankrupt there's a good chance that MLS would have a third of the league essentially not getting paid for their TV rights and possibly not even on TV locally)
Im no opposed to MLS on Apple. I actually like the coverage so far from the free games ive seen. Here is what I think needs to be done: if you pay for Apple TV+ you should get your local team free OR have a cheaper option for me to follow one team throughout the year. I should not have to pay for games i dont want to watch
How much would you pay for that "cheaper option"? Because based on other sports packages which have single-team pricing its likely not going to be as cheap as you hope. Think more like $50-$60, not $25-$30.
Bally Sports+ was offering their deal for $19.99/mo or $189.99/yr as a starting point. If there were overlapping regions you could pay $29.99/mo. That's a terrible deal. For where I live, I had the option of either $19.99/mo or $229.99/yr. That would only give me the Mavs, Stars, and Wings from Dallas and the Spurs from San Antonio. Nothing from Houston and no Texas Rangers. Bally charged those prices and they've still filed for bankruptcy. The RSN model was/is garbage and MLB is already preparing contingency plans for this summer to make sure local fans don't lose access to their teams in several markets. The streaming first/only model that MLS is doing will be much closer to the norm in a few years. The only thing other leagues might not be able to pull off is zero blackouts on the streaming service for nationally televised games.
I suppose there is nothing else MLS could have done. But it is ironic that some people like me who would watch MLS regularly now watch the English Premier League and Mexican soccer exclusively, simply because we do not have to jump through hoops to do so. Before I retired I used to listen to the World Football Phone-In podcast a lot, and their former MLS analyst Sean Wheelock used to always say how important it is for Americans to follow and support MLS. But MLS' arrangement with Apple now makes it harder for Americans to support their domestic league. I agree that streaming is the way of the future. But another side of it is that MLS is limiting access to its product. It remains to be seen whether that will help or hurt that product.
How so? Literally EVERY game in one place, for one price, consistent game times, with NO blackout restrictions. Also available in over 100 countries outside of the United States..... There's also SIX games available every week nationally....FREE. Which is way more than we had on a week to week basis since MLS started. Beforte season pass.........you had to continually check your local TV listings for MLS games and kick off times, and channels. Then when you did tune in, you often found out that the game had been moved to a different channel because the cornhole tournament was running long..... If you wanted out of market games....you had to pay for ESPN+, and even then you didn't get ALL of the games either.
MLS Season Pass is a work in progress, and we have to accept that. Issues I have encountered are, the local radio broadcast volumes are extremely low and not worth struggling to hear. Also, the match full 90' replay is extremely difficult to find if you do not know where to look. They hide it. Sometimes the full 90' replay is not available and only the 7' recap is there to watch. These things will hopefully be fixed in the near future. With all these issues, it is still a greatly improved option to what we as MLS fans have had in the past. This is exactly what we have been waiting for and I for one am looking forward to it getting better.
Liga MX is literally carried on up to 18 different channels, either TV or streaming, across 5 different outlets in the US. If you're not jumping through hoops for that, you're paying $200/mo for cable plus streaming. The only English language coverage is FS1/FS2 and maybe TUDN USA (not sure if they actually do English broadcasts for Liga MX). The next full weekend of Liga MX action is after the international break starting on 3/31. 2 games are listed for TV broadcast, with 1 on FS2 as the only English language broadcast. Everything else is either in Spanish or it's via a streaming service you have to pay for.
I guess it depends on how you look at it. As I think I said earlier in this thread, I grew up during a time when TV was free to watch. Get home, turn a knob, pick a channel, watch. Then you used a remote to do the same thing. Then cable came along, and that was supposed to revolutionize entertainment, and it did, kind of. But today, as a senior citizen, I resent having to pay a lot of money for something I used to get for free. I resent having to pay a lot of money for something that, each year, seems to have a higher and higher percentage of garbage. And I resent being asked to pay even more to "stream" something I used to get a year ago as part of my regular over-priced cable service. I also deeply resent having to take additional steps to do so. A while back we received a mailing telling us Thursday night NFL football was now only available by "streaming," and listing the 3 or 4 steps we would need to take in order to "stream" it. I just laughed and threw the paper away. Too much trouble. Sporting events are a fun part of life, but they are not really essential. Watching MLS is not going to change my life. I have many other things that bring me just as much joy as watching soccer on TV. I suppose it is the modern way of business for companies to now ask you to pay for "premium" things that used to be part of the basic service. We used to shop at Whole Foods every week. Then Amazon bought them, and now they expect us to pay more than $100 a year for "Prime," just so we can take advantage of sales. So...we now shop at Whole Foods only about 4 times a year. But that's another rant. I would love to watch MLS, but to me, a person who worked for more than 40 years in very complex, stressful, data-intense jobs, the advantages you list for the new MLS "streaming" world are just not worth the additional investment in time and hassle. At this stage in my life I want to simplify things. And it is simpler for me to go to my back room and pick out a book to read than to navigate my way through the brave new world of "streaming." I wonder how many people my age feel the same way. I have a couple friends who have ditched ALL cable TV. My wife and I have not yet reached that point, but we are getting there.
We have a Spanish language channel...Univision or something like that. It is part of the regular Spectrum cable bundle. I don't mind watching Mexican league games in Spanish, even though I do not speak that language. The beautiful game is the beautiful game, in Spanish or English. If Mexican league games are yanked away and added to some "streaming" service, then I just won't watch Mexican soccer any more. It just gets tiresome trying to keep up with all the new entertainment "options." Again, I wonder how many other people my age feel the same way.
BTW, the only way to watch all the games of your favorite Premier League team is the have cable and Peacock. Of 9 games after the break, there are 4 on USA and 5 on Peacock. How is that simpler than everything is on a single service, Apple TV+?
I don't know if there's much to say when your response boils down to "I don't want to." Which is fine, you don't have to do what you don't want to do. You've gone through multiple changes in the means of accessing sports and entertainment, and you don't want to do the next one. 50-60 years ago, the main means of following a non-NFL local team, besides going to games, was radio and newspapers and probably a subset of road games televised. If you liked a non-local team, you could look at the scores in the paper and hope for the occasional national TV game. Over the decades, cable caused the number of televised games to increase, but it wasn't until the RSN boom post-1990 that the expectation for most teams became that every game was televised locally. Then DirecTV and improved cable bandwidth brought about the premium out-of-market packages, which created a model that's particularly well-suited for streaming platforms, which could offer much more content and bring in entire leagues from around the world. Meanwhile the cable RSN model has become financially unsustainable, so MLS took the opportunity to get out of that world completely, maybe a bit earlier than the culture is really ready for, but this was when the contract was up.
Same here, I usually go out Saturday evening. I watch NYCFC games when I get home, usually past midnight, it helps a little to be able to fast forward half time. Then Sunday morning I watch recaps of every game while having breakfast. This is a dream come true.
Yeah but EPL has less games on TV too. You now have to pay for Peacock to be able to watch whatever game you want.
And for Comcast/Xfinity subscribers starting in June Peacock will no longer be included, so they'll have to pay for that service now too.
I don't like how NBC got rid of NBCSN. They pretty much removed AMA Supercross, Monster Jam, and the EPL from TV. They claimed they were going to move things to USA since more people get that channel. They haven't changed USA though. It's still a bunch of TV dramas when EPL, or NASCAR isn't on. I don't like how they don't show the Rolex 24 and 12 Hours of Sebring all the way through on the TV either.
USA showed a few other sports this year. IndyCar usually has 3-4 races on USA now. For some reason Supercross got bumped down to CNBC. Monster Jam is on something called MavTV now. USA showed a decent amount of A10 basketball this year. Some USFL games are on USA. It was definitely a weird move. They didn't have enough content for a standalone sports channel, especially after losing the NHL contract, but they had too much to try and blend it into the existing USA network.
I've been bummed out by the spoiler score posts myself. If I can't watch a live game I want to try to maintain "the bubble" and avoid all social media and try to sit down at the end of the day with a nice plate of food and a beverage and watch it like it's live. Not only have I been having trouble even FINDING how to watch the full game replays but have not yet figured out how to get rid of the spoiler alert on a Roku TV. Yeah yeah...I'm a Luddite but c'mon Apple TV? Quoted for REPS! YES! ^^^^ Honestly I STILL cannot figure out how to not only NOT see the score but even WHERE to find the FULL REPLAY of a single old game? I can only find 7 minute highlights (which are ruined by the score line on the graphic). Bummer.
But CBSSN still exists. They existed before they got the rights to the UEFA CL. Of course I never watch CBSSN since there isn't much on it. I think NBC just wanted to make more money. I'm guessing they probably make more money off of a stand alone service vs having a provider pay to have their channels.
The problem was that distributors were unwilling to pay higher fees for NBCSN, but they already did for USA. I admit it's strange to read that motocross and monster trucks air on CNBC. That channel sounds more like for snow volleyball or at the very least F1 powerboat racing.
To turn off the live scores, go to settings and scroll down till you see 'Turn Off Live Scores". That will turn them off. As for the full 90' replay, click on the team you want to see, then scroll down to past matches and choose the match you want to see, then scroll all the way to the bottom till you see the MLS Season Pass logo. Hold down for three seconds and the 7' recap, 90' English replay, 90' Spanish replay will appear. you can choose which one you want to watch.