2020 NWSL media discussion

Twitch? Somebody twitching?

 

In the App Store (free)
Already has a trailer for opening day.

 

Started out as Justin.tv then was bought by Amazon

 

I'm posting this for the idea -- it's mostly for Timbers/Thorns fans, but the idea could be used elsewhere. Each weekend, on Saturday an historically important Thorns game (first game ever this coming Saturday) and on Sunday a Timbers game (first home game ever). On local TV.

https://www.timbers.com/post/2020/0...tfc-archives-series-beginning-march-21-fox-12

 

On a related note, yesterday there was a Twitter NWSL Watch Party (group re-watch of 2017 Sky Blue-Seattle game). I mentioned it in the NWSL News and Media thread, but it had already started. Now several coaches (Rory Dames, Scott Parkinson, possibly Laura Harvey) are on board to join the Twitter party for a Chicago-Utah game (possibly to happen next Sunday). Follow the Twitter tag #NWSLWatchParty for more info and to join in.

 

I am concerned that the CBS coverage is going to suck. The questions on this interview of Sandy Herrrera are all about Carli Lloyd. Who the hell cares about Carli Lloyd at the club level. It is the only name they know. Also the Soccer Guy (Thomas Rongen) they have rubs me the wrong way - he did not impress me whatsoever during the original tournament draw - I believe he is clueless about Woso.

.@SkyBlueFC will be without Carli Lloyd for the @NWSL Challenge Cup, so what does this mean for the squad?@SandHerrera_ breaks down the key offseason moves that will help the team absorb such a big blow ⚽⬇ pic.twitter.com/mDexk1sHP8

— CBS Sports HQ (@CBSSportsHQ) June 23, 2020

 

In trying to apply the stra-ti-gery of using popular WNT players as the casual fan entry avenue to the Challenge Cup, using he 'usual suspects' present some problems. I googled 'most popular women's soccer players' and the first three photos on the results page were Morgan, Rapinoe, and Lloyd.

I boldly venture to add the group of Lavelle-Press-Ertz to those. So we have Morgan out to maternity, Rapinoe out, Lloyd out to injury (the tweet addressed that one), Press out, and Lavelle and Ertz in. Krieger and Harris have a fierce Woso following, but I doubt so much mainsstream recognition and they won't be there anyway. Marta is widely known, but absent. Sinc is Sinc - the best, but unknown outside Woso.

So the obvious strategy of using Morgan, Rapinoe, et al. to "sell" the event is not really a good one, and shows lack of imagination at CBS.

 

Thankfully, I don't think Rongen will have much of a role to play once the games start, other than some comments from the studio perhaps. They announced that Jenn Hildreth and Aly Wagner will call the opening match, and they're some of the best, imo. Hopefully they'll be back for the final CBS game. Mike Watts and Lori Lindsey will call the rest of the matches that are on CBS All Access. (Josh Tolle and Jenn Cooper will call those watching on Twitch.) Marisa Pilla will be the on-field reporter, and I think she might be the only one on site although its a bit unclear if the games are being called remotely or not. I'd imagine so.

https://www.nwslsoccer.com/news/art...p-presented-by-pg-and-secret-broadcast-talent

 

Does CBS All Access involve only live streaming, or will the games be archived to watch on-demand later? I’d like to watch most if not all the matches, but viewing them all live is unrealistic.

 

With the Google deal, it looks like live matches that are on CBS can also be streamed on YouTube TV. (without CBS All-access?)

NEWS: @nwsl adds @Google as a national sponsor.

-NWSL will use Google Meet to host virtual fan cheering sections to bring people to the event in Utah

-Google will share NWSL content across social

-Live matches on CBS can be streamed on YouTube TVhttps://t.co/vCBw9JwNFD pic.twitter.com/oABNaTTK7s

— Mark J. Burns (@markjburns88) June 26, 2020

The details are unclear, and I'm behind a paywall on the article.

 

I was wrong about this. From Jen Cooper's tweet, it seems like they're not calling the games remotely:

Looking forward to a World Cup-style month of @NWSL tournament soccer as I’ll be analyst for most of the #ChallengeCup @Twitch streams! https://t.co/0OVswiaSeO

— Keeper Notes (@keepernotes) June 26, 2020

 

Jen said she was calling the games from Florida, which is where they called the non-national games last year, as I recall.

 

The opening game had 572,000 viewers on CBS, beating out PL soccer games showing this past week.

Just sent #NWSLChallengeCup opening game between @ThornsFC and @TheNCCourage ratings info from a source.

572K total viewers on CBS, 178K for the 18-49 age group.

(2019 Championship drew 166K via ESPN, for comparison.)

— Meg Linehan (@itsmeglinehan) June 30, 2020

This is impressive. The NWSL game on CBS got a bigger TV audience than the Chelsea-Manchester City game on NBCSN. pic.twitter.com/3lZspQeXkb

— Subscribe to GrantWahl.com (@GrantWahl) June 30, 2020

 

I am VERY disappointed in virtually all the commentators I have heard/seen so far. Even those that have been part of soccer for some time seem to know little or nothing about the actual game as it is played and just parrot what the coaches feed them. Also it seems that the PBP people just scream any time the ball gets close to goal with no regard as to weather there is an actual scoring chance or not. They may be trying to spice up the boring games but in that they are failing badly.

Lastly a little side commentary is good but that seems to be the focus of many of these people and the talk right through what interesting play there is without ever acknowledging it as it happens.

So far this tournament has been very disappointing with bad play and bad commentary making it nearly unwatchable.

 

Maybe I'm a little more cynical.

Most sports broadcasters these days generally are part of a team or league's marketing arm.

This is not independent journalism.

Increasingly, the salaries are paid directly by the leagues or teams themselves. But even when they're hired by the broadcaster, the broadcaster's motives are towards selling the league (due to costs and rights fees) and not being critical or tearing it down.

I'm in my 50s, and women's sports broadcasts have always had a much lighter touch with regards to critique than the corresponding men's sport. There is almost never any "alternative" broadcast media for women's sports. With the NWSL on CBS, you're not going to find the news shows on ESPN or FS1 spend 5-10 minutes breaking down the NWSL games.

The broadcasters are instructed to focus on the positive. Sell the product. Highlight the goal scorer and ignore the criminal negligent defender other than maybe a quick reference. We get Ally Watt's diagnosis from Ally Watt's Instagram post, not from anyone in the woso media.

It's sort of like relying on your local sportswriters for analysis on your local major league team's efforts to extort hundreds of millions of dollars for a new or upgraded stadium. Those writers livelihoods depend on the existence of the team. If that team relocates, who is going to get laid off? Mike Watts and Lori Lindsey are great, but you have to understand both the parameters of their jobs as well as the unspoken pressure. Anything "negative" is quickly couched (WNT player is sitting out - AS WAS HER RIGHT) or ignored. They're pointing out how great Alyssa Naeher was doing in her saves, but ignoring the fact that she made some horrible decisions. If they go too heavy on "name" players, they know they can be replaced. And I doubt anyone ever advised them on that. There has always been a lot of self-censorship when it comes to both soccer and women's sports in this country. Trust me, I know. Combine the two, and this is what we get. If it continues to grow, and we get a real diverse media which is not full of people scared they'll lose their jobs or their access (too many jock-sniffers/water carriers in the current media pool for my taste), and we start getting outside outlets without league partnerships actually covering the league, then you'll see the official broadcasters actually critiquing things. NFL, MLB, and NBA broadcasts have lots of criticism, but those leagues also have a lot of independent outlets pushing the coverage. MLS, NWSL, and soccer in general in this country - at least the English language coverage of domestic soccer - still isn't there, yet.

 

I would like to hear from broadcasters who are knowledgeable about the game, and someone who know the LOTG a little.

 

Tough to talk about name players when most of the big ones weren’t there. ( Rapinoe, Press, Lloyd, Heath, Morgan , Kerr, Marta, etc.)
That’s a lot of WC goals missing, for various reasons.

I don’t think it has as much to do with women or just soccer as with pleasing the fan base and/ or owners and even players who are the easy sources for your stories. If you offend the stories are harder to get. I think sports people’s careers are invested in the players they cover.

Here is Portland the Jail Blazers and last year Bian Fernandez with the Timbers got a pass not only from announcers paid by the teams but from supposedly independent print media with only a couple exceptions. The bad news came from National, not local, sources..

Howard Cosell was perhaps an exception for criticizing boxing after the Duc Koo Kim death and the beating Tex Cobb took at the hands of Larry Holmes. You will remember Cosell got his fame announcing Ali matches.
Howard also was the first sports guy to do a story t drugs in Sports ( Carl Eller’s Cocaine use) before that, it was just boys being boys (eg. Ruth and Mantle with alcohol and drug abuse)

The brain damage issues in football didn’t get sports reporting. It came from the business desk in papers. The team names issues come from outside of sports reporting.

Nowadays critical announceing is Lalas going after Rapinoe and then the NWSL players for kneeling.
But even there he was following what he probably perceived as conservative rich owners and easy targets. ( a his own politics)
Surprise!

 

I think there might be future markets there.

 

The Fall Series numbers are surprisingly better than I expected, at least considering the lowered interest from some people due to not being a traditional tournament or season.