[strike]Fingers crossed the local TV deal is included, because[/strike] this is right up my alley. https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2022...l-mls-matches-for-10-years-beginning-in-2023/ //edit: No blackouts!! Honestly this is the way sports should be. One place, no blackouts, reasonable price.
Am I reading this right - All games to be either Saturday night or Wednesday night for mid-week? No more crappy Sunday afternoon games in the heat? If true this is great. Nothing better than a Saturday night game at the Diggity with a big crowd.
Interesting. No blackouts, individual or package, replays, weekly recaps, free games to foment the thing. I like it.
This is some of the biggest news in the history of MLS. It’s from a different angle than maybe your average fan of a team would appreciate as big news, but massive nonetheless. …and to do it with one of the most iconic and game changing companies in history. What a journey we’ve been on!
For most of us viewers this is great news. Solves so many problems about watching MLS. But what does it mean for the league??? The lack of a $$ figure next to the 10 year TV deal seems ominous. Probably ninety percent of the growth of the league depends on the size of our TV contracts. But if this was a lucrative deal I think they would have told us. Is MLS embarrassed about a sub-standard TV rights fee? I hope that is not the case.
Ok, got the numbers. This is a 2.5 billion dollar deal with Apple! I don't know how this compares to say NHL but for us it's excellent news. The old one was $90mil/yr, of which we got only $65m because of the scum sucking SUM skimming our fees. Also TV contract should be even higher because ESPN, Fox and Univision will also be showing some matches (which will also be on Apple+). Whatever the MLS portion of the $250 million/yr is, it should really up our salary cap! Glad my overpriced iPhone $'s are going somewhere soccer related! (Of course a lot of it will also go to the already rich franchise owners whose teams will shoot up in value. Damn capitalism! ) https://theathletic.com/news/mls-tv-deal-espn-apple-univision/cbC0ubEBpHsb/ (behind a paywall)
SUM is owned by MLS. If the owners are diverting TV revenues, it is just a way to claim MLS clubs are losing money and keep salaries down.
My bad - the 25m/yr goes to scum sucking USSF! Also just noticed that Apple will be charging extra for the MLS package, with only select games shown for free to Apple+ subscribers.
Looks like you might get it free if you’re a STH I swear it’s like they read an unsolicited email I sent years ago.
Also saw that USSF isn’t getting a cut from the new contacts. If this reporting from unnamed sources is truly accurate then MLS really dodged a bullet. In March it was reported that networks like ESPN, Fox and Univision were showing little interest in signing any big long term tv deal due to poor ratings. There was speculation that our TV money would decrease and possibly revert to dozens of confusing local deals. https://theathletic.com/3194631/202...anger-sources-say/?source=user_shared_article This Apple+ deal completely reverses the trajectory of MLS over the next decade from a bleak decline or stasis to an instant tripling of TV revenue, the lifeblood of any professional sport. That makes this TV deal appearing out of nowhere arguably the most important turning point in MLS history, after the founding of the league. And the growth of the US Division I professional league fuels the growth and reputation of US soccer in general - from youth to the national team. So again - this Apple+ tv contract changes everything, right? I think it is hard to appreciate how important getting this package was because few of us were aware of how much doodoo MLS was about to be in. AFAIK there was very little press about an impending major loss of TV revenue. So hearing that MLS was rescued from a sickly future is analogous to getting a call from your doctor telling you your lab result came back benign when you didn’t even know a cancer diagnosis was on the table! (Which happened to me once! )
The teams were told to not negotiate any local announcer deals past 2022. It’s not clear to me though who will be doing the ESPN, Fox and English language Univision broadcasts.
I would like to correct my first post - this isn’t a $2.5 billion TV deal. It is a $2.5 billion dollar TV deal. An unexpected one at that! (Please be real, with no fine print!)
Maybe this tidbit provides a little bit of clarity: Well here's some news:For teams with local radio broadcasts, you'll be able to listen to the radio broadcasts as the audio instead of the TV broadcast feed.— Jonathan Tannenwald (@thegoalkeeper) June 14, 2022
Why no Tutino and Cobi? Why can't they they do the games? Is their contract with Galaxy or with Spectrum? I don't see them do much but Galaxy games. Not that I will lose sleep if they can't but they can quit and go work for Apple or work something out to be able to do our matches. I am just happy for people that could not see home matches unless they attended even if they were willing to pay for ESPN+. You had to have cable full on or no dice and that is counterproductive to what a league like MLS needs which is easy exposure to part-time or curious fans. Many of people I know have cut the cable a long time ago. I have all kinds of ways to watch the games but it sucked when I couldn't discuss any matches with friends because they didn't/ couldn't catch many matches. Even here with hardcore fans. Many of you had no way to watch these games. How is the sport going to grow like that?
It’s crazy to think MLS is getting $250m per year while the Premier League is getting $450m. Yes, it’s $200m difference, but that’s still mighty impressive. As long as the production values and commentary aren’t garbage (and sadly I’ve heard their MLB efforts have room to grow). I hope they knock it out of the park and court other leagues as well. Not to beat a dead horse, but the no bullshit "watch all the games" is the right way to do it and I want that to be the model all other sports follow; sometimes it feels like trying to watch soccer is some weird side quest in a game of find the right channel or streaming service or … alternative viewing option. I just plain gave up a whole bunch of times over the last few years and it’s definitely had a negative affect on my fandom. Excited to get back in to it so when going to games is feasible again I’ll actually know the players’ names.
Great news for fans all-around. Hopefully it also means guys like Tutino and other local commentators will get contracts, so we retain some of the local flavor.
That's my hope and honestly what makes sense. Rather than hiring 60 new commentary teams, just hire all the local ones to continue as needed. It's a massive deal, for sure. A big shot of money into the league and a move into the future with how TV sports will be viewed. Seems like there will still be free games (the occasional network game), the games that are included in "package" with your Apple+ TV subscription, and then the "all games available" specialty subscription package. But it's all in one place rather than being spread out. And a nice touch to give all MLS full season ticket holders subscriptions. Can't wait to find out all the details about it...
More details: https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2022/06/14/Media/MLS-TV-rights.aspx Looks like they are still negotiating with ESPN and Fox for some national games (and Univision I would assume) but those games will still be on the Apple subscription plan (no blackouts!) Also states that MLS is stepping up to produce all the games themselves. So that could be a good or bad thing. I guess we will find out in about 8 months....
So will this money deal will make it more palatable to install pro/reg because it can be used to pay the original clubs any financial losses thet might incur for dropping down!
Guesses on pricing? ESPN+ Is $70 for the year or $7 a month MLB.tv is $115 for the year or $25 a month F1TV is $80 for the year of $10 a month In terms of content and length of the season MLS falls somewhere between MLB and F1. I could see $13 a month and $100 for the year.
Given that this is a 10 year contract, I would hold off on celebrating the money until the terms of the contract are clearly laid out. For example, I could see something like the first year being $130mm with progressively larger annual payments. I could also see Apple having a way out. Note: This is a far cry from what the EPL gets in broadcasting rights. Even with a even distribution of $250mm per year, that is chump change when spread across 28 or 30 teams compared to the $317mm that Liverpool alone got for the 2020/21 season or the over $100mm that mid-level teams can count on annually.
I think we are far from pro/rel. We would need a really strong second division so the fall is not that far. Right now that fall would feel like dropping from MLS to high school level. Like Galaxy dropping to go play in community colleges.