A few days ago, FOX showed the season opener of "24" without any commercial breaks during the show itself, which lasted around 51-52 minutes. Ford had a 2.5 minute commercial (roughly) both before and after the show. Also, "on behalf of all of us at '24'" Keifer Sutherland personally thanked Ford for "making this possible" just before the show started. Now, as far as I know, this is just about the only instance of nationwide, primetime TV running an entertainment program without commercial breaks. Could this be a method MLS could use in order to actually one day sell its TV rights, rather than always going the time-buy route? Perhaps in addition to the commericals during halftime, pre-game and post-game, MLS could sell each game to a single sponsor, kind of like what 24 did. You could even have an MLS star personally thank the sponsor before the show: "Hi, I'm Clint Mathis. On behalf of all of us on the Metrostars, I'd like to personally thank McDonald's for making my physique what is it today." or "Hi, I'm Landon Donovan. On behalf of all of us here on the San Jose Earthquakes, I'd like to thank the Backstreet Boys and their new album "Taco Supreme" for making this game possible. On a more personal note, I'd also like to thank them for continuing the effort to convince young teenage girls that guys like me are the dreamiest." I can't belive I'm trying to think of ways to get more advertising in the world.
THis could very well happen one day. But it isn't because of this that MLS will switch from a time buy to a money-maker. Believe me, once MLS starts getting the ratings, there will be lots of creative solutions for working commercials in there. What I'm afraid of, is that the popularity of the sport may cause a whole bunch of crazy things to happen that us purists will hate. Right now, the purists are the only ones keeping the league alive--which is why Garber is catering to us. If soccer ever goes mainstream to the degree that typical Americans are watching, and if typical AMericans don't mind commercials, or tv time-outs or whatever other crazy things they can think of (international friendlies counting in league standings?), then the league will start doing it.
Not if the rest of the world isn't doing it--FIFA would have to go along with something like that, and hopefully even Sepp Blatter isn't that warped.
if soccer goes mainstream, they won't have to do things. people aren't going to start liking soccer and then immediately say, "hey, now that i like this sport, you know what you need? tv timeouts."
I think there needs to be a better advertising solution. The NFL is perfect for this and the NBA is very flexible in this regard. But, I think soccer's rules would really be best served if another form of advertising were developed here in the US. For instance, those little animations that sometimes run on the Spanish channels that advertise products are much better than commercial breaks. The only problem is that the sponsors don't want to have to devise another entire line of advertising just for soccer. Sort of a chicken/egg thing. If Garber's idea of MLS/SUM sponsoring a "Soccer Channel" then there will be a lot of replay games (non-live) and those are easy enough to insert commercial breaks into without missing much. But for the live games, something else is needed. I know there are signage boards around many fields, but the production crew could superimpose some field signage for TV sponsors I think. -Tron
Actually, NBC aired Schindler's List uncut and without commerical interuption, except for an intermission. And as luck would have it, it was sponsored by Ford. Well it wasn't quite uncut. Some of the gratuitous nudity was cut.
Up to the 1998 World Cup, TSN practiced a plan which allowed the game to be shown with commercials. When they went to a "Commerical Break" they split the screen into two parts. The first was 2/3 the normal size and the game was still shown on that. The other 1/3 of the screen was used for commericals, usually shorter than the norm. This allowe dthe game to be shown without constant interuption. It's only praticed in NA. In Europe, as with international competitions, the stations havce to time their commericals in order not to miss any action.
Commercials during broadcasts I've always wondered why MLS couldn't just pause the broadcast of the game (like Tivo) to insert a couple commercials, then resume the broadcast from where it left off (or just before it left off, so the viewer recognizes that he didn't miss anything). The rest of the game would be on a 1 minute delay until the next commercial break, after which it would then be a 2 minute delay, and so on. The live game in the stadium would be uninterrupted. alansl
The only time I've ever seen Timeouts for college soccer was last year when the NCAA Men's championship was on TV (and actually, they made it more like an intermission between quarters). I turned it off.
Re: Commercials during broadcasts This actually sounds acceptable, take up to 4 minutes off in the first half, then I'm not watching idiotic halftime show coverage for the full 15, which is when I'm out making lunch or whatever anyway. This or the 2/3 screen idea mentioned above. Wouldn't this idea drive more people to the games as well?
Everything old is new again. Back in the 50's and early 60's TV Shows had one only one sponsor (e.g. Texaco Star Theater) Not that it is a bad idea ...
As sombody mentioned below, Schindler's List, as well as the first showing of Saving Private Ryan were shown this way. I think an episode of Alias was shown this way last season as well. So it's becoming a more common thing.
Don't they already do this? "This portion of the broadcast is brought to you commercial-free by Budweiser."
Yes, they do this. And there's generally the logo of the sponsor for each segment up in corner where the score and time are shown. They generally break it down into 15 minute segments, so you have 3 per half. Also, I think that MLS needs to start doing those signs on the ground on either side of the goal like you see in all the South American games. The ones that are painted with the TV angle in mind so it looks like there's a sign standing up along the end line.
It's also a regular season thing. I was watching a Women's college game the other day (UCLA v someone) and they had a timeout right around the 22 minute mark. The NCAA thinks they are their own governing body (which they are in a way)hence the timeouts and weird sub rules (although FIFA does allow for those) among other things. They are of the opinion that they can make what ever rules they wanted. As long as they get approved by their members it's a free for all. Thankfully some of their member (which are the AD's of all the schools) talk to their soccer coaches before voting. Too bad not enough do or there might be longer seasons or even a split season with the championship happening in April or so.
Not calling your integrity into question here, Owen... but in the 20 years I've been going to college soccer, and the 6 matches I've been to this year, I've never seen a single time out except a TV timeout last year. Could the match you're talking about have been on TV somewhere?
Some are green mats...some are real, painted tarps...and others are 100% image, not mat / tarp Either way, I have no idea why MLS would not have sold that space yet.