MLS 2014 TV Thread (Ratings, contracts etc)

Orlando City owner Flavio Augusto da Silva posted on Facebook page: Brazilian TV stations are bidding for MLS rights http://t.co/vLIi0F6riE

— Paul Tenorio (@PaulTenorio) December 17, 2014

 

http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/artic...ce-television-broadcast-agreement-yes-network

Shocker, there.

 

For whatever reason I thought that had already been done. Radio too.

 

Does YES have an alternate channel? The Yankees play pretty much everyday throughout the summer so I could see them getting bumped often. And I think the Nets are still on that channel as well.

 

I just checked the schedule and it looks like a bunch of day games to begin, then a mix of 1pm and 7pm games as the season progresses. There are also a ton of TBD times as well.

 

most Saturday MLB games are at night, unless they're picked up for a FOX broadcast generally.

 

Maybe you are thinking about RBNY?
The past few years whenever I checked the DirectTV program guide I remember always seeing RBNY on YES.

 

The WFAN radio deal was announced a long time ago, it was just added into this press release as a reminder. As I have been saying, I hope they have a plan, preferably with an OTA network, to broadcast any matches which conflict with the Yankees, instead of squeezing in kickoffs around the Yankees schedule or pushing it to some obscure alternate Yes station.

 

It's on MLS to make sure that they get through the group stage and it's always a MLS vs Liga MX tilt. That and it's a close rivalry between leagues. End of story.

If they do that, I think marketing and audiences easily go up for the CCL, which it's not getting from the rest of the respective country's markets.

 

The Red Bulls have always been on MSG (the "home" of Knicks and Rangers games, as well). And according to this article, MSG Networks re-upped with a multi-year extension at the beginning of the 2014 MLS season.

The breakdown for broadcast rights in New York basically works like this:

MSG/MSG+: Knicks, Rangers, Devils, Islanders, Red Bulls
YES: Yankees, Nets, NYCFC
SNY: Mets, Big East sports

 

Will be interesting to see what ESPN online/watch/digital will have in place by 3/7/15 for those games not televised nationally in the US:

Saturday, March 7
D.C. United vs. Montreal Impact (RFK Stadium) – 3 pm ET, RDS1
Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs. Toronto FC (BC Place) – 6 pm ET, TSN1 and RDS2
Houston Dynamo vs. Columbus Crew SC (BBVA Compass Stadium)
Philadelphia Union vs. Colorado Rapids (PPL PARK)
Portland Timbers vs. Real Salt Lake (Providence Park)
FC Dallas vs. San Jose Earthquakes (Toyota Stadium)


I'm also guessing/hoping that FS1 will have some of the CCL QFs in the two mid-weeks prior to the MLS season start. Likely the non-MLS/US teams would go on FS2, but it would be cool if DC United's CCL games were on FS1.

Almost time for a new "2015" thread?

 

Happy to see the first game on Unimas can't wait
Also I'm guessing, the NYCFC v. New England game will be nationally televised, which will give both teams two nationally televised games in the first two weeks, very interesting, and probably can't hurt ratings with such big markets. This also reminds me how much of a help having another big team in a large market helps, plus the revs gaining a stronger following in their market even if it is only a little bit greater.

 

Avaya Stadium opener will be on national tv as well

 

Stubhub is gonna look mighty empty when the season begins. LA traffic on a Friday rush hour is horrendous.

 

8pm start woulda been better.

 

Galaxy are gonna put up a new banner, and nobody will be there to see it.

 

I'm curious to see how fox will use the MLS. Fox soccer has lagged behind nbc coverage of the bpl and espn coverage of the world cup, but fox has made some good pickups (Alexi Lalas) and their coverage of the women's world cup draw was great. I'm also excited to see LA vs Chi on uni mas because univision finally has their own tv rights deal. I'm also wondering how espn will use the out of market package.

ESPN Networks

• Minimum of 34 regular season games, on an exclusive basis, on Sundays at 5 p.m. ET primarily on ESPN2.
• ESPN and FOX Sports will share MLS Cup Playoff matches outside of the two Univision games.
• MLS Cup will alternate each year between ESPN and FOX Sports 1.
• The AT&T MLS All-Star Game will alternate each year between ESPN and FOX Sports 1.
• ESPN and FOX Sports will split all U.S. Soccer matches.
• ESPN3 will carry the matches in MLS’ out-of-market package.
• ESPN Radio and ESPN Deportes Radio networks have the rights to broadcast MLS matches.
• ESPN obtains digital rights across all platforms and devices for the games it televises.
  FOX Sports
  • Minimum of 34 regular season games, on an exclusive basis, on Sundays at 7 p.m. ET primarily on FOX Sports 1.
  • FOX Sports 1 and ESPN will split MLS Cup Playoff matches outside of the two Univision games.
  • MLS Cup will alternate each year between FOX Sports 1 and ESPN.
  • The AT&T MLS All-Star Game will alternate each year between FOX Sports 1 and ESPN.
  • FOX Sports obtains digital rights across all platforms and devices for the games it televises, including its FOX Sports GO mobile app and FOXSportsGO.com for desktops.
  • FOX Sports obtain digital highlight rights for MLS’s out-of-market package via FOX Sports digital platforms.
  • ESPN and FOX Sports 1 will split all U.S. Soccer matches.
  • FOX Sports Radio network has the opportunity to broadcast MLS matches.
  • Univision
  • • Minimum of 34 regular season games, on an exclusive basis, on Friday evenings usually at 7 p.m. ET or 11 p.m. ET, primarily on UniMás.
    • Two MLS Cup Playoff matches per season, on an exclusive basis, during the knockout round.
    • The AT&T MLS All-Star Game and MLS Cup, exclusively in Spanish on Univision.
    • All U.S. Soccer Men’s National Team matches, including a minimum of four U.S. Women’s National Team matches each year over the term.
    • Exclusive MLS matches on the Univision networks will include Second Audio Program (SAP), providing viewers the option of watching games in English. English audio also will be available for matches televised on Univision’s digital platforms.
    • Univision Deportes Network (UDN), Univision’s 24-hour sports network, will feature 5-7 consecutive Friday doubleheaders in May and June that will be surrounded by two hours of MLS ancillary programming.
    • UDN will televise a weekly Sunday MLS wrap-up program and a condensed MLS match of the week.
    • Univision obtains digital rights across all platforms and mobile devices for the games it televises.

 

Univision has always had their own deal. They were the first tv network to actually pay money to MLS.

 

As a subscriber to MLS Live since back when they still called it Match Day Live, this new television deal is going to be a huge step backward for me. I'm not happy.

With MLS Live, for my $60 I got the whole season. Every game. Sure, I had to wait a couple of days for the network broadcasts, but eventually I could watch them. This was really important to me, because it was the only way I could watch the weekly Spanish-language game. Even if I was willing to pay for a Spanish-language tier just for one more MLS game a week, my cable system didn't carry Galavision.

Now the non-network and ESPN games will be on WatchESPN, the FS1 and FS2 games will be on FOX Sports Go, and the Univision games? No idea. I guess on whatever Univision's streaming service is. But it doesn't matter, because AFAIK, I don't get UniMás. (And I'd have to pay extra even if I did.)

I am now staring at the possibility of games in 2015 which I will be unable to watch in any way, ever (save illegal streaming). That was never the case with MLS Live.

MLS Live spoiled us rotten. Season-long archives, condensed games, a video player that indexed goals and cards, and all the games in one place. Now the games will be spread over multiple streaming providers, and the chances of seeing any of those extra goodies is next to nil.

I guess I can't blame MLS for making this decision. Killing MLS Live and selling the non-network games to ESPN probably brought in more money than all the MLS Live subscribers combined, and it will increase exposure by putting the games in front of everyone who has access to ESPN3. But for MLS Live subscribers, it royally goddamn sucks.

------RM

 

I swear I am not saying this to be snark. Just dont want you to be left in the dark.

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