While the A-League is drawing well, I think you are probably vastly overstating their intentions or desires for the immediate future.
Yeah I have really been surprised at what professional sports, loosely speaking, have really grown. I check out the TV ratings for sports on http://tv.zap2it.com/ and guess what seems to get the highest average weekly ratings over the spring and early summer? Basketball? Baseball? Hockey? No, NASCAR on Fox. Generally in the low 5s. Often after that is WWE Smackdown on UPN in the low 3s. Arena Football is not in that league ratings wise, but it is definitely kicking MLS's ass on TV. There always seems to be game on.
It's taken 16 years to be an overnight success. I remember watching the first ArenaBowl back in 1987 (one of their only sponsors was some now-long-forgotten sports drink called USAWet, and a commercial with Tony Dorsett ran, I swear, 20 times during the game). Used to have it on tape somewhere. It's actually been at a pretty high level for several years, and has been fairly steady at between 9-10k a game (looked like more on TV, pathetic, move San Jose, must have been a doubleheader, all disclaimers apply). Franchises have been sold for high amounts, they've been on network television (though not as often as they will under the NBC deal) and they have NFL owners buying teams. It may seem like it's happened overnight, but it really hasn't. It's a fun game to watch. Some folks refuse to acknowledge it as football, but it's not trying to be, not so much. It's a fun entertainment experience, competitive, and hard-hitting. And Frank, I'm glad to see your red card got reduced to a yellow. Don't know what we'd do without your jumping to conclusions.
My red got reduce to a yellow. I only got to thank guys like you that supported me thru the ordeal. Thanks again. I am very impress with the A-League and also excited, do to my profissional commitments I do miss the game of the week on Friday nights. Are any of the games replayed? and if so what times? I do see big things for the A-League, its good for the game and keeps the MLS in line. New Jersey Star-Ledger for the first time this year had the standings. I believe the A-League just went fly over by the WUSA league. I see some of the A-League owners going after the MLS, its great, its all in competion, and you guys know I much I like competiton.
it's funny to read all these posts in 2013 and see MLS lumped in with Arena Football and WNBA. Amazing how far MLS has come in ten years. I think most would agree that the league can no longer be mentioned in the same breath as those others.
We'll be having this same conversation for a long time still: when is soccer going to become bigger? Yet MLS and soccer as a whole is almost unrecognizable from 2002. In 2023 we'll probably be asking the same question, even while soccer is unrecognizable from 2013. Then, when we join the Big 4 to make the Big 5, people will ask "when are we going to be top 3"? Its a never ending conversation, but beneath all the talk is a very real change that is so imperceptible at times that it almost appears as if nothing is happening.
From an attendance stand point, MLS has separated itself from the other niche leagues. From a tv ratings stand point, it has not.
"Their" not going to understand "I" if I write "good." They "could" care less. If I ask after their health, I am sure they will tell me they are "good." If I tell them I wanted to know their health, not their moral condition, they will stare at me in uncomprehension. Or tell me I shouldn't think myself better "then" they are. They will be right, which is why I will say I am "well," not "good," if they ask me how I am.
My God I read the whole first page thinking I was in some alternate reality. Didn't notice the dates till late... Crazy.
The next target is CFL, higher average attendance, 30m per year deal with canada tv plus not sure how much they get from nbcsn
Somehow I already knew they had horse racing. This is what waking up at 8 in the morning, desperate for something to watch, gets me.
I think we all agree but we need to temper that with other facts. Strictly speaking, you're right that Major League Soccer hasn't joined the big time in terms of ratings, and since this conversation is about MLS you're basically correct in your assessment. But I think it would be naive not to look at the ratings and broadcast revenue of soccer events as a collective. Ice hockey in North America gets its media rights based on NHL, almost exclusively. I stand to be corrected, but I don't think KHL, other Euro leagues or even the World Championships generate much money in NA from TV rights - after that, what else is there in ice hockey? All their TV revenue appears, at least to my naked eye, to stem from the NHL. I've heard the figure of $200m annually all up or something. Could be higher though, I haven't checked. Compare that to soccer where its split down MLS, EPL, World Cup, European Championships, Champions League, LigaMX, international and club exhibitions/friendlies. All these facets of the game generate decent money from broadcasters. Pooled together, I'd be amazed if its not in the $200-250m range annually; $250m is much higher that what was made a decade ago. My loose figures are based on $83m for EPL, and $125m for World Cup rights (broken up annually over 8 years). EPL and WC alone may be nudging ice hockey in North America (dont shoot me if its wrong, I am speculating here). And one of those involves a competition with a grand total of 128 games condensed into 2 months over an 8 year span! Of course they are the two biggest players, but I just don't think you can talk about soccer rights in North America by just concentrating on MLS. Its the sport with the most fragmented market of any sport, which is a massive challenge to overcome. However knowing that the situation exists, you have to pool together its entire resources for a fair reflection of where things stand. A LigaMX game can absolutely annihilate an NHL game; why should it not count as a reflection of broader change in American sports over the last two decades? Of course you could also make a case for WNBA coming under the basketball (NBA) umbrella, which is fine too. But Arena Football and Lacrosse, as other niche sports, can't really touch soccer.
The NHL-NBC deal is worth $200 million a year for exclusive NHL rights in the US. The NHL's Canadian deals are reportedly worth $150 million a year.
Cool, thanks for that. So still some distance off that level. Nevertheless the gap has closed. If we use just America as a benchmark, soccer as a whole makes more TV revenue than hockey. Was that the case 10 years ago? (Genuinely asking, unsure)