That was the only statement under discussion: "No-one would buy the rights to soccer in general." $150 million says that's total bullshit.
One statement by one person, whom I wasn't responding to, is the only thing we can discuss in this thread?
If you respond to a statement, shouldn't your comments be relevant to it? All of your spew about WC98 being a "disaster" ignores the fact that Univision's WC98 coverage was an enormous success. Do you really not get that Spanish-language transmission is where the money was? $150 million covers a lot.
We were specifically discussing the 2002 WC. Yes, the ratings for France 98 for ESPN/ABC werte below what they were expecting. Ergo, they decided to not bid on the ENGLISH rights to the 2002 WC, which due to the time difference would not have games in prime viewing windows in the states.
I think 90% of the posters here understood that they were talking about English language rights. Spanish language rights were taken for granted.
TV money is worth the same no matter the broadcast language. Restricting attention to money for English-language transmission is nonsensical.
OK we get it. You're the poster who didn't realize that when we were discussing SUM we were taking about English language rights.
The $150 million is relevant, and also fact that ESPN paid $0 is relevant. The English rights situation is specifically relevant to the reasons that MLS got involved and then subsequently started SUM.
Agree with all of this. While I'm still sucked into this discussion, the other poster who described the USSF as "almost broke" was making stuff up again. As of mid-2001, the USSF was running a surplus and had over $20 million in the bank. With that being said, it obviously had an interest in getting the WC onto English-language TV and in MLS not folding. It killed two birds with one stone.
English TV rights for the World Cup in the US 1990 - TNT paid $7.75M 1994 - ESPN/ABV paid a minimum of $11M 1998 - ESPN paid $22M 2002 & 2006 - MLS/SUM covered the production costs for ESPN 2010 & 2014 - ESPN paid $100M 2018 & 2022 - Fox paid $400M+ Spanish TV Rights for the World Cup in the US 2002 & 2006 - Univision paid $150M 2010 & 2014 - Univision paid $325M 2018 & 2022 - Telemundo paid $625M
So, what you’re saying is, is that SUM was critical both in terms of growing MLS, but also in terms of growing the sport. Thank God for SUM!!!!
CWC: LAFC starting 5 USMNT eligible players (Long, Hollingshead, Tillman, Delgado, and Ebo) v Chelsea in 15 minutes!
I watched the game and was surprised to see LAFC play against Chelsea so well. They were really pushing Chelsea throughout the 2nd half. Props to Cherundolo for his halftime adjustments. Tim Tillman was perhaps the most disappointing player for LAFC in this one. Long, Hollingshead and Delgado played well.
I thought Tillman had a good first half. I wasn't expecting him to perform like his brother. Bouanga was disappointing. You can't dribble around Premier League defenders. Overall you wouldn't think there was a $200M difference in payrolls.
I respect your opinion. Just goes to show how subjective player evaluations can be. I thought Tillman was LAFC's best player with Long a close 2nd. Tillman was asked to play a more aggressive attacking role and it was his best performance in their last 5 or so matches. His press resistance was very good as usual but in this match he also played on the front foot especially attacking off the dribble. 5 of 6 dribbles and 2 key passes. He won 8 of 12 duels. If Bouanga was better LAFC likely nabs at least a point. Stats: https://www.fotmob.com/matches/chelsea-vs-los-angeles-fc/4w5oilc4#4798444:tab=stats Highlights for those who did not watch live.
I thought Tillman, Hollingshead, and even Aaron Long looked up to task most of the game vs Chelsea. I thought Ebobbisie and Ordaz pre concussion looked out of their depth and I thought Marky Delgao was one of the prime offenders of just not hitting passes with enough pace
With Tillman, I just remember seeing him make a lot of poor passes and, generally, being slow of thought when on the ball. I was impressed that pretty much the whole LAFC squad seemed to be up to the task of being quick and decisive with their touches. They busted through Chelsea's much more expensive midfield with ease on several occasions. Tillman was slow to react to oncoming pressure on several occasions, which was surprising.
biggest difference between europe and mls - time to think. time to take touches. it really shouldnt be that hard for professional players that play the sport for decades of their lives continuously...but americans really struggle with it...esp those in MLS.....theyer just so comfortable and used to not being pressured its knowing what to do with the ball before you get it....AND able to get it where it needs to go effectively. so very few americans in mls are able to master this part of the game. ebobisse was also horrendous at this. somene like agyemang is very poor in this area, seemingly , as well. its why I hate how a guy like berhalter or MB90 played - their team works so hard to create a half second window...where they can cut into the opponent....and what do they do? backpass....as if they are doing something good!! "saving" the ball......squandering a rare and difficult to acheive moment only to subsequently give the ball away from a worse position wihtout testing the opponent given the disparities in salary, lafc did well...but wont be surprised if mls wins zero out of 9 of their matches....the time for consolation prizes has passed
Oddly enough Tillman was developed in Europe so based on your assessments he should be way better than any player developed in US/MLS. That isn't the case. Everyone, specially the haters, were expecting MLS to get blown out of the water. It hasn't happened yet. Even though Seattle and LAFC lost they looked very competitive. Haven't looked out of place. LAFC even performed better vs Chelsea than what Betis did vs Chelsea in the Conference League. European leagues get so overhyped by people like you but good thing we have this CWC now. This will show where the rest of the world stands. Aside from the elite Euro clubs (which won't surprise anyone when one of them win this CWC), the 2nd tier Euro clubs so far have looked suspect. Wish we could have more of those second tier Euro clubs to see how the rest of the world measures up. Waiting to see Pachuca and Al Hilal vs Salzburg. River and Monterrey vs Inter are also interesting match ups to see where they stand even though Inter isn't "2nd tier" Europe. They are the current UCL runners up.
To polish diamonds you need diamond dust. Using diamond dust to polish pebbles, isnot going to turn them into diamonds.
Only watched Dortmund vs. Fluminense so far and it wasn’t exactly the most scintillating brand of soccer I’ve seen. A lot of weak or wild shots and some aimless passing.