Thanks. That's exactly what I was looking for. I was just thinking this weekend that it might be easier for MLS to get a more favorable deal from ABC/ESPN/ESPN2 with the advent of FOX Sports World.
Before you get swarmed by a barrage of flame posts, perhaps you should consider for the following points: - ESPN doesn't need soccer to make money. Why pay money to show soccer when it's cheaper and more profitable to show bass fishing or World Series of Poker? - So MLS pays to get on air because it needs ESPN more than ESPN needs MLS - ABC is available to anyone with a TV and a coat hanger. ESPN2 doesn't quite have the same reach, but it is nonetheless available on pretty much every standard cable package. - On the other hand, Fox Sports World is only available as part of a premium package on satellite or digital cable and is therefore completely irrelevant when you're talking about getting exposure. MLS knows it, ABC/ESPN knows it.
I agree with everything you just said, and I really don't see MLS getting a better deal from the Disney companies.
You're right. But the sad reality is that there's nothing that they can do about it other than to improve their ratings.
Or from anybody else, for that matter. It's just as likely, IMHO, that MLS will be able to continue to have a decent presence on fairly-available over-the-air and cable outlets for the forseeable future as it is unlikely that they'll ever get anybody to pay them significant money for the privilege.
MLS will be even more screwed come 2006 than it is now. 1. ESPN, Inc. would want SUM/MLS to provide ESPN Deportes some form of Futbol Mexicano in exchange for TV time on ESPN2 for MLS, that is in addition to the English-language US TV rights to the men's and women's World Cups. 2. FOX Sports Int'l would want SUM/MLS to continue to provide FOX Sports en Espanol some form of Futbol Mexicano in exchange for TV time on FOX Sports World for MLS. That means SUM/MLS may have to spend more money on US TV rights to Futbol Mexicano in order to satisfy both ESPN, Inc. and FOX Sports Int'l so that MLS can get its matches on ESPN2 and FOX Sports World. SUM/MLS currently supplies "La Interliga" to FOX Sports Int'l and the Mexican National Team to Telemundo, but does not supply any Futbol Mexicano to ESPN Deportes. ESPN Deportes eventually will need to have Futbol Mexicano matches in some way, shape, or form if it is to ever to be taken seriously by the ad agencies on Madison Avenue and Wilshire Blvd. Also note that Comcast will be a major player one way or another: either via a successful acquisition of Disney (and thereby taking control of ESPN, Inc.), or via expansion of its regional sports network business so that it would take majority control of FOX Sports Net/National Sports Partnership away from Cablevision (and thereby take management control of FOX Sports Net away from FOX). If you thought ESPN, Inc. is tough to do business with during the Disney regime, you don't want to find out what would happen if or when Comcast takes over. Comcast is the "Microsoft" of the entertainment business: a ruthless big bully that wants to control everything.
SUM should break up it's properties and see how much money it can get. I, for one, have a hard time believing SUM has to make concessions to Fox Sports World in order to show more MLS games. Do you know for sure that MLS is paying Fox to show games? I always understood it was a give/take situation where next to no money was exchanged, just Fox got to show MLS games and had to do a weekly highlights show.
Okay, so if Comcast takes control of the majority of Fox Sports Net will it take out regional coverage and essentially be another ESPN type of channel? That part I don't understand.
Because FOX Sports Int'l knows that MLS has nowhere else to go come 2006 (by that time, Comcast would either have taken over Disney/ESPN or taken management control of FOX Sports Net/National Sports Partnership, or both), FOX Sports Int'l can extract more favorable terms from MLS for continued carriage of MLS programming on FOX Sports World. ESPN, Inc., whether under the management of Disney or Comcast, can also tighten the screws on MLS because ESPN knows that MLS has nowhere else to go come 2006 if it wants relatively inexpensive TV time to reach 80+ million homes. MLS has always played ESPN and FOX off each other, in addition to using the threat of Comcast (which would be the most-likely "partner" with MLS for "MLS Network"), to get somewhat favorable terms. With one of the 3 major sports TV players out of the picture come 2006, MLS will have a more difficult time getting the TV time it needs.
this thread has turned very pessimistic based on some very broad yet also shortsighted assumptions. yes, it looks like the big time tv sports players field is slimming down thru consolidation and hostile takeovers, but you can also claim that the American Sports landscape is changing as well. Hockey is certainly in a tough situtation this year, and the other major sports are facing their own challenges as well. soccer could have 2 1/2 huge years in America by the time contracts must be negoiatied and signed. it's possible (but certainly a huge task) that the Freddy effect could be bigger than anyone imagained and MLS could be getting much improved ratings. The national team could do amazingly well in Germany in '06. nobody is sure right now. but these gains and others would still have to face the very difficult and demanding world of TV sports, and the fact that soccer is not traditionally commercial tv advertizing friendly does not really help. of course who pays for ownership of the American broadcast rights to the WC's after 2006 will have a lot of leverage in negotiations for the domestic league. really things like this are difficult to understand as they happen, much less speculate about something that's more than 2 years away.
Exactly. When people can't predict something that happens two months fromnow, why even think of basing 2006 decisions on 2004's business environment.
Expansion for TV Frankly, the reason MLS is pushing so hard for expansion includes the need to be able to say to the networks that we are now a 12, 14, or 16 team league. Being in 16 markets versus 10 would appear much more appealing to networks and advertisers. While hockey may be in trouble, they got broader acceptance through massive expansion. MLS needs a nationwide footprint to appeal to more viewers.