I do miss being able to flip on ESPN+ on a random Wednesday and watching these MLS academy kids. Don’t care enough to stream from the MLS website. Hope AppleTV can bring some better production quality. Also - the MLS Next Pro name just does not stick with me.
It does mess up the small local clubs whose marketing strategy is add whatever the latest buzz word to their club name in order to attract parents... See "Barcelona of Los Angeles Elite Next Pro Developmental Academy Team 09Boys."
It is strange how I used to watch a ton of USL1 but now that it's MLS next pro, I don't watch any of it. Haven't seen more than 1 NTSC game this year and saw all of them last year. I watched the first one on the MLS platform this year and it sucked so bad, it made it not worth watching. Ball leaving the frame, freezing up stream etc. Would be nice if it came back to Espn plus. They have tons of soccer, college and pro and do a good job with it.
Call it MLSNP and pronounce the letters in Spanish so it sounds exotic (to non-Spanish speakers anyway). Add "THE" to it so it sounds like it's part of THE Premier League.
Do yourself a favor and check out the Next/Pro “Game of the Week”. One game a week gets the broadcast treatment and it’s usually done well. At least as good as any USL broadcast. I have a feeling Apple may increase the value of Next/Pro game production but I think it’s likely not all games will be broadcast like they are now.
How can you not have every game broadcast? Maybe not all games will be broadcast with better production value than this, which still would be a bad deal for MLS, as all USL games are broadcast with full production value. I have a hard time believing the coverage for some games will get even worse. There are teams that broadcast their academy games weekly with as good or better production value.
Streaming numbers on Next/Pro games may run in the hundreds not thousands. Apple doesn’t need to fill traditional “air time” so I suspect they will pick and choose what games to air after considering production costs and maybe let Next/Pro continue to stream non Apple games on their website.
Granted it's a nationally recognized media program, but my son's ex-high school TV station has every bit the competence and production values as most USL broadcasts. Why not award the top local high school, or ju co media program the opportunity to produce the behind the scenes work and cover their costs? Unions might get pissy about it, but maybe they could be brought in on it as a job training program. The Fire are challenged drawing thousands to watch the first team. I'm certain there are fewer than one hundred viewers outside of friends & family & me.
Interesting plan by Nashville to expand their sphere of influence. Maybe hope to reach the next versions of Chris Richards, Tanner Tessmann, Brandon Servania, etc. down there. That's interesting. https://t.co/vAXmxOs2mc— 3rd Degree (@3rdDegreeNet) July 12, 2022
I'm sure it's in the hundreds, if not thousands. The families probably almost all tune in. I'm sure friends of the players tune in. Then you have fans that tune in. Maybe it's not many that are tuning in, but these MLS teams have a lot of fans. Even .05% of them tuning in, and you are easily past 100 per team. You also have the team employees who tune in. You have scouts who tune in (from around the world).
Tega Ikoba sends home the header to put @TimbersFC2 on the board! 💥 1-0 pic.twitter.com/fENVHeukNz— MLS NEXT Pro (@MLSNEXTPRO) July 17, 2022
Assist for Sergio Oregel (‘05). https://t.co/SRsOnN3waF— USMNTProspects (@ProspectsUsmnt) July 18, 2022 A pinpoint cross finds Alvarez who makes it 1-0 @TACdefiance!👏👏 pic.twitter.com/2cSoruauKT— MLS NEXT Pro (@MLSNEXTPRO) July 18, 2022 Assist for Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez (‘02). https://t.co/X6UA4YuNOB— USMNTProspects (@ProspectsUsmnt) July 18, 2022 Loyola gets the rebound and @OrlandoCityB get another one back!👀 pic.twitter.com/WpTb8HbPpj— MLS NEXT Pro (@MLSNEXTPRO) July 18, 2022 LOYOLA TIES IT UP FOR @OrlandoCityB!😱🔥3-3! pic.twitter.com/onDVLnNq64— MLS NEXT Pro (@MLSNEXTPRO) July 18, 2022
Sagir Arce had just entered the match a minute before he netted his first MNUFC2 & MLS Next Pro goal. Immediate impact. https://t.co/2RRCt1KGYp— Aaron Tomich (@AaronTomich78) July 18, 2022
I will be sure to check it out... because the couple of broadcasts I have streamed have been so poor that I have yet to go back. Just one camera and no zooming? Really? The two games I watched were in Pro stadiums so it must have been about saving costs on the camera crews. Hoping Apple does a far better job... because if they do I might watch a lot of these games because I care more about young US players than I do the teams involved. That is why I don't watch teams like Portland. At any rate... anyone have a line on what the MLS subscription is going to cost? I have Apple+ already.
Great result by RSL last night against Chelsea. Fun game, the second goal by Chelsea last night was stunning: GOAL: Benjamin Elliott hits the back of the net for Chelsea PL2 in the 65th minute | MLSNEXTPro.com
There are literally no camera crews. Tiny cameras are fixed mounted at the stadiums/fields up high and then when the game is streamed they have a computer Artificial Intelligence program zoom in on where the ball is going. At the beginning the had too tight of a zoom and sometimes the computer lost track of it and goals were scored off screen. It seems like they now have wider shots but that makes everyone look tiny. It seems they do real camera crews for “game of the week”.
First assist of the game for Alfonso Ocampo Chavez (‘02). https://t.co/C36LqoZw7P— USMNTProspects (@ProspectsUsmnt) July 23, 2022 Second assist of the game for Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez (‘02). He has 7G, 4A in 1387 minutes on the season in Next Pro. He’s been one of the best attacking players in the league. https://t.co/lbwR3oypVe— USMNTProspects (@ProspectsUsmnt) July 23, 2022
MLS Next Pro >>> Premier League 2 2 for 2 against our English visitors#RMvWOL | @AFCU pic.twitter.com/Am63prWQCI— Real Monarchs (@RealMonarchs) July 23, 2022
Zack Farnsworth ('02) returned in this game. He's missed a year and a half due to an ankle injury. I think he's an under the radar player that could emerge within a few years, if he returns back to his best. Still only 20 and he's a defensive player, so he's not too far behind. However, missing so much time can see a player stagnate and players don't always return to their best after such a tough injury recovery.
#NYCFC's 14 yr old Maximo Carrizo - the youngest player to sign an #MLS contract - makes his 1st bench today for @NYCFCII v @Intermiamicfii.Invited to '22 preseason w/ the first team, he joined @NYCFCYouth in 2018.I'll be on the @MLSNEXTPRO commentary at 6p ET@NYCFC @MLS pic.twitter.com/Hh2npJb6ol— Glenn Crooks (@GlennCrooks) July 24, 2022
Maximo Carrizo 🇺🇸 (‘08) subs on for his MLS Next Pro debut.#usynt #nycfc #mlsnextpro pic.twitter.com/MRh7Sqc2gJ— Alex Calabrese (@amcalabrese12) July 24, 2022
Andres Jasson makes it ✌️!@NYCFCII 2-0 pic.twitter.com/Zf11wfl9FV— MLS NEXT Pro (@MLSNEXTPRO) July 24, 2022 Ethan Subachan pulls one back for @OrlandoCityB 👊 pic.twitter.com/gGlZgqQXbo— MLS NEXT Pro (@MLSNEXTPRO) July 25, 2022 GOLAZO! Three minutes is all Yaya Toure needed to open the match! 👊@Rapids_2 1-0 pic.twitter.com/vpBfchQ3x7— MLS NEXT Pro (@MLSNEXTPRO) July 25, 2022 Yaya Toure converts from the spot for the equalizer! 🎯 @Rapids_2 2-2 pic.twitter.com/VtgEqUrs14— MLS NEXT Pro (@MLSNEXTPRO) July 25, 2022 .@JuarezJathan spins and scores in stoppage time! 😱@houstondynamo2 1-0 pic.twitter.com/EWIk1RiJ8q— MLS NEXT Pro (@MLSNEXTPRO) July 25, 2022
Toure gets his own rebound then finishes it at the near post for the lead!💪2-1 @Rapids_2!🔥 pic.twitter.com/LfCRKl6svr— MLS NEXT Pro (@MLSNEXTPRO) July 28, 2022
OFF THE SET PIECE! Marcelo Palomino chips the keeper for ✌️!@houstondynamo2 2-1 pic.twitter.com/GdfT5kgdNZ— MLS NEXT Pro (@MLSNEXTPRO) July 30, 2022