Talk about the ultimate put-down: "Major" League Soccer has been pre-empted by a Little League Baseball game on ESPN2. The EQ/DC game will be joined in progress due to the Little League game running over.
ESPN is contractually obligated to show the entire Little League game. They also had the Quakes game run over, thus causing women's tennis fans to bitch.
You are right of course, about the contract committments, but I just wish the MLS had more juice when it comes to TV contracts. What I mean by this, is that if it were the NBA, NHL, Major League Baseball (not to mention the NFL), the contract would assure that the broadcast would begin on time. We just are not there yet.
Maybe getting clout with the major networks would require that action be stopped every five minutes (as the NFL does) so ABC, NBC, CBS, etc. could air five minutes of commercials. Better watch what we wish for.
I suppose you are right....and I guess the truth is that the Little League game probably had higher ratings anyway.
It may have. But the kind of programming yesterday was typical ESPN. At least they showed the Quakes-DC game to the end, cutting in on Jennifer Capriati's Canada run. I can imagine that all the guys wanting to check her out were doing a boil. It will take time for MLS and US Soccer to get the kind of respect we think it should get. But it's worth the wait.
Running over is what always happens - it's just on ESPN where one sport pre-empts another, which in turn pre-empts another, and so on. Forget Capriati, have you seen Dokic?
      Unfortunately for us, a lot more TV-viewing, ratings-influencing Americans care about that than about soccer.       GO EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
I think you're incorrect. Same thing as Saturday happens when an NFL, MLB, NBA or NHL game is scheduled on TV. If there is a LIVE game of any type on before it, and that game is close, they stay with what's currently on and join the next broadcast in progress. Standard operating procedure. If a live sports broadcast of any nature is cut off for another, it's a local market decision (ie, in the south they would definitely cut off soccer for NASCAR), not a national network level decision.
The key is that LLWS has spaces between innings that companies are willing to pay to advertise during. It's a really cool concept that soccer hasn't been able to work around.......yet.
That, and from a ratings standpoint, the LLWS kicks our collective asses in the ratings. Really. MLS is constantly routed by a bunch of 12 (14?) year olds.