Paul Allen sets up American Sports TV Network in UK and Ireland

If the North American sports network includes MLS content then that should help MLS. And if that is the case, will that increase the likelihood of Seattle moving up to MLS?

I cannot see a successful NA sports network without MLS and Mexcian soccer.

 

Yeah, coz we're right down GAGGING for Mexican soccer over here!!

MLS is already shown here on Channel 5. Albeit late at night. It's got a bit of a cult following and could, I feel, make the leap into something a bit bigger. But MLF? If I want to go to see prancing and bad acting, I'll go to the ballet.

 

Matt, that's an interesting take. I encourage you to share it on the Mexico forum.

 

As someone that just returned from Ireland yesterday, I can tell you that a NA sports channel would be a success without MLS and the MFL. There is more than enough soccer on the air there right now, and the presence of either league will have little to no effect on the outcome of the channel. Mexican soccer is viewed in much the same light as MLS anyway.

The whole point of the channel is to sell it to hotels and expats, none of whom really care about soccer to begin with. It will simply be basketball, football, hockey and baseball, and I would assume that MLS will fit in in just about the same place that it does on ESPN here. When you have a choice between the EPL and MLS, or Serie A or the Bundesliga and MLS, which would you really choose? Be honest.

 

Same here. I will watch the home league team 100 times out of 100.

 

Believe me, you don't want to watch Irish League soccer. Anyway, you're missing my point. The focus of the channel will be on "American" sports for American sports fans. Hopefully, they'll have the American announcers as well. I can't imagine that there is a big market for MLS soccer amongst the expat population of Britain and Ireland.

I may be different because Philadelphia doesn't have an MLS team, but I would much rather watch the EPL than MLS. Call me an Anglophile, but I just think the EPL is more exciting than MLS. Apparently, I'm not the only one.

 

we won't call you that... we'll call you the problem

soccer haters aren't the problem... people like you are

 

Amen

Ain't that the truth, brother, ain't that the truth. Personally, I like the EPL, I recognize that it's better soccer, but it's not mine. MLS is, and that's what I support. If you can't understand that, then I guess there's just not much that can be said. You go watch a bunch of teams you will never see live, and I'll watch the ones I can.

 

I

I'd rather not. They're such an emotional bunch, and I do so have a thing about not exposing myself to dermatitis.

 

This is quickly getting off topic, but I guess I'll respond. For someone that doesn't know me at all, you're pretty quick to dismiss me as a problem. In fact, if I'm American soccer's problem, you had better hope there are plenty more problems like me out there.

The fact is, I don't really have a place in MLS. The closest team to me is the Metrostars, a 2.5 hour drive each way and a team that represents New York, bitter rivals with Philadelphia in everything. The only other team that is nearby is DC United, a three hour drive each way. Am I to drop everything and support a team from another city that I would root against if Philadelphia had a team? I go to one MLS game a season, but I just don't have the time to do more than that. That would change with a Philadelphia team, but that doesn't appear even close to happening. I feel like a fake supporting either of those teams, and for good reason.

So I continue to support Arsenal, a team that I've been following since I was 10. I've been following them for twice as long as MLS has been in existence, and I feel much more of a connection with them than I do with the Mutts or United. When MLS comes to Philadelphia, I will support them totally, but I'm not holding my breath because the league has completely ignored this city. I like the idea of MLS and support its growth, but don't have any horses to root for.

This really does highlight the unrealistic views of the American soccer fan though. Do you people somehow think that MLS will make money for Paul Allen at the expense of the NFL or NBA? He is a smart businessman and runs businesses to make money. If MLS doesn't draw big TV numbers here, what makes you think that it will do better in England, especially with the choices that viewers over there have? Would the average American business traveller rather watch MLS or the Yankees? Come on. MLS has made great strides so far, but it will not displace the big three any time soon.

 

Well, while it's unfair to describe that bahavior as 'the problem' (or even the biggest) it certainly is a problem. One could see how, if I was an MLS administrator, I might understandably be a little frustrated by the "I have to team within 200 miles of me, so I'll support the league that has no teams within five thousand miles" argument. I find it difficult to believe it is logistically any easier to follow the Premeiership than it is to follow MLS. It's unfair to ask MLS to blanket the country, as even the NFL doesn't. (There are well over a million people in Vegas with no team to root for. Half the states in the Union have no team).

And to be fair, I think you have that backwards. I've seen the league make verbal expressions of interest to the city. I've never seen the city make overtures to the league

 

"Prancing and bad acting" describes the soap operas from Mexico, too, but those are worth watching, at least from the male perspective. Something to do with the universal language of cleavage.

 

Actually, it is easier to follow the EPL than MLS. There are at least twice as many sites offering wall-to-wall coverage of the EPL, compared to a handful for MLS. In a city where media coverage of men's soccer is nil, the web is the only place to turn for information, and the EPL easily outshines MLS in this aspect.

My outlook is a problem for MLS. I really would like to follow MLS in depth, and I try, but without a team that plays regularly in my area, it's hard for me to have a sincere interest. I don't expect MLS to cover the country; it's a seven-year old league. I do live in the fifth-biggest city in the country though, and I would hope that we would be an expansion target for the league ahead of places like Oklahoma, and should have been a bigger target for the launch of the league than Miami, Tampa, and San Jose were. How can the league get fans like me sincerely interested? The only answer for me seems to be to put a team here.

There has been interest from the Philadelphia sporting community about an MLS team, but it hasn't happened for some reason or another. I don't expect the league to start playing regular season games here, but for events like the All Star Game that have gone to San Diego and Orlando in the past, MLS has overlooked the city. That says a lot about their level of interest here.

It's not that I'm anti-MLS. Believe me, I'm not; you can read my column this week on roundnotoval.com to see that. What's my motivation though?

 

Whatever, pal. If MLS wanted my business, they would put a team in Houston. Until then, I'm sticking to the EPL.

 

great reason to not give a hand to soccer in this country... i love posers like yourself

keep being the problem, you're good at it

 

What other business blames the people who don't use their product rather than look at their own marketing or distribution ?

 

remind me how i'm the business

remind me how the epl develops almost every national teamer for our country, remind me how the epl provides roster slots for people from almost every corner of this country

oh yeah, that's right... they aren't mls, a-league or d-3

it's just like the national team... you back your own, hell you also do it to make your country stronger at the national team level

backing the epl doesn't make us stronger, it makes them stronger

last i looked, our country wasn't an island and didn't run the epl... but i realize that some people are delusional and will think otherwise


if you don't pump money into soccer in this country, if you aren't out there believing in it and supporting it... you are the problem

there is no other way to look at it... if you would like to lie to yourself and keep saying otherwise...

 

one more thing on this

this has got to be the world's dumbest, and i seriously mean dumber than a box of rocks, idea... based on this method of reasoning (if one can call it that) i can come back with 2 answers

1. why are you an epl fan? they didn't come to you

2. since i live in springfield, il... should i wait for mls to come to me?

 

Re: I

Fair enough. But I think it will be a good idea for me to start a thread there, and link it to here. I'll be right back.

 

OK, on the diversion this thread has taken.

1. Actually, it is easier to follow the EPL than MLS, if you're far from an MLS team. Not just 'net coverage, but also (with the miracle of FSW) more games. Even when you figure there are twice as many teams in the EPL, there are more than twice as many games per week.

2. If MLS has a problem with fans of this type, the problem of fans of this type who live in Houston is absolutely dwarfed, just dwarfed, but the problem of fans of this type who live in LA or NYC or.... MLS would be a top ten league in the world, the best league in North America, if they could draw a significant number of NYC fans of other leagues, and LA fans of other leagues, to MLS. They could do very well as a fanny league (revenue based on attendance, not TV money) averaging 25-30,000 per game, and those number would be within reach if the league was popular with X-snob fans in MLS cities.

 

I disagree with the contention that it is easier to follow EPL. The level of coverage is certainly there, but I view that as the kind of coverage glut (most of which is redundant and unneccessary) that has only relatively recently come about. The level of MLS coverage on the internet is similar to the level you could get for any professional league not all that long ago. You cn still follow MLS quite easily at a level where you know what's happening in the league each week, and after that, the difference no substitute for being able to catch the occasional MLS game, even if it's only once a season.

I lived until recently in Austin, TX, about as far from Dallas as Philly is from NY. I couldn't go to games much more often than that. There are other ways to support MLS.

As to there being more televised games, that's really a circular argument, isn't it? After all, the fact that you and others like will watch EPL more than MLS is the reason there are more EPL games on. (And besides, FSW takes a special effort. I for one would have to get digital cable and then pay a fee on top of that. For some people, that's no harder than getting the Shootout package. And furthermore, that too is relatively recent phonomenon, and one that may not last. FSW could go black or lose Premiership rights at any time.).

It's not that I would ever expect a Philidelphian to be a season ticket holder for another MLS squad. I just think the philosphical attitude that anyone in that position would be justified to follow EPL bove MLS (which is the statement that started this digression) to be of dubious merit. I also question whether Philly rates as a 'must have' for the league, but for entirely different reasons. But that's a different discussion. Suffice to say that the league would obviously like to have a team in Philly (they mention it often enough), but wishing doesn't make it so.

 

dammit stan... you had to go and be civil

booo





although very well stated

 

Baseball, football, basketball. It is a problem inherent in all professional sports. If your business isn't successful, blame the customers. Are the Expos in trouble because the customers are wrong, or are the Expos in trouble because they offer a crap product?