Ridge Mahoney lays into ESPN

It does a lot of good to preach to the choir.

 

It took a soccer writer that long to do a piece on that?

 

Thank goodness. I'm glad someone had the courage to step up and say something.

I'm sure all the readers of SA in Bristol will stand up and take notice now.

 

You're right. ESPN doesn't cover MLS on Sportscenter. I'd never noticed. I think I will become angry now and write diatribes on the issue to other soccer fans.

 

Fixed your post.

 

Hey, it's a soccer message board. Quit being a wimp.

 

Looked like sarcasm to me. Of course, your reply could've just been a sardonic reply to his sarcasm.

Who can tell?

 

soccer is the Marty Mcfly of ESPN.

 

I must just say, the moderator here is doing his/her job.

 

Problem is, how many people read Soccer America?

No one working in or with ESPN even prolly knows theres such a magazine out there. When SI does this kind of story then we can talk.

 

The story may get picked up by Yahoo MLS.

And even if it is preaching to the choir, the truth still needs to be told.

 

If enough respected soccer people like Ridge Mahoney point out how poorly MLS is treated by ABC/ESPN/ESPN2 maybe the MLS suits in New York will eventually realize it as well.

And with any luck in a few years time when MLS' TV contract is up they'll seriously look into trying to work out a deal with Fox or NBC instead of Disney.

 

How obscure of a sport do you need covered before you are satisfied? Can I bitch because Major League Lacrosse isn't covered? %99 of the people watching sportscenter don't care about soccer, and thus there are no results covered. It got run during the World Cup. That was surprising enough for me.

 

Based on that logic they should never cover hockey, wnba, or tennis.

 

I didn't read the article but before getting coverage on SportsCenter...how about getting game scores at least posted on the ticker with some regularity first?

 

Agreed.

And something is better than nothing.

 

Growing association football from ESPN point of view should seem wise

Halfmanhalfamazing,

Say partner, by that logic of the 99% or whatever, WHY NOT COVER SOCCER, that's what the producers of Sportscenter should be thinking IMO.

Its the most popular sport in the world for a reason. If I worked at Bristol I would at least be asking myself...well there's got to be something about this damn sport that makes it so popular. If we let our veiwers grow into it we could have a ratings explosion not unlike the NBA and hoops in the early 80's.

Money and advertising $'s drive their decisions this we know....not growing a Cash Cow addictive sport like the beautiful game is what I think fustrates us diehards and seems to detour from a TV Stations goal of making more money.

 

1. You think MLS doesn't realize it? That's just silly. Go back and actually read things Garber has said before about his dissatisfaction with ESPN in this regard, then come back here.

2. They did look into dealing with others last years. Others weren't interested. They just had a contract up for the offering. What makes the "Go to Fox or NBC people" think those people have ever had any interest? And if they haven't had interest in the past, why should anyone assume they will be a good broadcast partner in the future.

Besiudes, NBC has unequivocally stated they do not want to be involved in team sport ventures where a rights fee is involved. And what does MLS want? A rights fee. You should be smart enough to make the deduction.

 

Re: Growing association football from ESPN point of view should seem wise

Someone who works for ESPN posted on a listserv recently that ESPN research has shown that casual sports fans click away when MLS comes on SportsCenter.

If it were anyone other than a soccer aficianado reporting that, I'd doubt it. But this guy backs soccer to the hilt and said that the league needs to capture those fans and keep them from turning off the TV when highlights come on before anything gets better.

He also reported that ESPN2 numbers were slightly down this year for games.

 

Well we know the last part of that statement is false. Game ratings are actually up.

 

Hey, sorry to get you riled up, monster.

I mentioned NBC because I thought MLS might be able to work something out with Telemundo in the future. But if that's not possible because NBC won't enter sports deals involving rights fees, I'm sorry learn of that.

And if Garber has publically stated his dissatisfaction with ESPN, I'm glad to hear that. The only thing that usually comes out his mouth re Disney seems to be upbeat PR talk.

BTW, as one of the moderators of this forum, aren't you supposed to be setting a good example for others to follow by not personally attacking posters in the forum your supposedly moderating?

 

Re: Re: Growing association football from ESPN point of view should seem wise

How was this research done I wonder? And was the control group non-casual sports fans, casual non-sports fans, or casual sports non-fans?

 

Is it possible some one could post some links to such Garber quotes?

I'll frame them above my desk and gawk at them with me bleedin' eyes.