My problems with this year's schedules and broadcasts and things to improve for 2003 - 1. Seeing certain teams four Soccer Saturdays in a row is a big mistake. Teams progress through different stages all through the season. New England is the perfect example. Fans want to see teams playing at different times, not have to read about it on the internet. We don't want to wait until June to see a team play, or see a team in April and then not again until August. If we've learned anything about MLS this year, it's that it is unpredictable. You can't schedule one team significantly more than others because of expectation. New England is an example of this as well. The solution, if possible, is to have the goal of not showing a single team two weeks in a row. And, attempt to have shown all teams as soon as possible. I realize this is not an easy task. 2. Try to broadcast each team an equal number of times. I've missed the entire season of Dallas and Kansas City because I believe they were both only shown twice. Other teams were shown twice as much in a month as stated above in #1. 3. It would be great if the audio was greatly improved. It takes a lot of excitement away from a goal when Rob Stone yelling is the only thing you hear. Try to improve the audio so the crowd can add to the broadcast. And don't do what Fox does for the NFL and play pre-recorded crowd noise that sounds like static during the pre-game or halftime segments. 4. For the opening game, having it on ABC is very good exposure like what was done this year. It is also good to have the game at Crew stadium and other soccer specific stadia in the future. For all of the weeks following this, it does not matter what stadium the broadcasts are held. It doesn't matter until the football season. That's when all broadcasts should be held at Spartan Stadium, RFK, Crew stadium, and Galaxy stadium to avoid football's gridlines. This would be the last seven broadcasts or so. I'm not saying to not schedule any games at the other stadiums, I'm saying to not have any of the last few broadcasts at those other stadiums. This also doesn't mean to avoid showing San Jose, D.C., Columbus, and L.A. until the end of the season. If the only way to show more playoff games is to show them on fields with gridlines, then ignore my statements above. 5. Broadcast a Fourth of July doubleheader at Invesco Field and Arrowhead stadium. This would be fantastic exposure for the league with the huge crowds they have every year. Also, have this doubleheader, as well as one or two more broadcasted because they are always fun. Doubleheaders are the only thing that kept this year's schedule from being 100% better than the 2001 schedule. 6. Like in the Champions League, always have at least one game being played simultaneously to the one being broadcasted. This would allow fans to see the goals happening in the other game. If the game being broadcasted is Chicago vs. Columbus, and the one being played simultaneously was D.C. vs. Colorado, then whenever a goal was scored in the D.C. game, it could be shown at the next stoppage in play of the Chicago game such as a goal kick or throw in. If the D.C. game is much more exciting with multiple goals, fans might keep watching the boring game being shown to see the highlights of the other game. 7. If it is true that there will be a summer stoppage, (hopefully this won't be any longer than a couple weeks) then please show something. Whether it's the U.S. or the U.S. Open Cup, it would keep us happy. 8. Fix the playoffs format so that every series is a set number of games (preferably a home and home series decided on aggregate goals). There could still be home field advantage where the team with the better record plays the second game at home. The advantage would be not feeling pressured to have to win in the first game and to be at home for the penalty shootout if necessary. 9. Show more playoff games! This is very important as these games are usually the most exciting. It may seem as though I have a problem with everything, but I think that improvements have been made each year. I realize a lot of these things are out of MLS's hands and in the hands of ABC and ESPN 2.
6. having as few teams playing those early spots as possible is the best thing the league can do... they are attendance killers 7. mls has nothing to do with either one, and the US Open Cup is already tied in with FSW 8. already done for next year 9. it's hard to get playoff games on espn when the home teams are having problems securing their venue: -metros would have been out of the meadowlands -LA is out of the rose bowl for game 3 (if there is one) -the crew and the revs had problems with a saturday match today (had the crew been the home team)... haunted house and college football
I understand your points. It's basically my dream solution. I didn't actually expect it all to happen.
no reason not to dream... expressing them is a great way to find out if they are feasible or just a pipe dream
prime time 7pm ct no way espn gives us that though, i have no problem with the 3pm ct slot because it's consistent... i think that is a huge plus, having a time and day that people know to turn on espn2 will have soccer on, even if they don't know which 2 teams
Yeah, there are three types of MLS games as far as attendance is concerned, 1) known poor schedulers, 2) normal games, and 3) promotion games. The known poor games are anything that is early in the season when it's still cold, any midweek game, and any game that is so late in the season as to compete with American football. Promotion games are things like double-headers, 4th of July, youth teams night, hispanic heritage night, concert or special halftime show, the all-star game, or any other non-game extra bundled with the game. MLS has a tight window of opportunity. They need to avoid the known poor schedulers by starting the season when it's warm and ending it by the first week or two of the American football season. They need to minimize or totally eliminate midweek games. Then, rain is the only real attendance-stunter, but we can't do much about that. Also, I'd advocate starting the season in the warmer climates for a few weeks and then giving the cooler climates more games in the July-August area. Yeah, it wouldn't be as competitively fair for the teams, particularly the cold weather teams, but I think it'd boost attendance league-wide. Nobody wants to attend a game in Foxboro in March, nor do they want to play in Dallas in July. The league and the USSF have done a very good job of promoting double-headers. These are gold mines because they boost attendance and expose MLS to non-MLS soccer fans. The more of these we can get the better. Getting youth soccer teams into the stadium is also a great thing. Developing and cultivating that link can prove very fruitful. Teams like DC United have done a great job of that, while teams like the contracted Tampa Bay Mutiny were horrible at it. This could be a gold mine as MLS is a great and inexpensive family-atmosphere sporting experience. Another one I'd like to see promoted is Cinco De Mayo (May 5th). Some special promotion could make this a high-draw midweek game. Having a Mexican singer, fireworks or something would help bridge the gap that presently exists between the Mexican community and MLS as well as be a high attendance game. These would be perfect opportunities for the LA and Dallas markets in particular. While Colorado has a great turnout for it's 4th of July game, we could make that (and May 5th for LA/Dallas) an MLS staple game much like the NFL has done with Detroit/Dallas for Thanksgiving. If you look at only "normal" games, you'll see that MLS's attendance is growing. But these changes could make a dramatic difference in the final raw numbers and make MLS some money at the gate. -Tron
The minor problem with getting the Fourth of July matches on ABC is that local affiliates cover their local 4th festivities. As for the gridirons, that's only a big problem at older stadiums. The football lines at Gillette Stadium (unless there's a Pats game within a day or two) are usually pretty whispy. The grounds crew at Invesco must be shiftless layabouts because they never seem to take off the football lines. They just put down yellow soccer lines. Pathetic.