That map show exactly what I expected to see…no offense to those who live west of the Mississippi, but a lot of that map is full of empty space… The solution to the problem is simple: do nothing; just accept that this cross promotional packaging won’t work everywhere, but that’s no reason why it should be tried where it can be…just using your example there are 3-4 good opportunities to show regional MLS games in that open slot…NY, Philly, Chicago and Buffalo/Toronto(?)…
"empty space" with Fox affiliates that probably wouldn't appreciate the national network providing content to some affiliates while leaving them with 3 hours to fill with infomercials. Not too mention much of that "empty space" is the 2nd most populated state (TX) and Los Angeles. Guessing there Fox affiliates have a little power. The reality is that a local Fox affiliate in Chicago can already do what you suggest by signing a local broadcasting agreement with the Fire but having the national network pick and choose like you suggest is simply unworkable.
They aren’t providing content now for that 3 fill prior to Fox late game, if that is the only game you are getting…how would it be any different? I am sure they do…but as long as they are getting their regional NFL game, as normal, I am not sure what they would be upset about… It’s not unworkable at all…you give them a slate of games to choose from…it is exactly how the NFL works…why wouldn’t every Fox affiliate in 3-5 hours radius of Chicago not choose the Fire game? Of course some, maybe even many, won’t have a direct tie-in team to choose from…that’s ok too…they just get the designated “national” game…like I say, just like the NFL does… I get that details and logistics may be complex, but the overall concept is pretty and straightforward simple...
I'm gonna throw out an example, I'd like you to solve the logical mess Sounders vs. DC on a Sunday when Redskins are early game and Seahawks are late game. Do you play at 1 pm so the Seattle market has the game? Do you play at 4 pm so the Washington market has the game? How do you justify your choose to the Fox affiliates in whichever market doesn't get the game that is now showing an MLS game no one cares about and likely getting lower ratings (and making them less money) than the reruns of Seinfeld and infomercials they usually show instead of their local MLS match? The reason the NFL system works (and why your proposal is different) is that Washington and Seattle will always get the Redskins and Seahawks respectively and its only markets without a team playing that get the 'national game'. Your proposal would not allow this with MLS. The league and/or Fox would have to pit markets/affiliates against each other. It only works if you can guarantee that every market with a team in both leagues will get their local team and that simply isn't an easy thing to do without making western MLS teams play games at 10 am local time and only against other western teams or teams not in NFL markets. Which I guess you can do but I doubt most of them would like the idea.
I have no idea, and nor do I care…I have NEVER said this would work for everyone or in every instance….YET you keep arguing and demanding like I have… Fox has a multi-million dollar vested interest in the continued growth and success of the MLS, and if the powers that be at Parent FOX decide that it is in their best interest to show a handful of MLS games in that available time slot on Fox Main, then they don’t have to justify shit to some local affiliate in Springfield…and if those local affiliate executives want to fight Parent FOX over it, they better have a more compelling argument then a handful of Seinfeld reruns and an infomercial for the Vegomatic 3000… As I have said multiply times now I am not trying to create a permanent, absolute system week in and week out…I am merely suggesting there are opportunities given the current situation for regional cross promotion of the MLS by having some targeted NFL/MLS doubleheaders…NO, it won’t work all the time or everywhere…but that’s ok…
Never said you did, I am saying that if it doesn't work for everyone it doesn't work for anyone. That is my point. Local TV deals and national TV deals involve all kinds of language that prevent the idea you are throwing out right now. You aren't proposing a bad idea but its a hybrid of local/nation TV deals and the logistics of that simply don't work. Now, a workable solution would be for Fox to offer one 1 pm MLS game and one 4 pm MLS game and that is the game shown everywhere not showing the NFL in that slot. But this idea that Chicago will get Chicago and New York will get New York doesn't work. Its a logistical nightmare. And local affiliates (especially ones in major markets) very much matter to Fox national, they can't just tell them to deal with it.
D.C. is a bigger market than Seattle, but the Sounders are more popular within their market. Obviously if the MLS game was at Seattle, it would start at 4:00 P.M. If MLS games came after NFL games, MLS could get viewers from people who leave their TVs on the channel, but I don't know if makes sense to have MLS games at 5:00 P.M. and 7:00 P.M. on Sundays for most of the season and then changing the start times when the NFL starts.
Not related to soccer, but read the comment sections of the Facebook link to Deadspin and Yahoo's articles about this study. Some football people are convinced these studies about ex-NFL players' brain health is part of some wide-reaching "liberal conspiracy" to wussify American kids by driving them toward soccer. Even in an article NOT about soccer, thee sport still occupies their minds and they find a way to obsessively run it down. The haters are scared and they won't admit it! http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/1...tic-encephalopathy-96-percent-studied-players http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-s...brains-tested-positive-for-cte-162420698.html
1. Not that I'm aware of. It's closer than the uneducated assholes like the ones crying "communist conspiracy" suppose, but it's not nearly "as many". 2. Football features a huge number of sub-concussive events which are thought to contribute at least as much to CTE as the big events. Soccer likely doesn't have anywhere near the same level of that.
No, it was the RELATIVE number of concussions within the sport is basically equal to the that of football. This is quickly changing over as more and more evidence about heading the ball is showing the same implications ...