News: Sunday, Jan 17, 2016

http://www.sportsmyriad.com/2016/01/the-real-controversies-of-u-s-soccer-in-2016/

This is two days old. Never saw it here so apologies if a dupe. Wynalda arguing for summer to spring shedule and coverage of the internecine fight among the youth coaches. And yeah Wynalda is right. MLS will change the schedule to summer to spring eventually. It's just that it's TV partners have not told them yet.

 

Wynalda spoke at the NSCAA convention yesterday and, as I understood it, Fox would like a change in the schedule so playoffs don't compete against NFL. While he was promoting a schedule like you describe, along with other MLS criticisms, I don't know if Fox wishes for the same type of schedule he proposed.

 

You've been posting articles for a few weeks about Ashley Cole and the LA Galaxy. Why does this seem surprising to you now?

 

If I remember correctly, Mr. Cole had a few unkind words to say about MLS right after Michael Bradley left Roma for Toronto FC.

I believe beach towels would be an appropriate greeting for Mr. Cole when he and the Galaxy visit a stadium near you this season...

 

Wynalda's been peddling that line for at least a few years, even with the link to FOX and everything. Yet FOX was willing to sign anew TV contract with MLS recently. Let's just say I'll need a different source than Eric on this.

 

This doesn't necessarily mean Fox wouldn't prefer a fall-spring schedule. MLS makes most of its revenue through game day sales, and there is really no way a fall-spring schedule doesn't do terrible things to attendance. Fox may say "we would love to have MLS playoffs in June" and MLS can say "no, that is non-negotiable" and then TV discussions carry on from there.

If there comes a time where MLS is signing billion dollar TV contracts and the networks say "we will give you an extra $250 million to move to fall-spring" they might listen, but until TV revenues increase substantially they will play games when the largest number of people will show up.

 

On the other hand, Fox knows how appealing a Minnesota United vs LA Galaxy match, in St. Paul, on January 17th, would be. Nothing like IceBall to spell out "the beautiful game".

 

You know I would pay to see that.

 

Exactly, MLS games are played in the tv windows that the networks want. MLS didn't say "we want to go up against the NFL". The best thing ESPN, FOX, and MLS can do is play the long game and let the audiance grow. They tried chasing the tail befor and it doesn't work. The current days and times are good for both attendance and ratings in the long run.

 

Summer (club/league) soccer is actually not good for ratings or attendance, relatively speaking.

 

This isn't true. Ratings are even throughout the year until the NFL starts, and attendance is worse in cold climates when it is cold outside. This shouldn't be surprising, but there is a correlation between the quality of weather and how willing people are to pay to watch a soccer game outside. Southern teams (Orlando, Miami, Texas, etc) might do slightly better with a fall/spring schedule, but if you play matches at 7:00 PM in the summer it isn't that hot, even during the peak of summer. As a person who grew up in Orlando and spent 6 years in Chicago, I would much, much, much rather go to a game in the summer heat in Orlando than December in Chicago when it can be a windy 10F outside.

 

Link?

Any historical trend (that I have seen) for attendance has shown a summer dip for MLS average attendance when it plays March-Nov.

But honestly, MLS attendance is strengthening to where there is less fluctuation and less concern in "difficult" conditions (such as midweek matches). There will always be concerns about attendance, but those concerns for MLS are not as big as they once were.

And on average more homes are also watching tv during the colder months.

In warmer periods, people are outside doing other things (vacationing, exercising, whatever) and not necessarily attending sporting events (or staying in to watch whatever on TV).

 

Here is MLS attendance on April 22 2015
http://forums.bigsoccer.com/threads/mls-attendance-analysis-week-07.2019301/
Here it is in late August:
http://forums.bigsoccer.com/threads/mls-attendance-analysis-week-25.2024196/

Averages are up: 5,000+ for NE, 1,500 in Chicago, 1,500+ in Colorado, and Toronto hadn't played a home game by week 7... because people don't want to sit outside when it is freezing cold.

 

Don't cherry pick the data.

Look a the full monthly averages across the full history of MLS.

 

You know we'd both be there to see that!

 

I'm not going to waste my time doing that. Are seriously trying to argue that weather doesn't affect attendance for outdoor sporting events? If you want me to believe that, you can show that in a given year attendance for Chicago/Toronto/Boston/Columbus are just as high for early games as they are for midsummer games.

 

Right. Summer is worse than spring and fall. And water is wet.

That's not the issue. The issue is whether summer is better than winter.

 

Yes, the question likely in MLS's mind is if Dec and Feb are "better" for their business than are late-June through early Aug.

We see what MLS prefers, and has always preferred.

Will be interesting to see if their preferences will adjust in the future.

They certainly have started to use months (like March and Novemeber) that were not in their original usage/plans.

But plans change. And businesses evolve.

 

We would both be there drinking and seeing that in our long johns. lol