A. It's not 1996, the league didn't just start. B. Millinials (pretty much leading the soccer push) are leading the cord cutting push C. http://www.showbuzzdaily.com/articl...able-originals-network-finals-10-26-2017.html Crew Vs. Atlanta drew 300 k viewers which is a darn (I just learned cursing is a no no here) shame. That game was absolutely thrilling. It did the same numbers as Cincinnati (USL) Vs. Chicago (MLS) from the open cup.
How much are OTA broadcasters bidding? If it's close, the extra exposure may be worth it. It's probably not, so it isn't.
Not as much as ESPN. Fox does show some games on their OTA channels. MLS could make it a rule that bidders need to show x-amount of games OTA to qualify. The contracts are worth as much because the TV Networks want content for their sports channels, MLS content may not be worth as much if they can't get people to watch those sports channels.
Some news from the ESPN side on playoff ratings so far: ESPN/2's first 3 MLS '17 playoff broadcasts have averaged 327k viewers, compared to 182k for the 1st 3 in '16 - up 80%, ESPN says.— Ian Thomas (@byIanThomas) November 2, 2017
One of the benefits of the recent expansions is as the league continues to bring in bigger markets like Minny and ATL you will see the playoff numbers make incremental bumps. The same thing has occurred with the regular season. Say each market brings and additional 50k MLS TV viewers. During the playoffs the numbers will be more evident than during the season. I think when expansion is all said and done playoffs numbers could be similiar to the NHL with the non Final games averaging 500k-600k and the big Finals/Final number in the millions. MLS Cup has had solid numbers the past 2 yrs.
Take it easy my friend. There have been very few soccer games of any type in the millions. (outside of the world cup)
Very interesting that the Columbus match on Halloween was the most watched! I think the public picked up on the Dave Columbus movement. Very cool.
Ratings Roundup: World Series Trails Only Last Year as Most-Watched Since 2009; Full Game-by-Game Breakdown Sports Video Group
No need to take it easy. I am justified and you totally didn't comprehend my statement. I said that as more teams come into the league, the next 4-6 teams bring us to 28 teams and will naturally add more TV eyeballs as the markets come. At MLS level we won't add the 500k-1,000,000 eye balls that the big 3 bring on avg per TV market for playoff games but. 50k per market is a good estimate range. That would eventually get us to about 500k-600k range like the NHL. I also said we would get the big MLS Cup Final number in the millions. The last 3 MLS cups have had total viewerships in the millions 1.7-3.55 million range. 2014- 1.9mil total viewers https://www.socceramerica.com/publi...t-mls-cup-2014-draws-almost-19-million-v.html 2015- 1.7mil total viewers http://awfulannouncing.com/2015/201...-distinction-of-being-least-watched-ever.html 2016- 3.55mil total viewers https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2016...record-most-watched-title-game-league-history So I'm not off in anything I said. One of the main reason MLS numbers haven't been as the other big Pro leagues is market size. You get about 28-30 teams you will pull similarly to NHL numbers.
No need to take it easy. I am justified and you totally didn't comprehend my statement. I said that as more teams come into the league, the next 4-6 teams bring us to 28 teams and will naturally add more TV eyeballs as the markets come. At MLS level we won't add the 500k-1,000,000 eye balls that the big 3 bring on avg per TV market for playoff games. However 50k per market is a good estimate range. That would eventually get us to about 500k-600k range like the NHL. I also said we would get the big MLS Cup Final number in the millions. The last 3 MLS cups have had total viewerships in the millions 1.7-3.55 million range. 2014- 1.9mil total viewers https://www.socceramerica.com/publi...t-mls-cup-2014-draws-almost-19-million-v.html 2015- 1.7mil total viewers http://awfulannouncing.com/2015/201...-distinction-of-being-least-watched-ever.html 2016- 3.55mil total viewers https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2016...record-most-watched-title-game-league-history So I'm not off in anything I said. One of the main reason MLS playoff numbers haven't been bigger is because of market foot print. You get about 28-30 teams you will pull similarly to NHL numbers. NHL justified their $200 mil/yr TV contract by drawing big playoff numbers as their season average was/is only about 200-300k. I think that is a nice progress marker. As the league adds more teams you will see increases in viewership just by sheer increase in market size. The leauge can simply do that without marketly increasing in polularity. Of course the leagues popularity is growing but simply stating put polularity aside as the league adds more markets grow so will TV viewer ship.
You underestimate NHL play-off numbers. The complete Stanley Cup Playoffs averaged 1.4 million viewers across NBC Sports TV and digital outlets last season. And the most watched NHL game last season earned 7 millions viewers (only in USA).
I really hope this happens, but there is really nothing in the history of MLS TV ratings to justify this. MLS has expanded dramatically over the past decade or so and TV ratings haven't gone up. According to a previous post on this thread, MLS TV ratings for 2017 were 263,465. In 2007, a decade ago, MLS averaged 289k on ESPN 2 and 282k on telefutura. (According to wikipedia). These things might not be directly comparable (I believe the games were on Thursdays back then), but TV ratings have been flat at best despite impressive growth in other areas of the league. You would assume that increasing the number of markets would increase viewership (and maybe it does!), but at best you are arguing that the drop in ratings would be larger if it wasn't for expansion.