The 2020 MLS TV thread

Seems like an opportunity for a long-term thinking, cash-drunk behemoth to purchase the total global rights to a growing, ambitious soccer league with appealing fan demographics.

Seems clear that that's Don Garber's pitch right now anyway. They want to sell the whole enchilada to a streamer for paradigm-shifting money.

 

You mean like how ESPN+ (a Disney subsidiary) currently owns the rights to all non-national broadcast games? Or are you saying MLS is looking for ESPN to take on all national broadcasts as well? What happens with local broadcasts, then? Do they ditch those in favor of streaming services only?

 

My understanding is there are currently no media rights deals of any kind after the 2022 season, per the request of the league office.

What that gives the league office the opportunity to do is go to a Netflix or an Amazon and offer them their streaming platform opportunity to be the exclusive place to watch broadcasts of MLS soccer worldwide. Anyone, whether it be a Sounders fan watching their local team in Seattle, or a nutso soccer completist in Ukraine, must subscribe to your platform to access any MLS broadcast.

That's a pretty unique opportunity, one that the NHL, NBA, and MLB can't offer because their local deals are so central to their economics, and that the NFL is too tied into their current model to consider.

And to an Amazon you can say "pay over the odds for this over a long term, and we will take that money to build you a must-see product". It could be a truly comprehensive partnership.

The turd in the punchbowl is that existing MLS viewership, the captive audience you could drive toward the streaming service, is really small. The proof of concept has not been there in TV rating thusfar. But the fact that they're bundling all the rights together means MLS wants to try.

The other thing they could do of course is just sell the whole thing to ESPN, who would like the inventory for ESPN+, and is also in a position to market the product themselves through ESPN/ABC for the bigger national games.

Or they could sell a the local deals collectively to one streaming service, and then divvy up a national package, and sell international rights on top of that like they do currently.

The general insight seems to be that the local rights might well be more valuable as one collective package than each team fighting individually, since the now-national coverage of local deals brings larger fish into play as potential buyers.

We'll see. It's a landscape full of change out there, and everyone seems to be waiting for the first big sports entity to agree to something weird and paradigm-shifting.

 

OOH=Out of home viewership it includes alot of things but it is measured digitally through receivers unlike traditional Nielsen method of viewership that can take a while to evaluate before a number is put out. Out of home Viewership occurs in bars, hotels, gyms, airport, official viewing party's and such. Here's a goof article on OOH viewership below.



After years of testing, Nielsen announced that it will incorporate out-of-home audiences in its national TV ratings, starting in fall 2020.

Television networks — news and sports networks in particular — have been urging the change for years, in order to be able to include viewers in the business world, as well as in restaurants, bars, hotel rooms and other people’s homes, in the audience counts on which they base their advertising CPMs and negotiations.

Based on testing and experience to date, sports networks can see an average lift of 11% in total audience when OOH viewership is integrated, and news networks can see an average lift of about 7%, Nielsen head of product, TV and audio Scott N. Brown told Variety, which first reported the news.

 

I think the latter is the most likely that will happen, They'll add more National games from increased expansion we may see something like ESPN/ABC, FS1/FOX and NBCSN/NBC each carry 50 games and MLS sell the now local rights package which will then be just a block of games to a streaming service for a chunk of change. I think we'll more than likely just see ESPN+ win the rights to those games and carry 400+ MLS games sort of how they have the UFC deal where they pay $300m yr. split for the TV and streaming rights, but for MLS something like half of that say $150m yr.

The added bonus that going this route of centralizing the local rights is it gives them negotiating advantage. There willl be a streaming company like DAZN or some new one that will appear who will look at MLS package as a win for their company they get alot of inventory for a relatively good deal compared to what they pay for NBA/MLB/NFL/.

 

FYP

I would love to see that deal being made, but I understan that me and my ilk is so small group that doesn't make any sense to make any decision based on my preferences.

 

They're still going to have to sell owners like KSE and the Yankees, who are using the local broadcasts to fill their own networks, on losing that inventory.

 

As I said before, going all in on streaming is an absolute nightmare, because they're all awful. For example, fsgo loves to show the score of the game you're about to watch on demand right above the link to watch it. Also if you're just time shifting, it'll often "go live" when the event ends, no matter where your stream is. ESPN doesn't even let you time shift - you have to wait for the event to be over to watch on demand. In the playoffs where overtime is possible this can be a spoiler. Also the length of the event is always shown, another possible spoiler. And obviously you need a streaming box on every single TV you own. It's just total garbage compared to the DVR experience.

 

And the Galaxy, who are overpaid by spectrum. Spectrum uses exclusive rights to sports teams to sell ultra expensive cable bundles.

 

Yeah, bit of a miscommunication. I know what OOH stands for. When I said “I don’t recall what OOH is...” I meant I don’t recall what those specific numbers are for MLS.

 

From the Data we have from Tunity Analytics since they responded to a request to track MLS data, OOH Audience made up at times more than 50% of MLS viewing Playoff Audience. I'd say pair that down a notch by 15-20% to 30-35% for the regular season and that is still significant number here are some Out of Home numbers for this past MLS Playoffs combined with TV audience.

ESPN #MLSCupPlayoffs TV#s
OOH=Out of Home OOH#s will be official next yr
Minn vs LAG ESPN/Deportes/OOH
329k+86k=415,000

ATL vs Philly ESPN2/Deportes/OOH 303k+86k=599,000

LAFC vs SEA ESPN/Deportes/OOH 389k+272k=846,000

LAFC vs LAG ESPN/Deportes/OOH 586k+375k+202k=1,163,000

— Edwin Games (@EdwinGames4) November 2, 2019

Realized I left out the OOH numbers for those 2 games

ATL vs Philly ESPN2/Deportes/OOH 303k+86k+210k=599,000

LAFC vs SEA ESPN/Deportes/OOH 389k+272k+185k+=846,000

— Edwin Games (@EdwinGames4) November 2, 2019

 

You’re telling me 210K people watched ATL/Philly in bars and hotels? 2/3 the number of people who actually tuned in at home? Man, that’s a stretch.

Is it believable that a potential audience of 210K could have been achieved nationwide counting the number of screens at sports bars (accidently) tuned in to ESPN2, maybe. But in actuality, highly doubtful.

It’s also hard to believe the ESPN2 OOH beat ESPN OOH.

As an MLS fan I’ll take those numbers. But I won’t believe them.

Can you get OOH for some NHL hockey or NFL football for comparison?

Thx,

Jay!

 

found this

think the Nielsen OOH component (will come out down the road) will be considerably smaller, but Tunity still very useful when comparing to other Tunity #s (and no surprise, this is the biggest OOH # from Tunity - several NFL playoffs & CFP championship were around 9M) https://t.co/6Sg9xRdr3a

— Sports TV Ratings (@SportsTVRatings) February 3, 2020

Tunity Analytics estimates an additional 6.7MM #OOH viewers as well. What a memorable #StanleyCup! 🏒 https://t.co/lV6m2yfK94

— Tunity Analytics | an iSpot company (@TunityAnalytics) June 13, 2019

The @Nationals' historic #WorldSeries Game 7 win over the @astros on #FOX averaged 5,522,830 #OOH viewers and peaked at 9:05 PM with 6,978,855 #OOH viewers. Game 7's #OOH audience was 93.4% higher than the average of Games 1-6. @MLB @MLB_PR @FOXSports @MLBONFOX @FOXSportsPR

— Tunity Analytics | an iSpot company (@TunityAnalytics) October 31, 2019

Last night’s #NBAFinals Game Six averaged 8.2MM #OOH viewers, down 12% from Game Five. Game Six peaked at 11:22 PM with 11.8MM #OOH viewers, up 7% from the peak for Game Five. The audience was 61% A25-54 and 77% male. 🏀

— Tunity Analytics | an iSpot company (@TunityAnalytics) June 14, 2019

 

No that's exactly the info no stretch you have to consider the circumstaces of the game and who was playing as well. Hey it's legit data from Tunity Analytics. There is a hidden MLS crowd it's fairly significant relative in terms of percentage vs the TV viewing audience. These numbers will be a boon to MLS in the fall and moving forward in terms of the 2022 TV deal, as MLS will have favorable OOH numbers along with favorable demo numbers to tout. Many for years have said the audience was there but figured it was there via streaming. Here is some numbers straight from Tunity Analytics for MLS and NHL. NFL OOH numbers are around 6-million consistently the Super Bowl did 23mil OOH.

MLS

.@MLS Eastern Conference Final between @ATLUTD and @TorontoFC on @FS1 averaged 268,350 #OOH viewers and peaked at 8:57 PM with 359,190 #OOH viewers. @TorontoFC will meet @SoundersFC in the #MLSCup for the 3rd time in 4 years. #MLSCupPlayoffs @MLS_PR @FOXSportsPR @worldsoccertalk

— Tunity Analytics | an iSpot company (@TunityAnalytics) October 31, 2019

Among #OOH viewers:

210k for #ATLUTD vs Philadelphia
202k for #LAFC vs #LAGalaxy #MLSCupPlayoffs @MLS @MLS_PR https://t.co/c3gF9m9roz

— Tunity Analytics | an iSpot company (@TunityAnalytics) October 25, 2019

The @MLS Western Conference Finals on @espn between @LAFC and @SoundersFC averaged 185,080 #OOH viewers and peaked at 7:27 PM with 574,665 #OOH viewers. #MLSCupPlayoffs @MLS_PR @ESPNPR

— Tunity Analytics | an iSpot company (@TunityAnalytics) October 30, 2019

.@MLS Eastern Conference Final between @ATLUTD and @TorontoFC on @FS1 averaged 268,350 #OOH viewers and peaked at 8:57 PM with 359,190 #OOH viewers. @TorontoFC will meet @SoundersFC in the #MLSCup for the 3rd time in 4 years. #MLSCupPlayoffs @MLS_PR @FOXSportsPR @worldsoccertalk

— Tunity Analytics | an iSpot company (@TunityAnalytics) October 31, 2019

NHL

.@TBLightning vs @NYRangers on @NBCSports averaged 136,160 #OOH viewers and peaked at 8:59 PM with 195,000 #OOH viewers. @NHL @NHLonNBCSports @PR_NHL @NBCSportsPR

— Tunity Analytics | an iSpot company (@TunityAnalytics) October 30, 2019

 

NHL

.@TBLightning vs @NYRangers on @NBCSports averaged 136,160 #OOH viewers and peaked at 8:59 PM with 195,000 #OOH viewers. @NHL @NHLonNBCSports @PR_NHL @NBCSportsPR

— Tunity Analytics | an iSpot company (@TunityAnalytics) October 30, 2019

.@penguins vs @Capitals on @NBC averaged 164,350 #OOH viewers and peaked at 1:58 PM with 236,145 #OOH viewers. @NHL @PR_NHL @NhlRatings @NBCSports @NHLonNBCSports @NBCSportsPR @BrianBoucher33 https://t.co/50z13k676m

— Tunity Analytics | an iSpot company (@TunityAnalytics) February 3, 2020

Last night's @NHL game on @NBCSN between the @PredsNHL and @Capitals averaged 97,980 #OOH viewers and peaked at 9:51 PM with 143,715 #OOH viewers. @PR_NHL @NHLonNBCSports @NBCSports @NBCSportsPR @NhlRatings @miketirico @BrianBoucher33 https://t.co/MMifPE59Pv

— Tunity Analytics | an iSpot company (@TunityAnalytics) January 30, 2020

.@mnwild vs @penguins on @NBCSN averaged 90,380 #OOH viewers and peaked at 8:40 PM with 174,525 #OOH viewers. @NHL @PR_NHL @NBCSportsPR @NHLonNBCSports @NhlRatings @JohnForslund @AJMleczko

— Tunity Analytics | an iSpot company (@TunityAnalytics) January 15, 2020

.@NHLBruins vs @penguins on @NBC averaged 168,380 #OOH viewers and peaked at 2:46 PM with 277,095 #OOH viewers. @NHL @PR_NHL @NhlRatings @NHLonNBCSports @NBCSports @NBCSportsPR @BrianBoucher33

— Tunity Analytics | an iSpot company (@TunityAnalytics) January 21, 2020

 

ESPN+ increases in subscriptions fueled by Disney+.

1224802184933576706 is not a valid tweet id

 

You can count me on those!

All while my cable suscription is on life support, probably won't be there once NBA season is over.

 

Personally, I watched the Galaxy's postseason games at the viewing parties held at our stadium. That's a lot of people who wouldn't count towards ratings.

 

Grant Wahl reports that CBS will be acquiring the rights to the NWSL, with some games on TV channels and the bulk on CBS All Access. With CBS getting into the soccer biz with the UEFA tournaments, could it be a bidder for the next MLS contract?

https://www.si.com/soccer/2020/02/05/uswnt-opponents-jay-berhalter-us-soccer-ceo-nwsl-rights-mls-cba

 

So, does anyone know whether the CCL will be on TV at all?

 

The rights are held by FOX.

https://www.foxsports.com/presspass...-s-english-language-rights-agreement-concacaf

Thx,

Jay!

 

I wonder if there is any hope of seeing any of these games on FS1... Probably not...

 

Your best bet this round is probably LAFC v Leon, but I wouldn't count on anything else being on FS1 until we get some MLS/Liga MX matchups. (feel free to prove me wrong Fox)

 

FS1 slots will be scarce until college basketball season is over.

 

Going to an all streaming platform for local broadcasts still sounds like a horrible idea to me. The entire point is to increase revenue, and you do that by increasing the number of eyes watching your product. Having the games on local sports channels give you the opportunity for a non-fan to come across a game, either from channel surfing, looking for a sports game to watch, or whatever. Sure, the numbers state most aren't, but you still have the chance of creating a new fan. The moment you move to Amazon or ESPN+ or any of the other streaming services, you've effectively maxed out the amount of viewers for your games. The only people who will go to those services to watch the games are the dedicated fan base. It might mean a revenue increase short-term, but it'll be a loss long-term.