The 2023 MLS TV thread

The creation of the league was literally a condition of the only World Cup being hosted here. And it was still pushed back a year because they couldn't get sufficient investors. And it was still a touch-and-go proposition for the first 10+ years of its life.

The 2026 World Cup will certainly help, as all the little things over the last 30 years have helped, incrementally. But the only one, I think, that moved the needle more than a fraction at a time (from the game's perspective, not all from MLS' perspective) was people getting up in the wee hours to watch the 2002 games and the US' performance in that tournament. Everything else has been a nudge.

 

The Mexican-born population of the US peaked in 2010 and has been declining each year since.

And it's not as if Liga MX is growing robustly as a league in absolute terms, at best it's treading water.

And while the US Hispanic population has historically provided a lot of viewership for Barca and Real Madrid in the Champions League and the like, in terms of those clubs representing the best soccer played in the world, the EPL is rapidly eating their lunch, European continental soccer is in dire financial shape and gets less able to compete with the EPL every year.

Among US-based soccer fans the EPL has lower interest and viewership among the Mexican-born, and Hispanics generally, than it does among other demographics, but the global tide is going in one clear direction.

And then of course among non-Hispanics Liga MX has basically zero purchase and no real growth prospects whatsoever. I think that's fundamentally why MLS is wise to seek closer collaboration with Liga MX, they have more to gain than to lose, and the two are fundamentally allied in seeking to prevent North American soccer fans from being solely Euro-focused.

 

Thinking more on this the more I'm willing to bet the team was the Galaxy who IIRC had a 6m yr AAV for like 10 yrs. Normally the traditional industry practice is for say a deal like that to start lower in the start and to end higher and the AAV annual average gets quoted as the per yr dollar amount.

So say a 6m yr deal could start off at 4m and end with payments of 8m so the avg payment is 6m.

 

A humble theory as to why that is:

USMNT World Cup Wins By MLS-based Starting XI Players:

1990: Zero
1994: Zero
1998: Zero
2002: Eleven (Pope, Mastroeni, Donovan and McBride started both wins, Agoos, Beasley, and Wolff started one each)
2006: Zero
2010: Two (Donovan and Bornstein started the lone win vs Algeria)
2014: Five (Dempsey, Bradley, Altidore, Besler, Beckerman started the lone win vs Ghana)
2018: Zero
2022: Zero

 

The very granular viewership data that's going to be in a weekly memo on every owner's desk is going to disabuse them of that complacency extremely quickly, I predict.

 

Yeah the issue was with the reporting though. Journalists should never mix personal feelings with reporting news. There was a feeling at the time that most of what the Athletic was reporting on the media deal prospects was impending doom and gloom and as it turns out they admitted they were pulling for as sort of a shock to the system moment.

The issue was that type of reporting formed negative narratives and connotations. Where people set up a expectancy prediction of what's to come gave their takes. When it didn't happen at least there was a admission from Paul of ok I was pulling for things to fail. That's refreshing but as a consumer I do start to question the info you're passing along to me. Whether it's tainted or slanted with a bias.

This is nothing new here. The Athletic is filled with EX MLS employees lol. Take with that what you may. There was a noticeable turn in reporting during the MLS is Back tournament with the whole anonymous burner account leaking info that ended up being false and the Athletic chiding MLS over alleged player safety etc. Who remembers the boxed lunch story that made it through edit. There have been at times very antagonistic petty tweets from accounts like Pablo Maurer and Meg Linehan on stuff ranging from pitting XFL vs MLS cheering on XFL and Meg Linehan posting misleading stuff gaslighting NWSL vs MLS.

I remember the late Grant Wahl waded into that putting a end to it stating how ridiculous it was seeing fellow journalists attempt to pit the two leagues against each other.

The Athletic has gotten better with the news scoops for a while their reporting really went down from when it was initially launched. There is a tinge of bias though that permeates with it which is a shame.

FYI this isn't so much your post but in reference to another talking about the Athletic crapping on the Apple Deal.

 

Grant Wahl is dead and SB Nation pulled the plug on all the MLS sites.

The Athletic is about all we got, man. An occasionally unreasonable critical eye beats the hell out of silence.

 

I have a feeling in the future these two Fox/Apple might enhance the relationship they now have. They both have MLS/MLB and I wonder if this first partnership with MLS creates more and bigger ones in the future.

Why is Fox not pursuing a strategy for a standalone streaming service? Eric Shanks explains.

Listen to the Marchand & Ourand Sports Media podcast here
Apple: https://t.co/SWGq6vrpC2
Spotify: https://t.co/0pDWy3Lt5U
Google: https://t.co/PscRtGRpZ1 pic.twitter.com/W5IAxQ8E3a

— John Ourand (@Ourand_Puck) February 8, 2023

 

40 percent of the games will either be free or on Apple TV+. So you can still easily watch a random game every week.

 

I agree something is better than nothing. Hopefully we get more coverage. It feels too often non MLS main stream media wing coverage is either World Soccer Talk level anti-Propaganda or places like the Athletic where coverage is sort of a riding joke commentary full of derision. Like there's nothing better to do might as well cover report on this thing MLS did. There's not enough Grant Wahl coverage of just here's the nuts and bolts of what's going on. He never shed away from giving his take but it was measured and reasonable.

For instance the coverage of the return of three legged rounds is being presented as apocalypse now penalty kick shoot out level stuff. In reality it's just the return of one of the non wackier things of MLS early years. I'm guessing I'm just wanting more middle of the road analysis serious analysis. But they may be too boring for some folks.

 

Wahl was subtler and more elegant about it because he was a really outstanding writer who will be sorely missed, but what both Wahl, Tenorio, any of these guys who go into the overworked and underpaid field of reporting on soccer in America are is true blue evangelists for the sport that deeply, deeply care about it.

Being critical about the league offices and the financial world of the sport is a universal across the American sports journalism landscape, writers love taking potshots at the NFL or MLB and get way more clicks for it than these guys ever do.

But with the Athletic guys it comes from a place of rooting for the league and wanting the league to be better and genuine disappointment when it screws up. You're not wrong to identify personal feelings as being a part of it. It's emotional but not cynical at all (a la Skip Bayless or whatever), it's totally sincere.

And I dunno, I think that's a good thing, I think it's a match for the niche passion of their audience and I think they generally do an outstanding job. They'll never bat 1.000 because that's impossible.

This section of BigSoccer is the home of "LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE" worshipers of MLS capital owners, which emerges from exactly the same place of sincere love of the sport and evangelism for its future in America, and I think that's equally good and healthy and beautiful even if I personally tend to agree more with the Tenorio viewpoint.

We need as many as we can get.

 

Well said, but I do question where it's gone from passionate I really want this to do well to wanting something to hit rock bottom. MLS generally gets things right in the end. The old timers on here know I was one of the ones raging how the league should have a 15m salary Cap back in 2008 when it was just $2.3m and 1DP and how if theyd just listen to me it would really change the league and do wonders lol. Then 23 yr old me full of passion and knowledge.

As time went on I went on to see that even though they probably were a tad too conservative with spending they were much more realistic with things than I was. I do like Sam and Paul they show passion and generally want things to be better even if it's misguided at times. I however severely question people like Pablo Maurer and Meg Linehan. Pablo seems more in love about the quirkiness of what MLS was in yester year than what ii is today. Follow him on Twitter same with Meg Linehan who comments Grant (RIP)waded into caught me off guard. You're likely right it's probably about getting more clicks and views. Being controversial does that.

Overtime I saw that even though I

 

And that's fine too!

The old adage really is true: there is no such thing as bad publicity.

 

Wondering why the #LAGalaxy aren't streaming Coachella Valley Invitational matches? They aren't allowed to. Streaming Goalchella is prohibited per the terms of the AppleTV deal. #MLS pic.twitter.com/Exa34ey0rn

— Mike Gray (@MikeGrayAFC) February 8, 2023

Looks like MLS teams are not allowed to stream preseason games. This is shit.

 

A consequence of hooking up with a tech company that doesn't know how to be a broadcaster yet.

Complain about this. They will listen and learn eventually. It's free advertising, Apple should be encouraging club-run streams.

 

I would guess that next season they will allow preseason game streams, but as part of the MLS package. Like regular video content. I wonder what their stance is on glory friendlies... like a future Galaxy vs Real Madrid type of match - would that be on the open market or would they have to allow another service to broadcast it?

 

I'm hoping this was a one off this year because MLS Season Pass wasn't going to launch until midway through preseason. It would be really stupid if it continues in 2024.

 

Apple MLS Season Pass live streaming: What does Apple want from Major League Soccer? (inquirer.com)

 

I'm probably not going to sign up without an Android app. The browser experience is subpar.

Edit. Forget it. Maybe I'll follow MLS again in 11 years. Apple sucks.

 

The App isn't great either.

 

Can we hold you to it?

Thx,

Jay!

 

can you sell me your abacus where $250 million minus $60 million equals $250 million? I want to be able to use it with PWC or Deloitte next time they question our financials.

you should really market your financial savvy to companies that are down on earnings and want to find a way to make operating costs just disappear