If what McCullers said is accurate it sounds like the Crew pays the productions costs and buys the airtime from TWCSC then sells the commercials in the broadcast at a loss. That's an odd business model since the Crew are the flagship content for TWCSC. SUM gets a lot of money for the national broadcast rights to MLS. I don't think it's been disclosed how that money is divided among the teams but most people think it is paid out as dividends to SUM shareholders (which include Providence Equity Partners and the USSF). If that is the case, Precourt would get an equal share of SUM media money as Anschutz does for the Galaxy (who are on national tv a lot more). If you take into account national broadcasting revenue as well as local revenue the Crew make a good profit from media rights.
I'd like to see the numbers on that. I am not sure you are correct--and it is possible that the network is wiling to pay a bit more as the World Cup rights go through SUM. Not that MLS is going to give anyone numbers or anything resembling that.... But the fact is that MLS TV rights are not worth that much locally or folks would be banging down our doors.They aren't. The production model you note is *not* that odd for what essentially still has hallmarks of a startup league. Other sports have used that model in the past. MLS did originally (and I would not be shocked if there are elements of that in the current deal).
I don't really see how the team can be making that much money from tv, if any. I mean lets be real, the deal is shit no doubt, but our two options were FSO and be 3rd or 4th priority or TW and be a big fish in not even a pond, more like a puddle of overflow water from the kitchen sink. Either way, we're not making money. Why would either FSO or TW pay for a program that gets the same tv rating (if lucky, better) as an infomercial for a thighmaster or bowflex? I like the YouTube idea. Have a deal with a local channel, let digital rights be retained by the club. I've seen people talk about local channels being a no go cause that would cut out the rest of ohio or people in neighboring states. I think that number is next to zero though. Let those people watch FOR FREE on YouTube, and really focus on the COLUMBUS AREA. The FO seems to really be hammering at all things local now. Before we try and dominate other states, or cincy or cleveland, lets at least get a bigger piece of the cbus pie and be relevant here first.
I'm pretty sure the league wouldn't be a fan of a YouTube idea because they seem to control the digital rights
Good point Why would the league piss off TW by going against their agreement with the Crew? I know some teams (Houston IIRC) in the past gave fans (or maybe just season ticket holders, can't remember) free MLS Live passes, but I don't think there was a conflict with the team's local tv agreement.
Looks like Dwight is back this year and Sika is joining him in the booth. Will miss Sika on the radio and Doran doing color. Since he posts here from time to time. Good luck Chris. You were definitely a positive in the broadcast. http://www.columbuscrewsc.com/media...ng-time-warner-cable-sportschannel-kicks-week Also, wonder who is taking over the radio duties. Id assume 95.5 will continue to broadcast with some of the advertisements they do.
Outrageous. I guess we'll all be streaming Sika this year via questionable methods...same as those games on BeIN or for every time the cord-cutters want to watch ESPN or BTN or whatever other channel.
Congrats Neil, I'm sure this is a nice step in his career. But I still refuse to bend knee to the TWC overlords. And I just got a little sad knowing I won't be able to listen to Neil's calls this year. I'm sure whomever they replace him with will be decent, but they probably won't be awesome like Neil. I hope he is still doing Inside the Crew on Thursdays.
I'm with you. Still not doing TWC. Btw... You got a brother named Josh by any chance? If so, I'm pretty sure you and I have met!!!
Sky sports is going to show 2 MLS games per week. That will increase amount of "options" on the internet for those looking to watch
I do not have close kin by that name. I'm pretty sure whichever Josiah you know is a pretty cool cat though.
I'm happy for Sika...I've always thought he's the best pbp for the Crew and this is probably good for his broadcast career. That said, I'm sad that i can't stream him this year. Syncing the radio feed with video from mls live has always been my preference to listening to other team's awful announcers. I thought Doran was good...hope he continues to call somewhere. Interested to hear the radio feed soon...
Don't forget to factor into the tin hat discussions that the former Crew publicity guy Dave Stephany ended up at TimeWarner before the contract was signed. So the wheels were greased, time warner had created the problem all along and then all of a sudden they had the fix too. Seems like the long con to me. Edit: the more I read of this thread, I wonder if what precourt means by it being on the previous regime is that maybe they started negotiation with TWC after season 1 of the 2 year contract with FSO and then signed some sort of provisional contract before Precourt even bought the team. Plus, McMullers was good at blowing smoke when needed and maybe he blew some of that at Big Tony and Tony bought into it. Then when the reality hit, he wasn't expecting it, and maybe Mark was, as I had warned him about it at the jersey reveal last year, but he didn't seem to think it would be that big of a deal.
Thanks for the support and best wishes to the club, fans and everyone associated, for what should be an enjoyable season.
With Sky broadcasting two MLS games per week I would say it's probably now easier for Sky subscribers in the UK to legally watch the Crew than Crew fans who live within 75 miles of the stadium, but let's be honest: any Crew game shown live in the UK is likely to be a happy coincidence of them playing someone more attractive...just like nationally-broadcast games here in the US.
Let's be fair here. Yes, TWC s*cks. And yes, they did not have alt channels. But it was FSO that was doing the bumping. It was FSO that did not take the Crew seriously. The problem is more than just TWC. The truth is that the Crew have never been able to find an optimal solution *in this market*. Because there isn't one. Heck, they even essentially tried to start their own station once. They have pretty much tried everything.
Simple fact...With TWC, I missed Crew away (Home games for DVR) and with UVERSE and FSO, I NEVER missed a single one until it went to TWC. FSO always provided an alternate, it was your cable company that did not take it seriously. So you absolutely cannot blame FSO. They have the technology and the desire to please their entire audience and do what it what it takes for that audience and TWC could not care less. ESPN has a history of moving long running games to other channels or starting new programing on the alternate.....are you saying they do not take them seriously? No, they did what it took to make it work, just like FSO.
I would argue (perhaps vociferously) that a delayed Crew Game on FSO was miles ahead of the present situation. At the time, IIRC, the best estimate of market penetration of homes with cable/satellite for TWC was about 54%, while FSO was damn near 100%.