OK, so I get that all of the games are available on TV in one form or another, but doesn't it feel just a little like we've taken a kick in the nuts on the TV schedule? 11 of 16 HOME games are being shown on national TV (yes I know not everyone has cable, and I know HDNet costs extra, but bear with me), but only 3 out of 14 road games will be available outside of the subscription packages. I have to question what that will do for the home supporters (specifically, the casual mom-and-dad supporters with the ever-coveted kid segment of the market in tow) who can feel free to stay on the big, comfy sectional instead of buying a ticket and dropping 8 bones a pop on skunky beer? Additionally, as I care very little about the other teams in the league (I also care very little about baseball or pointyball outside of the Reds and Bengals, so don't tase me, bro...), I feel a little bit like I'm being taken advantage of, being forced to buy every teams' games when all I want is the club that plays IN MY HOME MARKET. This wouldn't bother me so much if I lived in, say, Tuscon, but come on... What do you guys think? Am I on an island here?
Has CSN released which games they will be broadcasting? Can't wait to see those lovely orange-ish jerseys.
I haven't seen anything related to CSN. I suppose it's possible they could pick up a couple, but if I recall, they mostly carried home games last year, anyway, so...
I'm serious - In Chicago, the Wurtzes (sp) get flamed routinely because they refuse to put Blackhawks home games on TV unless they reach a certain threshold of attendance, effectively a self-imposed blackout. But here, no, we want to put our home games on national TV to showcase our awesome new stage - I mean - classic stadium, and our great supporters groups, who incidentally, have now been scattered all over the stadium, and our superior casual fan base, who, by the way, we have given every opportunity to stay home and watch in their basements. I know MLS, SUM and the networks have the most to say about this, but if I were Crew FO, I would be p!ssed. As a supporter, I am annoyed.
I just did the schedule for my wagering thing: 16 games on Direct Kick, 3 on ESPN2, 6 on FOX Soccer Channel, 4 on HDNet and 1 on TeleFutura. I know Direct Kick is available through DirectTV (?) but does anybody know if WOW, Insight, Time Warner, etc. have Direct Kick?
Time Warner has Direct Kick. I imagine that if you live in Columbus or the area, you can get ONN - are they renewing their contract for the away games? I hope CSN continues to do all the home games, and the Crew Corner show is appreciated as well.
I think you should wait for the Crew to release their local TV schedule before freaking out about this stuff.
It's time for my weekly message to Sigi and McCullers: Sign a damn player already so theses people stop talking about stupid shit.
I'm not freaking out, I'm merely annoyed. But it does bother me that most of our HOME games are on national TV, and not blacked out locally, with no risk of being blacked out, as far as I know.
Heard Larry Larson and Metzold talking on Saunday....they let "slip" that 610 WTVn was going to broadcast Crew games this year. Is this a good thing?
No kidding. It's not THAT expensive. And if its too expensive, the online package is, what, half that?
Why should it bother you? Local TV coverage of home game has never had a measurable impact on attendance in MLS.
I sometimes wonder myself if I shouldn't just get into the feedbag face-first, or perhaps go ahead and take a dip into the Kool-Aid. There's no question that would be easier.
So, if the Crew front office self-imposed a blackout by not broadcasting home games until they sold a certain number of tickets, should they be flamed or applauded? Just look at it as free advertising in a grand scheme to increase the concert revenue... Have they? Have they really? I thought now the supporter groups were consolidated into one corner of the stadium. Have televised home games every markedly affected attendance? I think others have shown on BigSoccer that it doesn't for MLS. It doesn't seem like it would, at least to me, but I'm just making a guess. I am annoyed, but more at the fact that of six scheduled HD games four of them are home games. I want HD for the road games when I actually need to watch the games.
FWIW, WOW hasn't carried Direct Kick for several years, even though they have the In-Demand channels for it. I know TW usually carries DK along with the satellite packages. Does Insight usually have it?
Well, I think if your threshold is like, 95% capacity or something ridiculous like that as it is with the Blackhawks, then that's asking a lot; but if we compromise and call it, say 13,000 or 65% capacity, then I think you've done everyone right. HEY WE HAVE A STAGE COME PLAY HERE!!!! Request from Crew Mgmt: Please TV people do not show a wide shot of the fairgrounds and ruin our shot at getting Buffet. PS - We love you, Jimmy! OK, maybe, but what about the other 2,000 misplaced fans? I don't know either, but it can't possibly help, can it? I suppose there's the single possible up-side of creating the "place-to-be" vibe by getting that kind of exposure to the local support, but I'm just not for anything that gives people a reason not to go to the stadium. Of course I have argued for a fall-spring schedule before, so my opinion may be suspect, but that's for another long-dead thread. Hell, I just want to watch the road games, period. That's what started this whole thing. If local TV comes through, great, but if ONN picks them up I have to come to your house anyway, cuz the DTV don't get no stinkin' ONN. (Or CSN, for that matter, but I've got rabbit ears for that.)
I think just about every sport has shown that the more accessible the team is on TV, the healthier the team becomes. It used to be that radio broadcasts of home games were going to kill baseball attendance. Then TV broadcasts of home games were going to do the same. And now MLB, NBA, and NHL teams show most of their home games on local TV. The more people have access to the games, the more they are likely to watch and become interested. Decades of experience in pro sports has shown that televising home games does not hurt attendance at all, and in fact goes a longer way toward creating a bond with the team, which in the end, leads to more revenue. Sheesh....just look at the Blackhawks as an example. They have steadily been falling off the Chicago radar as fewer and fewer people have access to their games. And it doesn't appear that Crew attendance suffered last year when all their home games were available on local TV. In fact, it went up. (I'm not assigning causation here, but it's not like people stayed home in droves to watch the Crew on TV instead of coming to the stadium.) Honestly, I doubt the Crew's TV viewership during home games is enough to detract from attendance or even build up a new audience. But unless it's proven harmful, it seems logical that as many games as possible should be made available on TV. It's a two-hour advertisement.