Are any of these matches going to be televised at all? I can't find any sort of listing. I know last year they weren't, but I thought with the new, upgraded mlslive.tv they'd atleast show them on there.
Semi finals and Finals, though the odd game has been broadcast on the USLive streamythingy when MLS teams USL teams
yes, i understand that. however, their TEAMS are playing in it. therefore, they should have the rights to broadcast it.
The league wouldn't get them automatically, that's not how media rights to tournaments work. The USL negotiated with US Soccer to be able to show the matches online, guaranteed.
I believe that the home team has the broadcast rights, so in the past, when a USL team has been at home, USLLive has had the game, and when an MLS team has been at home, your mileage may vary. FCD has carried a webcast of their home Open Cup games on their website, but other teams don't bother.
For those who haven't used it, USL Live is quite good. Obviously the announcers are local, so you have to factor that in, but the coverage is usually on par with MLS local coverage and in Charleston's case, superior. So, if you really want to see Open Cup matches, you have a good option.
you know all the joking around about the US open cup really annoys me. US soccer named the tournament after Lamar Hunt a few years back. Without Lamar Hunt the united states would not have a soccer league. He lost plenty of money with NASL, and when MLS came a calling he jumped right in, owning three teams at one point. having lived in a usl town for seven years, i enjoyed the teams coming to get their butt kicked by my usl team. Each one of us soccer fans in America owe a debt of gratitude to Lamar and out of respect we should at least stop making the lame arse jokes about the tournament named after a great soccer supporter Lamar Hunt
repped. I agree. Plus, the US Open cup is really a historical part of American soccer tradition. We should treat it with respect. We should honor those who have won and those who have played for it. So, let's all give a round of applause to DC United, the current US Open Cup Champions.
I have to wonder why though? I mean, I know attendance isn't great for USOC games, but still. It's more chances for their teams to be exposed to an audience with a format that most Americans aren't familiar with. And now the fact that the winner gets into the Champions League should add some more spice to it. Seriously, why has no one tried to hype this tournament up yet?
Not just the quality of play, but I think most Americans and soccer fans would be intrigued by the format and what is at stake. Between the fact that its teams from all different levels playing against each other and with a Champions League birth, I think many people would be more likely to watch. Its not just a $1 million payday at stake, but rather a place in a bigger tournament. Just like the InterLiga for the Copa Libertadores. Seriously, it baffles me how the leagues and US Soccer have failed to do more for this tournament.
Except that people watch Interliga and Libertadores. The real problem for MLS teams is that unless they win the whole thing, it's a gigantic money loser, additional wear & tear on staff/players, possibly additional stadium rental or alternate stadium rental, lodging/travel to podunk USL locations, etc, etc. So, even if you win, you probably are half million to a million in the hole under the best of conditions. You either want win it all, or lose in the first game you play to minimize your expenses. Sure, it can be a good marketing tool to some degree to build visibility for the league, but it's a staggeringly expensive one. MLS doesn't do anything because they can't. It belongs to the USSF. The USSF doesn't because they're the USSF.
You get the feeling the people that actually run the tournament wish it was still a little competition between amateur and semi-pro sides. It's beyond me why more games aren't on TV. If I were the USSF, I'd call up FSC and offer them the rights for a few years for nothing, just for the exposure. But then, if I were the USSF, I probably wouldn't be able to see anything but the inside of my own colon. ------RM
FSC does show games...so they already have at least some rights to show games... The questions you have to ask are... 1)Do they pay for those rights? or do they get them for free already? 2)Are the rights they have only for the final stages that they do show? or do they have rights for the whole tournament but only bother with the final stages? 3)If they are paying for the rights, and they only have the rights to the final stages, why aren't they going after the rights to the earlier stages? I don't know the answers to 1 or 2, but I suspect that the answer to 3 is that it's not worth the money to them...they either don't want to pay for the rights to the earlier games or else they already have the rights but it's not worth the cost to broadcast them.
Hopefully MLS will take it and CCL a little more seriously this year given the "valid" argument that USL is as good or better. They've got a chance to stop with the excuses and simply spank.