Mls' New Tv Deal

Homer said:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/13/s...-deal-to-set-weekly-slots-for-games.html?_r=0

Kind of torn up. It's great that we FINALLY have dedicated time slots for games, and the money is rumored to be a 70 mil per year.

But ESPN treats MLS like a joke and FS is just..crap. NBCSN actually treated MLS with respect and their coverage was great. Plus, isn't 8 years a bit much?
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From the article:

>But the most important aspect of the deal for M.L.S. and its fans could be the establishment of game-of-the-week windows on all three networks. Univision — primarily UniMas — will show a game of the week on Fridays (with SAP capability for English-speaking fans), and ESPN and Fox Sports 1 will broadcast a doubleheader every Sunday at 5 and 7 p.m.

Seems like an important little bit. I also guess I'll be learning Spanish at least one day a week.
 
If we get multiple games of the week on Univision/Mas, it will raise our profile with the hispanic community which could greatly increase our fan base.
 
Good: The money and the availability of ESPN3. MLS Live is gone, I gather, so you have to go through ESPN3. I don't know about y'all, but I haven't been overwhelmed by the quality of MLS Live. Frequent problems. So I guess that's good.

Bad:

Fox Sports is the worst. Period.

Losing NBCSN & the Premier League tie-in. the Premier League lead ins have been very helpful to MLS this season; now they lose it. Now not nly will they have to change channels, they'll have to wait a day since the national slots are Sundays now. That doesn't seem like it will bode well for ratings to me.
 
ESPN3 is great so I'm glad that will be available and it's free with cable. The announcers for FS1 suck so that's a downside. NBCSN only televised 30 games this year or around there and with the new deal ESPN, FOX, and UniMas will televise at least 125 games a year or that's what they say at least.
 
This is great for MLS, many more games on TV, a designated time slot which is huge, and most importantly more $
 
It has not yet been determined if the out-of-market package will be included with ESPN3 or if it will require an additional fee. Some of the insiders have been speculating that it will still have a fee, but will be operated by ESPN, some believe it will not be.
Overall I think it's a great deal, only things I wish were for it to be a bit shorter and NBC instead of Fox.
 
413Blue said:
It has not yet been determined if the out-of-market package will be included with ESPN3 or if it will require an additional fee. Some of the insiders have been speculating that it will still have a fee, but will be operated by ESPN, some believe it will not be.
Overall I think it's a great deal, only things I wish were for it to be a bit shorter and NBC instead of Fox.
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SPOILER: It won't have a fee. ESPN wants its online catalogue as large as possible. NBC doesn't charge an extra fee. ESPN wants cable companies handing them cash for access to this stuff and by piling on more content they put more pressure on the cable companies to provide these services for their customers. No other sports ESPN carries has a tack-on fee for the out of the market content.

As for length, 8 yrs is relatively short. Look at the other sports media deals. Most are in the 8-10 year window, if not longer. 8 yrs gives MLS some stability while being short enough to allow for significant growth and expansion by MLS when the deal is up. It's really a perfect time.
 
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MikeDatTiger said:
SPOILER: It won't have a fee. ESPN wants its online catalogue as large as possible. NBC doesn't charge an extra fee. ESPN wants cable companies handing them cash for access to this stuff and by piling on more content they put more pressure on the cable companies to provide these services for their customers. No other sports ESPN carries has a tack-on fee for the out of the market content.
I hope so!

As for length, 8 yrs is relatively short. Look at the other sports media deals. Most are in the 8-10 year window, if not longer. 8 yrs gives MLS some stability while being short enough to allow for significant growth and expansion by MLS when the deal is up. It's really a perfect time.
While I agree with that, the difference here is that I think MLS' value is much more likely to grow over the next 8 years than the other leagues. My fear is that during the last few years, we may be receiving significantly less than we should.
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But I think most experts agree that MLS's numbers are lagging behind what this deal justifies. After all, this deal is higher than EPL which has better ratings. Now, that's in part because this is coupled with the USMNT matches, which rate higher. MLS may be more likely to grow, but it still has to come through on TV before it starts getting better prices.

So sure, MLS risks having an undervalued contract towards the end. ESPN also risks that MLS doesn't grow while EPL continues to grow and ESPN is stuck with an underperforming property. In a shorter deal, MLS likely has to take a smaller chunk (networks pay more for the longevity because they can invest in that property as one of its properties) and with that may not be able to have the case to create the growth.

Bottom line, if this contract by overpaying causes growth which makes it a deal for ESPN in the latter years, that's a problem MLS can live with.
 
So I might be wrong:

http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/artic...ia-rights-deals-mean-match-streaming-mls-live

"As stated in the official announcement, the "out-of-market package, currently serviced through the MLS Live and MLS Direct Kick packages, will be available to a wider audience via ESPN3, ESPN’s live multiscreen sports network currently in more than 92 million homes, and WatchESPN, available to fans who receive their video or Internet subscription from an affiliated provider."
  • The out-of-market package will provide HD-quality digital access to more than 200 games each season.
  • ESPN3 does not require a cable subscription; any US-based MLS fan who wants the package will have access to it, regardless of internet provider.
  • The package will be available via multiple over-the-top services (e.g. Apple TV, Roku, etc.).
Over the coming months, MLS will work with ESPN to confirm the details of the out-of-market package, including the specific platforms on which it is offered, blackout restrictions, the availability of match archives, and potential pricing models."

So potential pricing models. Maybe ESPN allows everyone who currently gets ESPN3 to have access to it while allowing a price specially for cord-cutters to access MLS content? If so that's a radical development by ESPN allowing cord-cutters access to its content. ESPN has been very friendly to the cable companies as a result of the high prices they're charging them. I guess we'll have to see.
 
Is WatchESPN available on PS3? I do not like the idea of no Direct Kick... Hopefully ESPN just takes that over like ESPN College Basketball subscription. I don't want streaming games. I want freaking television.
 
Section1Guy said:
Is WatchESPN available on PS3? I do not like the idea of no Direct Kick... Hopefully ESPN just takes that over like ESPN College Basketball subscription. I don't want streaming games. I want freaking television.
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I'm not sure about PS3, but if anyone has Xbox one you can download the ESPN app and watch anything thats on any ESPN network
 
The thing I hate about ESPNs coverage of MLS is that it's very hard to actually find it. There's no mention of MLS on ESPNs main page. Go to ESPN New York and you'll never find the Red Bulls on the main page. To find them, you'll have to navigate on the "more" section, and it will just take you to a the generic ESPNFC page on NYRB. Compare that to their coverage of the Yankees or the Giants. Sheesh.

Speaking of ESPNFC, even their main soccer website has minimal coverage of MLS. Again, you'll rarely, if eever find a mention of MLS on their main page. You actually have to go to the "Global" tab to find the MLS page. Jeez. They can't even give the league it's own damn tab ON THE SOCCER DEDICATED WEBSITE. It's mind boggling.

What's ironic about all this, is that essentially, ESPN is promoting its competition over its own product. Which frankly, I don't get.
 
Isn't the Canadian TSN deal worth like 15 mil a year? So combined, its over $100 million?

Still a drop in the bucket from where it could be but it will encourage big things to happen.
 
Ps3 does not have a watch ESPN app. I know; I've checked. I've been looking for a device that will do NBC Live Extra, Watch ESPN and MLS Live. That's been hard, but now that that list is down to two I'll have to relook.

And MLS does its own tab on ESPN FC. It's right after Premier League. Maybe ESPN will invest more in MLS coverage with the new deal. Right now there wasn't much reason to push MLS but now there is.
 
BossNYC said:
Should've gone Xbox!

Roku has MLS Live and WatchEspn/ESPN3 btw
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But not NBC Live Extra. It seems like NBC Live Extra is just limited to mobile devices and NBC hasn't allowed other devices like Roku to use it. I'm going to have to decide what I want to do about that, because I'd like to watch it on my TV. I could just get the adapter from my iPad to the TV, but having it go over wireless isn't the greatest. Oh well.
 
MikeDatTiger said:
But not NBC Live Extra. It seems like NBC Live Extra is just limited to mobile devices and NBC hasn't allowed other devices like Roku to use it. I'm going to have to decide what I want to do about that, because I'd like to watch it on my TV. I could just get the adapter from my iPad to the TV, but having it go over wireless isn't the greatest. Oh well.
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I bought a desktop computer with wireless mouse/keyboard for my TV. This is a smart TV. It is glorious.
 
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