MLS websites going independent

[Detroit_TFC]

Sports Business Journal (no link, sub req) reports that MLS is ending its deal with MLB Advanced Media. MLS will have a new in-house designed web home by March 2010 with new team sites to follow. This was approved by the MLS BOG in July but this effort is now supported by a new SUM online advertising network of 29 soccer websites. Estimated cost of developing this new infrastructure in the millions according to the article.

This seems to be the result of both MLS teams wanting a more robust web vehicle and MLBAM wanting to concentrate on core MLB activity. In any case this bodes well for increased and improved online content.

Edit: the thread title is a little misleading, it's unclear how much autonomy the team websites will have in this new online presence.

[Billy the kid]

Major League Soccer is following in the footsteps of its more established brethren, bringing its Web site and team sites in-house after a six-year partnership with MLB Advanced Media.
The move is the latest effort by MLS to consolidate control and take a leadership position in the soccer landscape. The league hopes to increase the revenue it generates for MLS online through the syndication of content and creation of new subscription products, but also by developing an infrastructure to support other soccer sites and soccer properties. If successful, it would become something akin to a Soccer Advanced Media.
“The thing that led us to the creation of Soccer United Marketing in the first place was the recognition of a broad soccer opportunity in the United States beyond Major League Soccer,” said MLS President Mark Abbott. “The same is true in the digital area. There’s lots of opportunity for us to be involved in all aspects of the sport here, and that’s something that’s part of the strategy.”
MLS’s digital transition will be hard to justify in the short term, but could pay dividends in the future, said Jeff Price, Sports Illustrated’s former digital president.
“It’s a bold move by MLS with a long-term view on the value of its digital property,” Price said. “It’s a big investment and it won’t be easy, but it shows a commitment to the sport of soccer and its fans.”
The new Web platform is to roll out in March.


The league believes managing its own site will enable it to better serve those fans and attract new ones.
“Fans are interacting with their teams through a number of digital platforms,” Abbott said. “If we want to continue to grow our league, it’s critical we have ways to provide fans with what they want on those platforms, so that we can continue to build our fan base.”
MLS plans to unveil its new Web platform in March before the start of the 2010 season. New team sites will follow.
MLSnet.com and its 15 team sites attract an average of 2 million unique visitors per month, according to the league.
The cost of bringing the sites in-house and developing the infrastructure to support them will be in the millions, Abbott said. Immediate costs include developing a technology platform to host and promote the sites, hiring an editorial staff to provide content for the site and hiring staff for a business unit to sell and market the sites.
MLS plans to hire a sales staff in November and an editorial staff in January. It already has hired Shawn Francis, the founder of soccer blog Offside Rules, to serve in an editorial role and digital media consultancy Rocket Fuel to advise it during the transition.
Rocket Fuel is headed by former AOL creative chief Michael Wolfson and advised the NHL on its recent redesign.
The decision to bring league and team sites in-house followed a yearlong study and received approval from MLS’s board of governors during a late July meeting in Park City, Utah. Teams were informed of the decision over the last two weeks. The entire effort follows Soccer United Marketing’s creation of an online advertising network from 29 existing soccer sites.
MLS is just the latest in a series of properties to leave MLBAM over the last two years. After years of powering a variety of non-baseball sites from AVP and WCSN to IceNetwork.com and Tiger Woods’ official mobile site, the company has shifted its focus away from that business to concentrate on MLB content and larger, more lucrative partnerships.
Staff writer Eric Fisher contributed to this story.

[flatpicker]

sounds good to me.

[Flipityflu]

good job. we are on the way to defeating MLS socialism

[boban]

good job. we are on the way to defeating MLS socialism

I don't think you understood the premise of this thread.
The MLS website are being separated from MLB.
There is no indication that each MLS team will have independent websites.
MLS socialism, as you put it, will still be there for the websites.

[Oldtimer]

They are clearly learning from MLSE. Just like MLSE bought GOL TV to help promote TFC to people who like Spanish and German football, MLS can use general soccer interest to promote MLS. It looks like a very smart long-term move to me.

[Shway]

so Paul,
what does this mean
TFC can have their own, unique, personall site
i remember him say their are waiting on something, is this it?

[flatpicker]

^ that's right, he did say that.

That must be what he was talking about.