Toronto FC - Gol TV Deal

[Kooper]

Gol TV and Toronto FC announced today that Gol TV will air 21 matches this year including the next 13 league games.

http://www.torontofc.ca/schedule

While I am happy that my 3$ a month will feel a bit more worthwhile given that there are a lot of games this year I still think the team would be better served having the games on basic cable TSN, the Score, CBC or Sportsnet. Especially for the road games where the casual fans wouldn't pay the extra money for the premium channel most will probably not sign up. I can understand that for home games you give them to Gol so fans who don't have Gol will be more likely to go to the games (a sort of black out) but it seems dumb to put so many games on Gol.

I realize that Gol is owned by MLSE and they are earning all the advertizing money and the licencing fees but they are missing a big chance to move the brand forward and building the fan base. It seems really short sighted.

[boban]

^^ Agreed.

[boban]

That has got to be be the most asinine tv schedule I have seen.
They are putting all these games Sat. at 7pm on GOL TV against the Stanley Cup playoffs!!!!?!!!
Wow, who's the genius who thought of that?!

[SmokedPanda]

That has got to be be the most asinine tv schedule I have seen.
They are putting all these games Sat. at 7pm on GOL TV against the Stanley Cup playoffs!!!!?!!!
Wow, who's the genius who thought of that?!

they are assuming that the Leafs won`t be making the playoffs............ again

[prizby]

killing the fan base...$3 at a time

[Kooper]

they are assuming that the Leafs won`t be making the playoffs............ again

I think at this point the Leafs' plans for April are pretty free and clear for important games of golf.

[mickyredpatch]

killing the fan base...$3 at a time

agree, it would be better for sports fans that are channel surfing looking for entertainment.

[Kooper]

killing the fan base...$3 at a time

If they are optimistic let's just say that all the the season ticket holders buy Gol Tv for the TFC season.

7 months
3$ per game
14,000 fans
294,000$ Plus advertizing.

If they only have 14,000 TFC fans actually paying for the channel their ad revenues can't be that high since so few people will actually be watching. I get the impression that there will be a lot of ads for Raptors, Leafs, Marlies, Real Sports and those cheesy stay away soccer camps.

You could argue that they are building their brand by pushing their other properties but they are preaching to the choir. Most Toronto Fans won't go to see the Marlies more or go to Real Sports more because they see a few ads reapeated non stop all summer.

[Kooper]

agree, it would be better for sports fans that are channel surfing looking for entertainment.

My dad up in Ottawa likes to watch TFC when they are on but he only finds the games when he stumbles upon the games. He is never going to find them on Gol. They just lost one fan.

[boban]

they are assuming that the Leafs won`t be making the playoffs............ again

Yeah I get that, but ratings are huge for the playoffs in this country, regardless if the home town team is playing or not.
Man, and they balked at CBC proposal/offer ....

[swan]

good thing there is mls live

[nfitz]

I didn't think MLS Live was going to carry live TFC games.

[MarkoftheDrink]

Ahhh that's some of the great MLSE myopia we've all grown so accustomed to. On the bright side there might be another $80 000 on the books at GolTV and a subscriber base that is trending upwards (or not as badly downwards). Do the teacher's really think this is going to help with the sale or ANYTHING. Idiotic.

[Fort York Redcoat]

That has got to be be the most asinine tv schedule I have seen.
They are putting all these games Sat. at 7pm on GOL TV against the Stanley Cup playoffs!!!!?!!!
Wow, who's the genius who thought of that?!

Who's the guy who kept asking for more night games who got his wish. Stanley cup playoffs go on for months right? Should they wait for it all to be over? They will always be up against something with more viewers. This is North America.
FTR I always preferred the midday Sat matches.

[Auzzy]

I didn't think MLS Live was going to carry live TFC games.

They are carrying GolTV games this year. They are excluded from the blackout rules this time. http://www.mlssoccer.com/blackout

[Kooper]

Ahhh that's some of the great MLSE myopia we've all grown so accustomed to. On the bright side there might be another $80 000 on the books at GolTV and a subscriber base that is trending upwards (or not as badly downwards). Do the teacher's really think this is going to help with the sale or ANYTHING. Idiotic.

the costs to do the games is going to be MUCH higher than the 80K or even 200K I estimated they are going to bring in from this.

21 games
21 satelite trucks
21 on field reporters
21 colour commentators
21 game analysts
42 editors/tv guys
21 producers
...

[Kooper]

Who's the guy who kept asking for more night games who got his wish. Stanley cup playoffs go on for months right? Should they wait for it all to be over? They will always be up against something with more viewers. This is North America.
FTR I always preferred the midday Sat matches.

I like night matches during the summer because I like to have a pregame drink, enjoy the game when it is a bit cooler, go out afterwards.

I agree with the utter stupidity of putting TFC against hockey. But I would be interested to see how the audience for NHL playoffs changes if the Leafs aren't in the playoffs and how quickly the audience in Toronto drops/rises.

I remember when the Leafs were last in the playoffs in 2004 the bars were packed and everyone was following the team. A few years later when Ottawa made the cup finals I found it hard to find a bar with enough of an audience for some atmosphere.

[zeelaw]

I hate that standard definition garbage

[Pachuco]

This one one goes down in the books as quite possibly one of the dumbest moves MLSE has made with TFC. And they've made alot of mistakes. But this one, this one may very well take the cake.

Ratings for next game gentleman, 20,000 people. Well atleast it's more then what's showing up a BMO these days.

[WestStandGeoff]

I hate that standard definition garbage

I prefer to call it 'Loser' Definition, since HD is really becoming the standard.

Let's hope they simulcast in HD on Rogers 501 like they did a lot last year.

[Pigfynn]

Are the games not all in HD?

WTF?

[kodiakTFC]

This is why i bought MLS Matchday Live. Great decision even if it costs me a few more dollars, I get more bang for the buck being able to watch other mls games.

[ilikemusic]

I realize that Gol is owned by MLSE and they are earning all the advertizing money and the licencing fees but they are missing a big chance to move the brand forward and building the fan base. It seems really short sighted.

You say that as if they have taken advantage of other chances to build the fanbase over the past four years.

[boban]

Who's the guy who kept asking for more night games who got his wish. Stanley cup playoffs go on for months right? Should they wait for it all to be over? They will always be up against something with more viewers. This is North America.
FTR I always preferred the midday Sat matches.

I don't know who is the guy?
They could have put the April and May games on midday Sat. and put the rest on at night if they have such a hard on for the night game.

[Roogsy]

I have been procrastinating on picking up Gol TV again after I changed services a few weeks ago and haven't gotten around to getting the right packages in place.

But this team and it's incompetence has made me fed up enough that I don't care that I won't catch some games anymore. I am not signing up for Gol TV at all.

[Stouffville_RPB]

Are the games not all in HD?

WTF?

No. Unfortunately there is no Gol TV HD at the moment.

[Fort York Redcoat]

I don't know who is the guy?
They could have put the April and May games on midday Sat. and put the rest on at night if they have such a hard on for the night game.

Yep. They could. But there are people that are happy about these night games. I ain't one of em but every year there are plenty who plead for them. Every year.

I typed "night games" into the search box. At least 2 threads dedicated to them.

[drewski]

I don't know who is the guy?
They could have put the April and May games on midday Sat. and put the rest on at night if they have such a hard on for the night game.

against MLB games? might be more of a draw in Canada, but not in the states. on Sat night they're more likely to get a higher draw with no other major sport going on but hockey (which gets far lower ratings).

if you look at last years NHL playoff sched, they typically try to spread the games out so there is an afternoon, evening and west coast evening game, so midday, you're generally going against two sports on tv. that's really spreading the TV audience thin, and you're mroe likely to just get teh hardcore fans (who up here would be willing to pay the $3/mth)

[ManUtd4ever]

TSN obviously bailed on the broadcasts that would go head to head with the NHL playoffs, which is understandable on their part.

The minimal exposure aside, GolTV did a great job with their TFC broadcasts last season, and for those who are concerned about HD broadcasts, the HD simulcasts should once again be available on Rogers ch. 501, as they were last season.

[nfitz]

No. Unfortunately there is no Gol TV HD at the moment.

They aired all of the TFC MLS games last season in HD, using Rogers 501 - I have no reason to think they wouldn't do the same this year.