The rumours are stating that the new MLS TV deal is worth 90 Million per season for 10 years. We should expect to see a cap increase for next year as well. Big increase over the last one which I believe was 15-18M per season.
MLS TV Deal 90M per Year
The rumours are stating that the new MLS TV deal is worth 90 Million per season for 10 years. We should expect to see a cap increase for next year as well. Big increase over the last one which I believe was 15-18M per season.
Damn. Imagine how nice it will look if the average non-dp salary doubles.
I still worry about the quality of officiating. A slick HD feed on NBC sports isn't going to help the flow of the game.
Games are to have more specific time slots.. aka, Friday night games and Sunday games at 5 and 7pm. Also, the rumours have it that MLS Live will be dead with this new deal. Streaming will only take place on ESPN websites. This is an unfortunate blow as I like having access to all out of market games. This also will mean that I will have to keep my cable just to be able to watch TFC play.
MLS doesn't get all that money - that is for US national team rights are part of the deal, like in the past. Even with that taken out though, should be enough to fund a doubling of the cap. Hopefully the league won't be idiots during the CBA negotiations. With the deal in place now (and for 8 years!), hard for them to say they can afford cap and minimum salary increases. Question is "how much higher?"
If what I read about the rights deal turns out true, (Sports Business Journal seemed to have a lot of the details already), broadcast time slots on Friday, Saturday and Sunday would be established. MLS Live and Direct Kick go away, for ESPN3 in the States and ??? in Canada. Clearly that needs addressing.
Was writing while you posted. The cordcutting issue is getting raised and journos are getting conflicting answers. Some have heard that a subscription option will be created for ESPN3 access but ESPN has resisted doing that in the past due to friction with carriers. Now whether TSN follows suit, that's a big question mark.Originally Posted by barticusz
Wow, really pissed if they don't have a replacement for MLS Live. I don't mind paying TSN (or whoever) a reasonable subscription price for official streaming, but it seems the Bells & Rogers of the world desperately want to keep us in the last century. I am absolutely not getting cable or satellite TV just for TFC.
Same here.
MLS Digital VP Chris Schlosser just tweeted that MLS Live would be maintained for Canadian market.
So, Friday and Sunday would be the national broadcast timeslots, Saturdays would be reserved for local broadcasts with local discretion on ko times, etc.
The biggest question i have is... what does this mean for us? How often will we be put in the national spotlight in America due to MB and JD? and am I alone if disliking the idea of friday and sunday night games?
I could see that not lasting long. A lot of infrastructure for what might be what.....about 2 000 people here in Canada who use MLS Live?
There's already some push back on the loss of digital access down in the States unless you use certain cable providers. Not sure MLS quite gets how tech knowledgable many of their supporters are.
MLS live should have stayed. It set the league apart from others, representing the young knowledgeable supporters of the league. just mean more illegal streams (xbmc)
but the increase in salary cap will be a welcome addition.
Careful. The deal is with SUM. SUM has members, not shareholders. Approx 25% of the economics of SUM are owned by Provident equity partners the balance by the same groups who the media call franchise holders in MLS. The reason to split these entities apart is to ensure the MLS part, which has to negotiate a CBA with players, does not have the extreme high margin revenue the TV deals generate. Yes, the members of SUM, including MLSE, see the benefits of the SUM deal, but MLS does not dirctly see that money.
I would share the expectation that the cap in MLS will rise, but my expectations are very tempered.
who invited negative Nancy
There needs to be a better option for Canada but this gives them another year to come up with it.
Certainly possible. I've seen other people raise similar points.
Rogers and Bell will underpay for that. They have no competitors anymore. Then they'll put broadcasted games online over TSN.ca and whatever "Rogersondemand" thing they want to do, depending upon who has the game that day. Non-broadcasted will be "on demand" only, via a package that will likely cost more then $60 a season.
Some new tidbits from MLS regarding the online access: http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/articl...aming-mls-live
The article says basically that the ESPN3 (for US) will be open access for the MLS package, but I'm not sure how they will do that. Currently ESPN3 is available through participating ISPs (which is different from WatchESPN which is ESPN/ESPN broadcasting not available on ESPN3, and requires a participating cab/sat provider). Also says options for 2015 may include continuation of MLS Live, but 2016 and after will be ESPN3 only (for US).
Traditional TV is dead/dying and the cable companies are grasping at straws trying to save whatever they can, they're' only delaying the inevitable by hiding MLS live.
MLB and the NFL make good coin in the US from streaming packages like MLS Live. ESPN and Fox demanding exclusivity is a backwards move.
Another thing to consider is the entire MLS platform, which relies heavily on in-house video production and use of footage from games. The MLS site is impressive in its live stats, game day distribution and news and if MLS Live were to disappear the access to the footage could degrade the quality of that. I love that on my tablet I can, with one click, join in any game part-way while surfing though stats watching something else. There are some ways around this for MLS, but its a seamless system that rivals what MLB and NFL put out and I'd hate to see it. It also doesn't support the larger goal of raising the profile of the league.
A couple years ago TSN experimented with a UEFA Euro package where you could access all of the games for about $45 and it was great. There is precedent for them doing live streaming of football well and -- following many others on this thread -- think that the writing is on the wall with where things are going and TSN and the Bells & Rogers out there know that. Whether they'll give us fans, many of whom are willing to fork out big $$ for a great streaming service, what we want so we don't have to buy expensive, irrelevant, unused cable TV packages remains to be seen.
got to assume it is just for the next 2 years...current tsn deal runs through to 2016...after that, probably a 6 year deal with new stuff worked in and whether mls live comes or goes will be another question
more likely for road games rather than home games...production costs in Canada (especially Quebec) are a lot higher especially with it being unionized
ESPN3 is free to access in the States for anyone with Internet, from what I understand
well said and explained...for whatever reason, reputation thing won't let me add any to yours
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