Scraper wrote: ↑Thu Mar 23, 2023 1:16 pm
This is the first season where I have not watched a single MLS match. The reason being that they signed an exclusive deal where all of the games for every team are on Apple TV (The only exceptions are the weekly spotlight games on FS1). So not only do you have to have Apple TV to watch your local team but you also have to sign up and pay extra to get the MLS package. I think this was a terrible move on MLSs part if they truly want to grow their league. It completely excludes every casual fan and now the only people watching are the hard core fans.
I refuse to pay for the MLS package and won't be watching any of their games this year. This is coming from someone who used to have season tickets to the Crew and would go to roughly 15 games a year.
I'll keep watching the Premier League and the Champions League.
Signing up for Apple TV is free, and 40% of the games are in front of the paywall. You can't watch all your team's games if you don't pay, but it's not like you're prohibited from watching all of them.
Also it's $99 for a season which is quite a bit less than the $17 a month you stated in your last post (it's only $15 if you pay by the month anyway).
It's $15 a month and I assume they tack on taxes and some fees. But even if it is just a flat $15 it's still exactly $15 more than the average sports fan will be willing to pay and therefore they will lose existing fans and fail to gain new ones. I find it hard to believe that any fan other than the hardcore supporters will shell out for it.
Also, think about what will happen if other leagues follow suit. Remember when it was just Netflix and it was fine. But then came Prime, Disney Plus, Discovery Plus, HBO Max, Paramount, Peacock, etc. It's suddenly extremely expensive to watch everything. Now imagine that the NBA, NCAA, NHL, NFL, MLB all follow suit. The days of Cable TV with everything you want to watch and a $100 a month cable TV bill are starting to become appealing.
I mean, I get the season pass for free, so I can't say whether or not they charge taxes and fees, but I doubt that's the case. Pretty sure that $15 is all inclusive. Though I'm not sure why you'd pay $15 a month when you can get it for $99 for the full season.
And I doubt anyone but hardcore supporters are buying packages like NHL.tv (before it went to ESPN+) or MLB.tv, either.
Finally, MLS ratings were abysmal before the switch to Apple. It's not like they were drawing in casual fans to begin with outside of very rare instances.
Just got an email today that with my season tickets to HCFC I get free 2023 MLS Season pass on Apple and I can share using Apple's family sharing feature...Guess I'll sign up for an Apple Acct and try it out and see how that feature works. Do I have any family here?
The only reason people get lost in thought is because it's unfamiliar territory.
pr0ner wrote: ↑Fri Mar 24, 2023 11:45 am
Finally, MLS ratings were abysmal before the switch to Apple. It's not like they were drawing in casual fans to begin with outside of very rare instances.
pr0ner wrote: ↑Fri Mar 24, 2023 11:45 am
Finally, MLS ratings were abysmal before the switch to Apple. It's not like they were drawing in casual fans to begin with outside of very rare instances.
pr0ner wrote: ↑Fri Mar 24, 2023 11:45 am
And I doubt anyone but hardcore supporters are buying packages like NHL.tv (before it went to ESPN+) or MLB.tv, either.
Except a lot of people can watch games of the local NHL & MLB teams without an additional subscription and you can no longer do that with MLS. Increasing the sport's popularity is always easiest with the local team, why are they not working to improve that? A cheaper sub for the local team should have been the least they could have done to keep and attract casual fans.
pr0ner wrote: ↑Fri Mar 24, 2023 11:45 am
And I doubt anyone but hardcore supporters are buying packages like NHL.tv (before it went to ESPN+) or MLB.tv, either.
Except a lot of people can watch games of the local NHL & MLB teams without an additional subscription and you can no longer do that with MLS. Increasing the sport's popularity is always easiest with the local team, why are they not working to improve that? A cheaper sub for the local team should have been the least they could have done to keep and attract casual fans.
How much longer will people be watching their local NHL & MLB teams in their current markets, though? Regional sports networks in some areas are doing great but others are dying or close to it. And if you've cut the cord you can't watch your teams anyway due to NHL and MLB's blackout rules.
Also while a single team Apple subscription might be nice, they do offer the ability to watch 40% of games every week free. No one else's streaming service offers that many free games every week. You don't have to pay anything and you can still watch a decent number of your team's games.
pr0ner wrote: ↑Fri Mar 24, 2023 11:45 am
Finally, MLS ratings were abysmal before the switch to Apple. It's not like they were drawing in casual fans to begin with outside of very rare instances.
What are you basing that on?
The actual ratings numbers.
How are they abysmal? Are they not matching expectations? Just curious how you arrived at that.
pr0ner wrote: ↑Fri Mar 24, 2023 11:45 am
Finally, MLS ratings were abysmal before the switch to Apple. It's not like they were drawing in casual fans to begin with outside of very rare instances.
What are you basing that on?
The actual ratings numbers.
How are they abysmal? Are they not matching expectations? Just curious how you arrived at that.
All the Fox networks that showed MLS games averaged under 200,000 viewers per game. ESPN did better at 309,000, but that's still under what NBC does for EPL games in worse timeslots.
Lutown Town secure promotion to the Premier League for the first time, and they did it so quickly their facilities didn't keep pace. Their stadium only seats 10K and doesn't meet EPL requirements.
Have not heard the explanation of how Luton Town will be able to play in the EPL when they don't meet the minimum seating requirements. Is it because the new stadium is being built?
mori wrote: ↑Sun May 28, 2023 11:33 pm
Have not heard the explanation of how Luton Town will be able to play in the EPL when they don't meet the minimum seating requirements. Is it because the new stadium is being built?
They actually did the research last season when they almost qualified and have a £10 million renovation ready to go. Hopefully it will be ready in time. I'm glad they're not changing the entrance gate to the visitor's stand, it's so classic.
As an aside, Bournemouth's stadium only seats a little over 11,000 and they've been in and out of the EPL for the past 10 years. They're still not sure when they're even going to upgrade. Oddly the EPL only requires a 5,000-seat stadium.
mori wrote: ↑Sun May 28, 2023 11:33 pm
Have not heard the explanation of how Luton Town will be able to play in the EPL when they don't meet the minimum seating requirements. Is it because the new stadium is being built?
I think the plan is to share a stadium although the fans and management don't like it. I don't see what other choice they have.
DOS=HIGH wrote: ↑Sun May 28, 2023 11:48 pm
As an aside, Bournemouth's stadium only seats a little over 11,000 and they've been in and out of the EPL for the past 10 years. They're still not sure when they're even going to upgrade. Oddly the EPL only requires a 5,000-seat stadium.
I think it's mostly the broadcasting facilities that are the obstacle. That seems solvable before next season starts.
This is such a beautiful team goal, from the Women's World Cup today. Yesterday? It's being played on the other side of the world and time zones are confusing.
AWS260 wrote: ↑Mon Jul 24, 2023 10:15 pm
This is such a beautiful team goal, from the Women's World Cup today. Yesterday? It's being played on the other side of the world and time zones are confusing.
Amazing
When darkness veils the world, four Warriors of Light shall come.
Meanwhile, the final decision from the referees eliminated the USA from the competition in the earliest ouster from the tournament in program history. The Americans had always finished third or better in all eight previous editions.
" Hey OP, listen to my advice alright." -Tha General "No scientific discovery is named after its original discoverer." -Stigler's Law of Eponymy, discovered by Robert K. Merton MYT
That's pretty painful. This World Cup was clearly a changing of the guard, and if anything, the old guard let down the youngsters. I'll take solace in the fact that we have amazing talent to lead the charge next time around. I just wish they didn't have to wait.
With the Premier League starting back up, I am reminded that NBC's game highlights on YouTube are head-and-shoulders above any other networks'. Fox and others are better than they used to be - they don't cut off commentators mid-sentence nearly as much - but NBC is still the only network that reliably shows the build-up (when the build-up matters) and gives their clips time to breathe.
AWS260 wrote: ↑Sun Aug 06, 2023 11:26 am
That's pretty painful. This World Cup was clearly a changing of the guard, and if anything, the old guard let down the youngsters. I'll take solace in the fact that we have amazing talent to lead the charge next time around. I just wish they didn't have to wait.
Not that long for the new guard to take to the world stage again since the 2024 Olympics will be here before you know it. So the youngins will get a chance to shake off the loss, learn from their World Cup experience and go to Paris hungry for the gold.
Black lives matter!
Wise words of warning from Smoove B: Oh, how you all laughed when I warned you about the semen. Well, who's laughing now?
AWS260 wrote: ↑Sat Aug 12, 2023 3:20 pm
With the Premier League starting back up, I am reminded that NBC's game highlights on YouTube are head-and-shoulders above any other networks'. Fox and others are better than they used to be - they don't cut off commentators mid-sentence nearly as much - but NBC is still the only network that reliably shows the build-up (when the build-up matters) and gives their clips time to breathe.
Bang on. I've been spoiled for any other broadcaster. I was watching one today and forgot I was watching a highlight clip. They are on average about 4-5 minutes longer, but well worth it.
Also, after watching a lot of other broadcasts, I really appreciate their commentator team.
It feels like the era of U.S. dominance in women's soccer is really and truly over. We've fallen short in past World Cups, but it always felt like a temporary setback. Parity is here.
Women's teams continue to be unconscionably neglected almost everywhere. The hardships faced by players in countries like Nigeria, Spain, and Colombia is disheartening. Hopefully the media coverage of it during the Cup will lead to change.
Jürgen Klopp blamed fatigue for his bombshell decision to stand down as Liverpool manager after almost nine years in the job and insisted nothing could make him U-turn like Sir Alex Ferguson did at Manchester United.
Hell of a debut.
