MLS Playoffs Not Good Enough for National Television Spot

Live MLS Playoff games are apparently not always important enough to be aired on national television.

If a Major League Soccer Playoff match isn’t shown live on national television, does it really happen?

Of course it does, even if it went unwatched by the majority of sports fans living in the United States.

The tradition that is MLS having what is largely a useless national television contract outside of the checks cashing (I’m assuming they do, but I don’t work in the MLS front office, so…) continued on Wednesday evening when the one-and-done FC Dallas vs. Vancouver Whitecaps playoff contest did not air on any of the ESPN of NBC families of networks. NBC has, to the company’s credit, recently been better about trying to expose the North American top-flight to a maximum number of viewers. ESPN, on the other hand, continues to treat MLS as filler programming, such as when the Worldwide Leader airs live matches at the same time that Sunday Night Football games are being featured on NBC.

No weeknight MLS Playoff game is going to air on ABC or NBC. No reasonable person expects otherwise. That not a single ESPN or NBC property could pick last night’s match up offered yet another reminder of how

little

much those entities view and treat MLS programming.

Both ESPN and NBC Sports Network had better options on Wednesday evening. ESPN aired the Chicago Bulls at the New York Knicks, the NBA regular season debuts for both of those clubs. NBC Sports showed the Detroit Red Wings take on the Washington Capitals, the channel’s weekly Wednesday night NHL fixture.

There was still plenty of room for the MLS match to be aired on some station.

ESPN has relegated live sporting events to ESPNews in the past. That station showed editions of SportsCenter from 9 pm up until 11 pm ET when the Dallas vs. Vancouver match occurred. ESPNU aired Tennessee at Kentucky women’s college volleyball. ESPN2 broadcast three, count ’em, three hours of NBA Coast to Coast, the live look-in program that includes analysis of on-going NBA games.

Oct 19, 2014; Carson, CA, USA; Los Angeles Galaxy forward Robbie Keane (7) during pre-game warmups before the Los Angeles Galaxy match against the Seattle Sounders FC at StubHub Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports

NBC could have stepped up and saved the day for MLS fans looking to watch some playoff action on television. CNBC aired a Shark Tank rerun and then “The Filthy Rich Guide to Supercars and Private Jets.” MSNBC went with The Rachel Maddow Show and The Last Word With Lawrence O’Donnell. USA channel showed NCIS reruns all evening.

Univision? Nothing. Univision Deportes? Nada. No help from Galavision, Mun2, or any other television option was to be found for MLS fans on Wednesday.

Not everybody in North America was shut out. Those up north were able to view the match live via TSN1. The match was also available in the Dallas region.

It wasn’t all bad, though. You could have paid over $18 to watch a stream of the game via MLS Live. What a bargain!

A Dallas vs. Vancouver club soccer match wouldn’t have drawn a massive television rating. Casual sports fans in the US couldn’t name a single player who features for either team.

That is neither here nor there.

Professional sports leagues utilize national TV spots as advertisements. Such programming slots make it easy for diehards to locate and follow a product like MLS, and the airtime also (hopefully) attracts attention from some non-fans who are flipping channels because they aren’t interested in watching Game 7 of the World Series, the NBA or the latest crime drama airing on CBS.

Somewhat ironic in this scenario is that the MLS Playoffs exist as they do because there is a hope that the drama that comes with any sports tournament will draw in some viewers who otherwise wouldn’t pay attention to soccer other than once every four years.

Soccer fans who believe that the MLS champion should be decided by the regular season table similar to what occurs in soccer leagues found in England, Spain, Italy and other countries fail to realize/remember that North American sports fans love tournaments. It’s the reason that the NCAA Tournament will (allegedly) one day expand to over 100 teams. It’s why the NFL Playoffs, which are perfect as they are, will soon include more teams than the amount that qualify under the current system.

Remember this past summer during the 2014 FIFA World Cup when the United States Men’s National Team was its country’s most beloved squad, when millions of people were tuning in to watch live soccer games, and when the sport had finally “made it” in the US? Name another top sports league in the country that would have a playoff game not shown on at least cable television.

Soccer hasn’t made it yet. Not even close.

MLS having lousy television deals continues to hold the league and US club soccer back. Matches airing on FOX Sports 2 in 2015, if that does indeed happen, won’t help matters.

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