Footiebusiness

Big weekend of soccer in the U.S. with World Cup Qualifying and the MLS playoff chase. While the big media story of the USA/Honduras match was the limited opportunity to view the game on televsion, other media stories emerged from the Saturday night match.  First, kudos to ESPN for its almost real-time coverage of the USA match during its Sports Center broadcast.  Seemingly within seconds of a big play in the game, ESPN would provide highlights and commentary of the play.  Similar coverage was provided by ESPN2 and other ESPN outlets.  This provided national coverage of the US qualifiying and probably put more eyeballs on the actual qualification than would have been had the game been televised by ESPN2.

Not to be outdone, FSC provided regular updates during their broadcast of the T&T/Costa Rica match.  The FSC team was aware of the extreme interest in the game among their viewing audience.  Plenty of people were home watching the FSC game while scanning the internet for chat’s about the game.  The FSC coverage provided regular updates for that group that did not have access to tv coverage of the game.

Another emerging theme was the prevalance of internet streams for games that are difficult to find on American television.  Fans across the country were hopping the internet to find streams of either the Honduran broadcast, the closed circuit broadcast or other video of the game.  Multiple websites were regurlarly providing links to new streams as existing streams were shutting down. Similar streams are typically available for EPL and other foreign broadcasts.  Without comment on the legality of this pracitce, suffice to say such streams are prevalent and have significantly altered the landscape for the availability of soccer in American homes.

In MLS play, there were a number of games with playoff implications.  In New England, just over 13k were in attendance for the Revs’ 1-0 loss to Columbus.  This is a low number, especially when considering the large number of high school players in the stands as part of high school socer night.  Toronto had a typically good crowd for its heartbreaking draw with San Jose.  Just about 13k were at the Home Depot Center for Chivas’ playoff clinching win.

As we are still travelling, here are a few quick business hits.  A modified MLS salary list has been released and posted by the MLS Players’ Union.  The list is a fun and informative read, especially this late in the season, as it allows you to compare production to income.  Moreover, it allows you to compare the various teams’ salary numbers in relation to the salary cap.  TFC and the Galxy are well over the “soft” $2.3 million cap, while teams like RSL and New York are below the cap.

There are now reports that David Beckham is again looking to head to AC Milan via a loan deal.  This is not surprising, however the fact that he is looking for a loan rather than considering a buy out of his contract, suggests that he is planning on playing the last two years of his deal in LA.  This alos suggests that the much maligned negotiation efforts of MLS and the Galaxy last Spring may have had their desired effect.

ESPN2 finally got back into the MLS television business on Friday with the much anticipated Beckham/Blanco match in L.A.  Blanco din’t play, but ESPN again struggled to get to MLS broadcast in time thanks to a long running football game. Attendance wise, the game drew 21,600 which is good for the Galaxy this year, but disappointing given the matchup.  As a business note, the Galaxy are now very close to a playoff birth which could bode well for television ratings and playoff attendance.

One final note.  Soccer stadium naming deals are notoriously subject to the marketplace, and with new MLS stadiums coming on line in the next couple of years and other naming rights deals coming due, it will be important to monitor the League’s ability to secure these deals.  In Jacksonville and Dallas, NFL teams are without stadium naming rights deals.  While MLS teams will likely look for less money, than teams in NFL, the current market may make securing such deals challenging.

Due to some unfortunate personal scheduling quirks over the next few days, posts will be a bit irregular for a short while.  We do however, recommend that you check out some of the following:

Pitch Invasion has been runing a great series through the pen of former Fire GM Peter Wilt.  There are some great business bits here about building a team and sustaining excellence in the salary cap world of MLS.

We have written about Red Bull Arena, a great deal over the last few months.   The always top notch duNord has a link to a photo journal about season ticket selection inside the not yet completed Red Bull Arena.

We are typically a US-centric site, but this story from England has some significant soccer business impact.   The Chief Executive says he will keep fighting the good fight, but it is fairly remarkable that an EPL side has no money and can’t afford to pay its players.

ESPN2 returns to the MLS broadcast fold this weekend with the Beckham/Blanco tilt at the Home Depot on Friday night.  On Saturday, FSC gets the worst game of the weekend when the Quakes host the Red Bulls.

As always, for an intelligent look at sports and law, we recommend Connecticut Sports Law.