MLS' new eight-year media rights deals with ESPN, Fox and Univision will "bring in far more revenue and lead to a consistent, streamlined television schedule," according to Ourand & Botta of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. The agreements, which will be formally announced today, are "priced five times higher than the average annual value of the league's current media deals." ESPN and Fox are paying a combined average of $75M for "English-language rights to MLS and U.S. Soccer matches over the next eight years." MLS also "signed a Spanish-language deal with Univision" for an average of $15M per year. The combined average rights fee of $90M per year "represents a stark increase" from the $18M annual average the league "receives in its current deals with ESPN, NBC and Univision," which expire after this season. MLS Business Ventures President & Managing Dir Gary Stevenson said of scheduling, "We have games this season on six different days with 21 different start times. That needed to change. We also wanted our matches to be on TV when kids who play soccer could watch them." ESPN Senior VP/Programming Scott Guglielmino said, "While national ratings have been something that hasn’t been going in the right direction over the last couple of years, we still believe in MLS." FS1 GM & COO David Nathanson said, "It’s definitely a growth proposition. The packages are stronger. The way we’re programming it is going to be more impactful" (
SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 5/12 issue). In N.Y., Andrew Das writes the "most important aspect of the deal for MLS and its fans could be the establishment of game-of-the-week windows on all three networks." MLS has "long craved such 'destination viewing' windows" (
N.Y. TIMES, 5/12).
