The news of FC Cincinnati's media-rights deal with FloSports "wasn't welcomed by all fans," as some "pushed back against the deal via organized supporters' groups," according to Patrick Brennan of the CINCINNATI ENQUIRER. Fans also "took to social media" yesterday to "express their displeasure with the streaming deal." The Pride, one of the team's supporter groups, said it was "incredibly disheartened" by the agreement. Adding "fuel to the fire" was FloSports' "missteps during its streaming production" of the DC United-NYCFC broadcast on Sunday. However, linking the FC Cincinnati and DC United deals "could be a stretch." FC Cincinnati has a "track record of making broadcasts accessible, as well as a history of positive relationships with its supporters' groups" (CINCINNATI.com, 3/11).
NOT SCARED OF CHANGE: MLS Senior VP/Media Seth Bacon last week said that finding a "willing and capable broadcaster and understanding the sport's demographics are important." He said, "You really have to understand what the partner will commit to and how engaged they'll be and make sure they're the right fit for the market. We also know that -- based on research and what we've seen and who our fan base is and how they've behaved over many, many years -- offering our content in a digital-first way is not something that scares our fans or scares us as a league ... because we have a very tech-savvy, digitally-native audience." SPORT TECHIE's Joe Lemire noted FC Cincinnati will have a "hybrid approach" in the area, along with WSTR-TV. Bacon added, "You certainly have to pay extra attention when it comes to expansion teams, and luckily we have an unbelievably engaged and motivated ownership group and management team in Cincinnati who really knew the market, knew what was best and said, 'Let's focus on this linear piece, but super-serve the fans in the broader area by making this partnership with Flo'" (SPORTTECHIE.com, 3/11).
