DC United Cuts Ties With FloSports After Less Than One Year

DC United and streaming partner FloSports "cut ties after less than one year, a relationship criticized from the start by fans unhappy with paying to watch games via an Internet service instead of TV and upset with technical issues that marred several matches," according to Steven Goff of the WASHINGTON POST. The deal, signed in January, was to have "run four years" and reap an estimated $12M in "local rights fees" for DC United. The separation comes three days before FloSports was "scheduled to show" DC United’s regular season finale against FC Cincinnati at Audi Field. Instead, DC United will "show the match on its website at no charge." All playoff games will "appear on MLS’s national TV platforms." Neither FloSports nor DC United "revealed the number of subscribers, who paid either $5.99 or $8.99 per month." The move to an exclusive streaming service "damaged" DC United’s "momentum in the local marketplace." The team was "largely out of sight and out of mind." It is "unclear what direction" DC United will now turn for local rights (WASHINGTON POST, 10/4).