Quick thoughts on new MLS and US Soccer TV broadcast deal

Major League Soccer has a new TV broadcast deal! This is fantastic news and is just another sign of the League's consistent progress since inception. Hats off to Commissioner Garber and to the networks for making this deal happen. For a much more detailed look at the new deal, please see Josie Becker's article on our home page, or just click here...

(http://www.lagconfidential.com/2014/5/12/5710432/mls-us-soccer-announce-tv-broadcast-deal-espn-fox-sports-univision)

After reading this piece and a few others, here are a few little details that are interesting:

1)    Any time you increase a revenue stream by 200%, (approximately) its good. I understand that critics could say that it should have increased by more, but I think a 200% increase is pretty fantastic!

2)    While the new deal might pale in comparison to some of the deals other sports leagues in the United States have and will soon get, many of our LAG Confidential readers have pointed out it is really unfair to compare Major League Soccer to the other leagues in terms of TV broadcast deals...for now. Progress is progress and MLS just continues to steadily build in the right direction.

3)    You mad that a franchise as poorly run as Chivas USA gets a slice of this sweet, sweet pie!? Here's some food for thought:

• MLS purchases Chivas USA for "market price" BEFORE new TV deal is done
• MLS announces new TV deal worth $90 million a year
• POTENTIALLY: MLS sells Chivas USA to new owners at now substantially increased "market price." Not a bad bit of business there aye?

4)    Consistency will be nice; Friday evening games at 4 PM or 8 PM(that's 7 PM and 11 PM for the other coast) on the Univision networks and Sunday games at 2 and 4 PM (that's 5 PM and 7 PM EST) on Fox/ESPN are nice little time slots to lock into. I could get used to MLS broadcasts being a more certain part of my weekend schedule.

5)    Another angle to look at, what other sporting events on t.v. will MLS compete with?

• March - June: Early MLB regular season; NBA and NHL (regular season and post-season)
• June - August: Really only the dog days of baseball (*Also International soccer!)
• August - October: This is where football starts to kick in, NCAA and NFL

This is all well and good until MLS does something like...switch to the European schedule (August - May). Honestly though, with the Friday and Sunday time slots for national broadcasts, I'd say this is a fairly nice time to slot into. I think viewership should definitely increase

6)    As many have discussed and mentioned, the increase in revenue should translate to an increase in the salary cap, which, in theory means a higher caliber of talent on the field. And wouldn't you know it, the current Collective Bargaining Agreement expires at the end of the 2014 season. Look for the increased t.v. broadcast revenue to be a pretty major part of the negotiations.

What are you guys looking forward to most about the new deal?