USL Inks 3-Year Deal with FSC
TAMPA, Fla. – United Soccer Leagues is pleased to announce that it has agreed to a three-year relationship with FOX Soccer. The deal maintains FOX Soccer’s position as the exclusive national television broadcast partner of USL.
“This agreement is a major step for USL as we continue to raise the profile of our leagues and teams and maintain our longstanding relationship with FOX Soccer,” USL CEO Alec Papadakis said. “We are extremely pleased that fans of USL PRO, the PDL and the W-League will have the opportunity to watch the top teams and players in the league throughout the next three seasons.”
The new deal features regular season and postseason games from USL PRO and the championship games from the Premier Development League and W-League through 2013. FOX Soccer also continues to air the 30-minute magazine show USL Breakaway, which is now a year-round monthly program.
“We are very pleased to have secured this agreement and to remain the exclusive national television broadcast partner of USL,” FOX Soccer’s Senior Vice President for Production and Programming Dermot McQuarrie said. “USL has consistently offered a highly-competitive brand of soccer that we are excited to be able to bring to our viewers for the next three seasons.”
FOX Soccer’s 2011 coverage of the USL PRO Game of the Week begins on Saturday, June 11 as the Rochester Rhinos host their National Division rivals, the Harrisburg City Islanders. A total of 10 regular season USL PRO games are featured on Friday and Saturday nights through August 12, when the Charlotte Eagles visit the Charleston Battery in a key American Division matchup at Blackbaud Stadium to close out the regular season broadcast schedule.
2011 USL PRO on FOX Soccer Schedule (all times Eastern)
Rochester v Harrisburg Saturday, June 11 5:30 p.m.
Orlando v Wilmington Saturday, June 18 7:30 p.m.
Wilmington v Sevilla FC Puerto Rico Friday, June 24 8 p.m.
Charleston v Puerto Rico United Friday, July 1 8 p.m.
Richmond v Charlotte Friday, July 8 8 p.m.
Los Angeles v River Plate Puerto Rico Friday, July 15 11 p.m.
Orlando v Rochester Saturday, July 16 6:30 p.m.
Rochester v Pittsburgh Friday, July 22 8 p.m.
Wilmington v Dayton Friday, August 5 7 p.m.
Charleston v Charlotte Friday, August 12 8 p.m.
FOX Soccer also shows a live game from each round of the USL PRO Playoffs, including the 2011 USL PRO Championship presented by Umbro on September 3.
The USL W-League Championship presented by Umbro airs on FOX Soccer Sunday, July 31, as does the USL Premier Development League Championship presented by Umbro on August 13.
USL Breakaway, the feature show highlighting the teams and personalities throughout United Soccer Leagues, returns for its sixth consecutive season with the first episode of 2011 scheduled to air in May.
“We are going to raise the bar on the production level for our 30-minute magazine-style show, USL Breakaway, as well as our game broadcasts, providing fans with a greatly enhanced product to enjoy,” Papadakis continued. “USL Breakaway is the key avenue to showcase the players and teams that make our leagues successful and it will reach unprecedented levels during the course of the agreement.”
For the 19th consecutive season, Santa Barbara-based Cultural Global Media is handling production services for the USL, coordinating all of the 2011 USL game broadcasts on FOX Soccer. Additional details regarding this season’s package, including the match commentators and analysts, will be announced in the coming weeks.
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Any word on if NASL will get a deal like this on FSC?
Feeling a bit like a stuck record or watching the movie Ground Hogs Day, but also understanding that not everyone reads all the comments on this site, but this has been a matter of discussion 3 or 4 times in the last several weeks. Bottom line is, USL and it’s teams pay for this coverage.
If the NASL wants to pay for this I would think it would be possible as well. But I would guess it’s unlikely. Now that Downs is running the show he has said that first and foremost games in the NASL will be live streamed and after that they will most likely be looking at regional TV contracts and not national contracts.
Thanks Brian. Sorry if I asked something that you already answered elsewhere on the site but sadly I haven’t been paying much attention to things around here. I’m thinking at the very least Downs should get an 30 minute highlight show on FSC to at least help the league nationally. It might not be a huge ratings draw but I’d imagine it wouldn’t cost much to put on the air.
Just an idea that is all. Would be great tho if the Stars can get some kind of TV coverage.
I am disappointed that I can’t watch FC New York on Fox Soccer…
@Soccerboy: Strong pull, Bro. I completely slept on the fact that the “Bullslayers” are not going to be on the tizzzube (at least not on Fox).
Neither is Barracuda. The logistics obviously didn’t work out for Barracuda but the NY thing does surprise me a lot.
I would like to thank the USL for dropping a lot of coin so that me and 28 other people outside of the markets invovled can see USLPRO soccer.
I am definitely looking forward to watching the matches. I will also tune in for the W-League final and possibly the PDL final. USL Breakaway is of little interest to me unless I know that a club that I am interested in will be covered.
@yankiboy
I am going to (nothing unusual here) disagree with your assessment on why USL is doing this. First of all, for those of you not in the broadcasting business, gaining “regional” coverage in todays environment is not only not as easy as it would sound, the channel for the broadcast normally has small viewership or the broadcast is scheduled for a time that does not compete with the more lucrative, “national” shows that bring in the viewership and therefore the money.
Also, as I look at the schedule, and unless I am mistaken, it appears that the games are being matched with some MLS games, which will create larger viewership, much like all the networks do with less viewed shows that are matched with higher viewed shows. Not a bad strategy for getting the word out.
Further, D2 is supposed to be a minimum 2 time zone league, and by simple virtue of the required travel, is supposed to be more than just a “regional” league. Like MLS, it is meant to have some broader exposure, and for Downs to make regional broadcasting as a priority kind of defeats the purpose of being D2. NASL could have been D3 if they are starting to buy into the “regional” strategy.
Your point is well taken on the fact that there may be 28 people that will view this outside of the affected market, but I think the numbers USL has with FSC over the years would disagree with that assessment.
USL Breakaway, if done right, is an informational commentary on soccer throughout the US. I think this is great for soccer in the US and exposes what is going on beyond college up to MLS. Since it is going to be broadcast for a 12 month period, that is repeated exposure not normally provided US soccer. By your own statement, you stated you would watch the show if the content interested you. Multiply that by 300,000,000 US citizens, and it could get very interesting.
There are also some rumors that Davidson also wanted to be on FSC, and was rejected. I cannot confirm that at this point, but if true, it would seem that NASL wanted to be on the same path as USL on this one.