Major League Soccer 2017

[mistercorporate]

That's a known article, and poorly informed hack job. I love how the league shirt sponsorship is not even mentioned (bigger than the tv contract and the club shirt sponsorships combined).

[cjones2451]

Originally Posted by mistercorporate

That's a known article, and poorly informed hack job. I love how the league shirt sponsorship is not even mentioned (bigger than the tv contract and the club shirt sponsorships combined).

Its a huge deal ($700 M over 7 years I believe) but that is still only $4-5 M per team, so it is way better than it ever has been, it is no where near what TV revenue is for other leagues

[mistercorporate]

Originally Posted by cjones2451

Its a huge deal ($700 M over 7 years I believe) but that is still only $4-5 M per team, so it is way better than it ever has been, it is no where near what TV revenue is for other leagues

But the fact the recent T-shirt deal exploded in size, and the last TV deal exploded in size, shows that sponsors are quite keen on the product. I absolutely guarantee the next TV deal will be an order of magnitude greater than the current one. All my MLS predictions when it comes to the league, TFC and stadiums have been proven accurate so far (can't always predict a scoreline though, so I avoid that altogether), despite the flack I get from the doubters.

[Nite]

Originally Posted by cjones2451

Its a huge deal ($700 M over 7 years I believe) but that is still only $4-5 M per team, so it is way better than it ever has been, it is no where near what TV revenue is for other leagues

700 million over 5 years or $117 million a year ~ 5 million per team per year.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by cjones2451

Its a huge deal ($700 M over 7 years I believe) but that is still only $4-5 M per team, so it is way better than it ever has been, it is no where near what TV revenue is for other leagues

MLS just signed a jersey deal with Adidas which is worth more per season than the NHL's new jersey deal with fewer teams to share the revenue. That's where the money is going to be - not in TV.

Target just this year bailed out of IndyCar and put all of its sport sponsorship focus into the MLS and the Minnesota franchise. There's been tremendous sponsorship growth over the past few seasons.

I could nitpick at that deadspin article for hours but it's hardly worth the time or effort given how little actual research was put into it originally.

[FrankieFlowerpot]

Originally Posted by TorontoDrew

The TFC killed it this season.

It's TFC or Toronto FC. No need for "The"

[FrankieFlowerpot]

Nike paid the NBA $1BN for an 8 year uniform deal. MLS deal is on a par with that.

[cjones2451]

Originally Posted by JHikka

MLS just signed a jersey deal with Adidas which is worth more per season than the NHL's new jersey deal with fewer teams to share the revenue. That's where the money is going to be - not in TV.

Not so fast.....

The NBA gets $2.6B per year and the NFL is close to $7B - the jersey deals are chump change in that respect, but will change over the long haul as TV viewing changes from major networks etc.

MLS deal with FOX, ESPN, Univision is $90M per year

I am a big Whitecaps and MLS fan but there is a long way to go.....

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by cjones2451

Not so fast.....

The NBA gets $2.6B per year and the NFL is close to $7B - the jersey deals are chump change in that respect, but will change over the long haul as TV viewing changes from major networks etc.

MLS deal with FOX, ESPN, Univision is $90M per year

I am a big Whitecaps and MLS fan but there is a long way to go.....

That $90M deal is still triple the value of the previous deal. Triple it again and it passes the NHL's deal. Their viewership is roughly half the NHL's but has been increasing at a steadier rate.

I think TV revenue and rights deals have hit a plateau. The NFL, EPL etc. have just signed giant deals but I don't know where they go beyond that. There simply isn't the advertising return on many of the agreements to quantify the amounts paid out for rights.

Future revenue is going to be increasingly dependent on jersey, sponsorship, and other ad revenue IMO. I don't really think there's any growth left in traditional OTA TV deals or viewership. MLS franchise valuation is increasing something like 20% year over year. Expansion fees have increased 275% in five years. Average revenue per team passed leagues in Japan, Turkey, and most importantly Mexico and the new Adidas deal won't even kick in until further down the line. With a dozen cities clamouring for franchises there's only more room for growth, and that snowballs ad and sponsorship revenue over the long term whilst also providing for additional TV markets.

Unlike the other big 4 the MLS is in a position to add ten more teams if they so desire.

[mistercorporate]

Supporters Shield clinched, top seed in the playoffs, time for the treble!

[Acajack]

Still with that article I actually like MLS but there at least some truth in there. The idea that some Canadians think they are "trading up" by getting excited about MLS (as opposed to say the CFL) is quite comical though.

[mistercorporate]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Still with that article I actually like MLS but there at least some truth in there. The idea that some Canadians think they are "trading up" by getting excited about MLS (as opposed to say the CFL) is quite comical though.

Look, I've tried to be diplomatic by not saying what I really think, since many of you are so emotionally wedded to the CFL. However, as an urban Canadian below the age of 50, heck below the age of 40, I simply have nothing in common with most CFL fans and alienated from the "entertainment product" they put out. Watching a game that drags on forever with very little action and with hokey Americana like marching bands and weird ghetto players and sitting in the stands talking to Rob Ford types with overalls and blue mullets (that may have been cool in the 80's but it just weirds out anyone my age) is unappealing at best. That sh@t may fly in Regina and ex-urban Ottawa, but Regina and Aylmer are still stuck in 1985, like most of rural Canada.

MLS in 2017 is not about trading up, it's just a more fun product and subculture. This is coming from someone who played CFL style football recreationally in elementary school and represented my highschool at the senior team level to a winning record. If the CFL wants a hope in hell with young people in our big cities then it needs to rid itself of all the waiting around (I dont recall wasting so much time in my playing days in bloody highschool) and stop trying to recreate Baltimore or Atlanta in Canada. To which someone might say, we're trying to recreate Barcelona up here, which is quite disingenious since Barcelona destroys Baltimore, heck Timmins even destroys Baltimore.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by mistercorporate

Watching a game that drags on forever with very little action and with hokey Americana like marching bands and weird ghetto players and sitting in the stands talking to Rob Ford types with overalls and blue mullets (that may have been cool in the 80's but it just weirds out anyone my age) is unappealing at best. That sh@t may fly in Regina and ex-urban Ottawa, but Regina and Aylmer are still stuck in 1985, like most of rural Canada.

Like the guy at RPB said "It's shit like this is why everyone hates us." Frankly the ROC can't understand the wannabe culture of Toronto that is so 1980s. The ROC has outgrown Toronto.

As for your description I have no idea what you're talking about but it might explain some of the inaccuracies and reveries that you post. Some sort of drug fueled flashback? Ghetto players? WTF?

[mistercorporate]

Originally Posted by elly63

Like the guy at RPB said "It's shit like that is why everyone hates us." Frankly the ROC can't understand the wannabe culture of Toronto that is so 1980s. The ROC has outgrown Toronto.

As for your description I have no idea what you're talking about but it might explain some of the inaccuracies and reveries that you post. Some sort of drug fueled flashback? Ghetto players? WTF?

I don't expect you to know what I'm talking about, people like you are part of the problem. From the looks of things it's not just a Toronto thing, Toronto may not give a damn but Vancouver and Montreal are losing interest relative to another league. Of course, you're free to disagree with your usual bluster, trying to score points online instead of humbly accepting criticism and working to save the league which is clearly showing signs of shakiness.

[Acajack]

Obviously people are free to like what they want but the debate over whether the CFL is worth paying attention to (usually involving the NFL and not MLS) is just fraught with so many lame excuses and opinions.

I don't disagree that CFL fans sometimes guilt trip people who aren't into the league but one can't blame them when you look at how much effort has gone in to trying to kill the league - often by pretty powerful people.

As I often mention, I don't like basketball. But I don't go on basketball threads or forums saying that the NBA sucks.

The CFL is basically the only league that gets this type of hostility directed towards it. Which is totally undeserved and over the top as it's hardly shoved down people's throats as a product. If anything its visibiity is lower than its actual popularity.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by mistercorporate

I don't expect you to know what I'm talking about, people like you are part of the problem. From the looks of things it's not just a Toronto thing, Toronto may not give a damn but Vancouver and Montreal are losing interest relative to another league. Of course, you're free to disagree with your usual bluster, trying to score points online instead of humbly accepting criticism and working to save the league which is clearly showing signs of shakiness.

No one knows what you are talking about because what you said was just your usual obvious Western hate garbage, obvious to me and I'm not even from the west. Little Regina builds a better stadium than giant Toronto and outdraws the precious TFC, does that rankle you?

The CFL isn't losing fans to MLS, it's just losing fans in those cities which have been notoriously cyclical, for other reasons.

And I do work to save the league by posting positive stories to counter those who reprehensibly want to kill a Canadian league in the vain hope that it will put MLS or should I say TFC in the ascendancy.

I will give TFC all the credit in the world for knowing their audience and marketing to them. But that fanbase doesn't stretch too far beyond the stadium. Only having the three teams limits it's cross Canada appeal to basically the three cities themselves. It's not like hockey in the 70s where they had a long history to sustain having only three teams and having a national fan base.

And while I hope for the CPL to come to fruition, the present scenario you posted in another thread isn't accurate.

[Berklon]

Originally Posted by elly63

The CFL isn't losing fans to MLS, it's just losing fans in those cities which have been notoriously cyclical, for other reasons.

I'm sure they're losing some fans to MLS - I suspect that's happening more in Montreal though than Vancouver and Toronto. I think the NFL is the big culprit. While ratings have dropped in the US last year, they increased in Canada. I have friends and colleagues in Vancouver who've told me the NFL is building a bigger fan base there.

The Seahawks are well aware of it and are marketing hard in BC. It's resulted in a lot of Canadians invading Seahawks games. In fact, on Oct. 18th the Seahawks are saluting them by having a "Canada Day" and will play the Canadian anthem.

[FrankieFlowerpot]

Let's just enjoy TFC being the best team in the regular season in this thread.

Let the haters bitch in other threads.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by Berklon

I'm sure they're losing some fans to MLS - I suspect that's happening more in Montreal though than Vancouver and Toronto. I think the NFL is the big culprit. While ratings have dropped in the US last year, they increased in Canada. I have friends and colleagues in Vancouver who've told me the NFL is building a bigger fan base there.

The Seahawks are well aware of it and are marketing hard in BC. It's resulted in a lot of Canadians invading Seahawks games. In fact, on Oct. 18th the Seahawks are saluting them by having a "Canada Day" and will play the Canadian anthem.

I definitely agree with the Vancouver scenario although I think the Braley "non ownership" certainly isn't helping. If the rumored off season sale to Canucks Sports & Entertainment goes through hopefully the synergies of being involved with them will help reverse the trend.

As for Montreal I don't see them losing fans to MLS at all. Football is still riding a resurgence in Quebec and Montreal loves a winner. The team has struggled since Calvillo and we have read at times of Joey Saputo's own struggles keeping the Impact healthy.

[JHikka]

This forum has both a CFL thread and an MLS thread.

For any discussion on leagues and their place in Canada I would recommend the Marketing/Branding thread or perhaps even the Sports Culture thread. Back-and-forth bickering over personalities and fights won't be tolerated. Try to keep threads on topic. Thanks.