No soccer channel for MLS

That's Fox Soccer Channel, or FSC. Reportedly, MLS is asking for $20 million from FSC for broadcasting rights. It's a seven-fold increase of the current contract of $3 million. At the moment, ESPN pays $8.5 million, with Univision as the Spanish language outlet for the domestic league. Is this a realistic request by MLS?

I'm no economist, but let's face a few facts: MLS isn't topping many ratings. The average number of televisions tuned to FSC games is 53,000, usually on Saturdays. Compare that with the much more highly rated Barclay's Premier League and the UEFA Champions League. Meanwhile, ESPN has a 200,000+ average viewing of MLS prime time matches. Now, I'm not saying that FSC should drop the league altogether or switch to the Fox Sports World theme (Fox Soccer Plus already does this). All I'm saying is that MLS should stick with what it has with FSC and, maybe, just adjust for inflation.

The ultimate losers for the falling out between MLS and FSC are the fans. Even if the ratings are paltry in comparison to games in other networks or other leagues in FSC, having the games on national television is hugely important. What happens when the soccer-specific channel in the United States won't even show the domestic league? Doesn't it make the league and US soccer look silly? How is the MLS supposed to be a more competitive league when less games are on TV? Does the league lose respect? players? fans?

This is an important moment for the sport in this nation. US soccer is coming out of an impressive World Cup and American players are increasingly better regarded by top leagues. The soccer nation continues to build its fan base in this country. Switching to other leagues during the prime time hours during the weekend (Mexico, Brazil, Argentina) only signifies loss of respect for the domestic league. And it means less fans even as MLS expands into the Pacific Northwest, Canada, and possibly by adding a second team in New York.

This is a disappointing turn of events, yes. But there is still another month before the start of MLS 2011. Hopefully we will see Charlie Davies scoring on FSC this year when other networks are unable to carry the game. It's worth it, MLS.

Access to soccer in America

Admit it. If you like soccer in this country you are limited to what ESPN has to offer (1 semi-weekly MLS game and an EPL game on Saturday mornings). That's with basic cable. Otherwise it's airwaves, and you better hope your MLS team is local or you like the Mexican league. That is, as long as either Telemundo or Univision/Telefutura are available. Granted, select Concacaf Champions League games are also available on Telefutura, mostly when Mexican teams are involved. There are also sporadic Uefa Champions League games on the Fox Sports Network.

But what about the national team? USA usually plays on ESPN for the qualifiers and international friendlies. You can also catch the Mexican national team if it's a friendly on Telemundo (they hold the rights to games abroad). Univsion usually carries the Mexico-USA qualifier clash. The only other time is during the World Cup. Euro games are also shown on ESPN networks (and occasionally on ABC). Univision has rights to the Gold Cup and Copa America.

So if you want to view European soccer beyond the one Saturday morning Premier League match, then you have to spend some money to get digital cable or satellite TV. Usually, at least for cable, Fox Soccer Channel is included in the digital package. For Direct TV, depending on where you are, it may cost extra. Having FSC gives you at least 3 live EPL games and 1 or 2 Italian Serie A matches. More importantly, The UEFA Champions League is shown on this channel, along with MLS-participating Concacaf Champions League games. It also gives you their weekly MLS game along with select women's games (WPS) and NCAA (men's and women's). That's enough to keep some, if not most, satisfied.

If one wants to venture out past FSC, then you better hope your region includes ESPN Deportes as a standard channel (New York, LA possibly?). Otherwise it will cost you extra. For Time Warner it comes at $3 per month. It may be more with other cable companies (Comcast may be up to $15 per month). Included in this channel are German Bundesliga, Dutch Eridivisie and Spanish Primera. This usually means you are getting the "Latino" package. Fortunately for you, choosing this option also gives you access to two additional networks: GoalTV and Fox Sports en Espanol. With GolTV there is more Spanish Primera, as well as Brazilian and Colombian football. Select World Cup qualifiers will also play in this channel as well as on ESPN Deportes. FSE provides access to the Copa Libertadores, Copa Sudamericana, and complementary UCL games.

One additional network is the recent addition Fox Soccer Plus. Not in cable companies in most markets but it is included in the sports package with Direct TV.

We now arrive at the internet. Fortunately for some of us that dwell in academia, .edu domains give access to espn3.com. There you can catch pretty much all the action on the ESPN networks. It is also available for Comcast customers. Such is the case in Oregon. But what about Fox? Well, if you're like myself (and many others), then watching the Champions League (UEFA) requires an investment. But don't fret yet. There is always streaming (often unreliable peer-to-peer) video. Until Fox chooses to follow espn3, most internet-savvy soccer fans will access it through other means. It's silly, really. If they keep advertisements going within an online. portal it will only give Fox Soccer more attention throughout America.

Hopefully this summary will help some folks out. I will not give away streaming video addresses through here but you can always search for them or follow online threads. Enjoy soccer, America. Plenty of it if you know where to look.