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'Landmark agreement' ABC/ESPN signs new deal for MLS, World Cup rightsPosted: Wednesday January 02, 2002 12:50 PMUpdated: Thursday January 03, 2002 11:56 AM
ATLANTA (CNNSI.com) -- Major League Soccer on Wednesday announced the details of an innovative five-year broadcast arrangement that includes the television rights of Major League Soccer and the FIFA World Cup tournaments for the next five years. Under the deal, which could help raise the sport's profile in the U.S., ABC and ESPN networks will be the broadcast home for these soccer properties through 2006. Meanwhile, MLS Commissioner Don Garber said no decision had been made on the potential elimination of teams, but he noted that the delay on a contraction decision was a "positive sign, at least for now." "We're still working on finalizing and organizing ourselves in a way that there are no changes," said Garber. "We're not at that point yet." He said an announcement would be made in the "weeks to come." $40 million to $50 millionMLS has purchased the English-language television rights in the United States for the next two FIFA World Cups (Japan/Korea 2002 and Germany 2006) from the Kirch Group, and will produce, package and sell the programming. The groundbreaking arrangement also includes the English-language domestic television rights to the 2003 Women's World Cup to be held in China. MLS reportedly paid $40 million to $50 million to buy the U.S. TV and radio rights to the three tournaments. Kirch purchased the rights from FIFA, soccer's governing body, in May. There is a sizable enough audience for soccer in the United States, even if TV ratings for MLS (about 200,000 homes per game on ESPN and 165,000 on ESPN2 this season) and WUSA (a little above 300,000 on TNT) were disappointing. The 1998 World Cup coverage on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and Univision averaged, combined, about a 4.4 national household rating. The final between France and Brazil drew the equivalent of about a 7.4 on ABC and Univision together. The numbers were even better in 1994, when the World Cup was played in the United States. Unlike in 1998, though, ESPN and ABC won't be paying upwards of US$20 million for the broadcast rights to the world's most-watched sporting event. Instead, the networks are turning over time slots to the MLS, which will sell ads and cover production costs. Most games at the 2002 World Cup start at 2:30 a.m., 5 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. EDT, with the championship game at 7 a.m. EDT on June 30. The league's weekly highlights show on ESPN2, MLS ExtraTime, will not be brought back for 2002, though Garber said it could be shopped to other broadcasters. He also noted that the cable portion of the MLS TV deal was non-exclusive and that games could be aired on other outlets. "This is a landmark agreement that combines the most valuable soccer programming in America, the World Cup and Major League Soccer," Garber said. "This arrangement provides the opportunity for cross-marketing, promotion, sales integration and strategic scheduling. It also allows us to strategically integrate Major League Soccer and its players with the most watched soccer programming on English language television in America. "We are pleased to continue our partnership with ABC and ESPN, America's soccer network, and look forward to growing the sport together on television," he added. A new company has been formed by MLS investors to manage sales, service and broadcast production for the World Cup properties. Additionally, the new company has purchased the MLS broadcast and sponsorship rights through 2006. To date, Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), the Hunt Sports Group and Dentsu, Inc. will participate as investors with new investors expected to be added in the future. The soon-to-be-named company will be headed by Garber, in addition to his responsibilities as Major League Soccer's chief executive. Garber said the company would be pursuing other soccer properties in the U.S. and abroad in a continued effort to "own soccer" in the United States. "The vision of this new company is to be one of the premier soccer organizations in the world," AEG President Tim Leiweke said. "In the near future, we intend to add to this portfolio to include other soccer-related programming and marketing rights." Hunt Sports President John Wagner, added, "Soccer in America continues to need integration and strategic management. This new company is the first step towards that goal." "Soccer has been an important part of ABC Sports' long tradition, so it is gratifying that the next three World Cups and MLS will continue to be an important part of our schedule," said ABC Sports President Howard Katz. "We look forward to the future with our partners, ESPN and Major League Soccer." World Cup rights retainedAll 2002 World Cup matches will be televised with 17 matches live on ESPN, 46 live on ESPN2 and a minimum of 9 on ABC Sports, including the live telecast of the title match from Yokohama, Japan, Sunday, June 30 at 7 a.m. ESPN and ESPN2 will re-air at least nine of the live telecasts later in the day. The United States national team will play Portugal, South Korea and Poland in the opening round of the 2002 World Cup. The 32-team tournament will take place May 31 to June 30, 2002 in South Korea and Japan. It is expected to showcase a number of MLS stars, including Clint Mathis, Landon Donovan and Jeff Agoos. ESPN/ESPN2 will also feature all U.S. men's national team first-round matches from South Korea beginning with U.S. versus Portugal on Wednesday, June 5 at 5 a.m. (ET); against home team South Korea on Monday, June 10 at 2:30 a.m. (ET); and against Poland on Friday, June 14 at 7:30 a.m. (ET). In addition to World Cup Korea/Japan 2002, ABC and ESPN will televise the Women's World Cup China 2003, featuring the defending champion U.S. women's team, and the 2006 Men's World Cup in Germany. Women's World Cup 2003 will feature the championship match live on ABC and additional games on the ESPN networks. World Cup Germany 2006 will feature a minimum of 12 matches live on ABC and additional games broadcast live on the ESPN networks. The men's World Cup continues to be the world's most-watched sporting event, as the total television audience of the 64 matches at World Cup France 1998 was estimated to be 37 billion viewers, averaging 578 million viewers per game. Two billion people watched the final between France and Brazil live, roughly one of three people in the world. The 1999 Women's World Cup final that saw the United States defeat China on penalty kicks was the highest-rated soccer match ever on U.S. network television. The U.S. and China will renew their rivalry in China at the fourth Women's World Cup from Sept. 28 to Oct. 16, 2003. MLS stays with ABC/ESPNMajor League Soccer's network broadcast schedule will feature an increase in games shown on ABC, with a minimum of three matches per season during the five-year agreement. The 2002 MLS season will include the MLS Cup, the MLS All-Star Game and an opening weekend match televised live on ABC. Other matches will be determined. In addition, 26 MLS matches will be televised on ESPN2 during the 2002 season. The "Soccer Saturday" theme returns with 22 Saturday afternoon matches at 4 p.m. ET, giving ESPN2's 82 million homes a consistent weekly time slot. The additional four MLS games will be broadcast on Thursday evenings in primetime on ESPN2. The Saturday slot puts MLS in direct competition with Women's United Soccer Association games on PAX TV. Garber was not pleased with the conflict. "I don't think it's good for soccer, but it is what it is," he said. "They were aware of this schedule before their PAX agreement was promoted." New company to be formedThe new company will immediately begin selling World Cup and MLS packages for the 2002 season and beyond. The company will utilize internal sales resources at MLS as well as sales representation agreements with some of the leading sports sales companies in the industry, including Momentum Worldwide, headed by CEO Harlan Stone; Envision, a division of Anschutz Entertainment Group, headed by Jeff Knapple and ex-ISL executive Chris Renner; and Dentsu, Inc., and a variety of their subsidiary companies in the U.S. and Japan. "The idea is for us to seek ancillary programming and ancillary marketing representation relationships in the soccer environment in this country that can help, first and foremost, to grow the interest and fan following and television ratings for Major League Soccer," Garber said. "If that's our national team, or it's the Mexican national team or it's Juventus, we will look at lots of different opportunities." With the new agreement, MLS and ABC/ESPN have formed a unique partnership in the areas of television production and sales. The two groups will work together to produce the World Cup matches while MLS will oversee advertising and sponsorship sales for the entire soccer package. ABC and the ESPN networks televised the 1994 and 1998 Men's World Cups and the 1995 and 1999 Women's World Cups. All six MLS seasons, including every MLS Cup championship match, have been televised on ABC and the ESPN networks. The combined networks -- ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC Sports -- present the most comprehensive soccer coverage in the United States, including the men's and women's World Cup, Major League Soccer, U.S. national team matches and the NCAA men's and women's soccer championships. "We are pleased to bring the next three FIFA World Cup events and Major League Soccer, America's premier league in a global sport, to soccer fans for the next several years," ESPN President George Bodenheimer said. "The World Cup is a premiere sports competition and this agreement continues our tradition of presenting the best sports to fans." Univision holds the Spanish-language TV rights in the United States and will show all the games live -- 56 on Univision (which reaches about 70 percent of U.S. TV homes) and eight on a new network it's launching in January -- with many being replayed in prime time to allow for a greater audience.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. |
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