Quotesheet
MLS, Fox Sports World discuss TV deal
Posted: Tuesday April 01, 2003 7:08 PM
In a teleconference call held Tuesday, MLS and Fox Sports
World/Fox Sports en Espanol executives discussed a new four-year
partnership between the two. The first live MLS regular season broadcast
on the network will feature D.C. United and the Kansas City Wizards on
April 12 at 8 p.m. ET, followed by a new weekly MLS highlight
show "MLS Wrap."
Today’s guests:
Major League Soccer Chief Operating Officer- Mark Abbott
Fox Sports World/Fox Sports en Espanol Senior VP & GM
- David Sternberg
Major League Soccer Executive Producer - Michael Cohen
Fox Sports International Vice President Production/Programming
- Dermot McQuarrie
DAVID STERNBERG OPENING COMMENTS:
“This is an extremely important milestone announcement for our networks.
Since launching in Nov. 1997, Fox Sports World has been home to some of
the greatest soccer leagues, tournaments and competitions in the world:
the English Premier league, the German Bundesliga, Spain’s La Liga,
Argentine and Brazilian soccer from Latin America, the Scottish Premier
League and the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Our mission is to continue growing
our network. And to broaden its platform and appeal for the United States
soccer fan and truly make this a global sports network we’re announcing
today that we have added the American professional soccer league (MLS)
to our international roster of top-flight competition.
“I am very please to announce that Fox Sports International and
Major League Soccer have signed a four-year agreement that includes the
following programs: a minimum of 25 regular season MLS games airing Saturday
nights across the country on Fox Sports World; a minimum of eight postseason
games each year also airing on Fox Sports World; the production of a weekly
one hour highlight show - MLS Wrap - on Fox Sports World which will air
at midnight eastern time throughout the duration of the MLS season. We
will also be airing a Game of the Week on our Spanish-language cable sports
network, Fox Sports en Espanol - La MLS en Fox Sports en Espanol. The
first game that we will air under this arrangement will be next Saturday,
April 12 at 8:00PM ET pitting D.C. United against the Kansas City Wizards.
This match will launch Saturday night soccer on Fox Sports World. With
the exception of a few matches during the season most matches will air
on Saturday nights beginning at 7:30PM ET.
“We believe that adding MLS to the outstanding roster of worldwide
soccer on these two networks will generate tons of excitement for American
soccer fans across the country and on our affiliated Fox sports networks
in Latin American and the Middle East. No other sports network in the
U.S. offers more consistent year-round coverage of the world’s favorite
sport than Fox Sports World and that will only continue as we add MLS
to our programming lineup. And I’m very pleased that we will be
there for a long, long time.”
MARK ABBOTT OPENING COMMENTS:
“On a personal note I would say on behalf of myself and all of those
who work at the League office that we are tremendously excited to be affiliated
with Fox Sports International because it is our favorite channel in the
office. So much of what we have on during the day are these great matches
brought to us by Fox Sports and we’re thrilled to be a part of that
and see our product up on the channel that we spend time watching ourselves.
“We have achieved through this agreement three major objectives.
The first is that over the past several seasons we have been attempting
to do all we can do to tighten and further the connection between our
League and the hardcore soccer fan in the U.S. and we believe that by
broadcasting a Game of the Week on Fox Sports World and Fox Sports en
Espanol, we’re furthering that objective. Those people who are great
fans of the sport and fans of the channel know that it is the destination
viewing point for soccer fans and in order to help us further reach those
fans we are going to be part of that distribution channel.
“The second is that it allows us to revive a weekly highlight show
which is something we have not had for a few years and we’ve seen
from our fans a lot of demand for such a show. We believe that it will
provide them an opportunity to experience what’s going on around
the League on a weekly basis and we think that this will further enhance
the connection with our fan base.
“And lastly it achieves a very important objective of having a
national Spanish language television partner on Fox Sports en Espanol.
Last year we did not have a Spanish language broadcaster and it was an
important objective of ours to achieve an agreement with one and as part
of this we have done this. That’s a very important component of
what we’ve done here with Fox Sports International and allowing
us to reach that very important fan base.
“Those are our objectives. We have a long-term agreement that will
run for four years. We believe that this is going to be a great benefit
to the channel, our League and to soccer fans across the United States.”
DERMOT MCQUARRIE OPENING COMMENTS:
“First I’d like to say that I’m delighted that MLS is
going to be broadcast by Fox Sports World and Fox Sports en Espanol. We
now have a home team and now we will give it Fox attitude as we always
do. To tell you something about the games, they will be mainly broadcast
live starting at 7:30PM ET on a Saturday night. The games are due to be
completed by around 9:30 and from 9:30 to 10:00 we will then show the
highlights of those games that are finished and we will also have live
look-ins at games that are still being played.
“Then at midnight ET every Saturday night we’ll have a program
called MLS Wrap. This is a one-hour highlight show which will feature
the latest news from MLS, it will feature highlights and analysis of all
the games and it will also have a great deal of interactivity with the
public. There will be the Goal of the Week, the MVP of the Week, the Play
of the Week, the MVP and Play of the Month. We’ll be working through
our web site for people to give us their vote on the Play and Goal of
the Month. We will also have an item that will be called Fox Populi -
the same as Vox Populi - voice of the people. Fans will be able to call
in to designated phone lines and leave a comment. I’m sure they
will all be positive comments. People will be able to e-mail directly
to the commentary booth with points and questions and also to our match
reporter who will be on site at every game - Christian Miles. He will
be able to take questions which he will then direct to players at the
end of the match. We will then also have a great deal of interactivity
and we’re very proud and very keen to show the world what we can
do with MLS. I do believe that fox Sports World is the one-stop shop for
soccer. We have some of the greatest football in the world and I’m
delighted that we’re going to now bring to Fox Sports world those
players who made America so proud during the World Cup.”
MICHAEL COHEN OPENING COMMENTS:
“We’re looking forward to working with Fox Sports World and
Fox Sports en Espanol to create additional national soccer broadcasts.
The weekly game coverage and the opportunity for a Game of the Week will
provide an opportunity for exposure for our players and also give our
fans immediate highlights, immediate access to interview, statistics and
features. We look forward to exploring new and creative opportunities
with Fox and learning more about the Fox attitude that we see in our sports
and how it applies to Major League Soccer.
STERNBERG ON THE FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENT:
“We didn’t forget to put it in the press release. The financial
arrangements are confidential. What I can tell you is that both parties
are making a pretty significant investment in this programming venture
and it’s something where we both expect there will be substantial
returns down the line. It’s certainly a bet by both MLS and Fox
Sports International that this sport will continue to grow in popularity
… The most important thing to know about the deal structure that
we’ve implemented is that there are investments by both sides and
that there are also upside opportunities for both MLS and Fox.”
“This is not a deal where MLS is paying money to Fox to get its
programming on the air. We’ve worked with MLS to make sure we get
in front of all MLS’ marketing partners and sponsors and we hope
that will be converted into significant advertising. Of course the existing
advertising base for these two channels is healthy, too. And the combination
of the two we think will drive a lot of revenue.
“Fox Sports World and Fox Sports Espanol will be responsible for
ad sales. We have an arrangement with MLS and it’s important not
to focus on the minutiae of the business deal but what the programming
opportunity is going to mean for viewers and that’s fundamentally
what we’re interested in.”
ABBOTT ON THE FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENT:
“The financial terms have not been revealed, however it is not a
time buy. But it is one that we believe will financially benefit Fox Sports
World, Fox Sports International and MLS. I would simply leave it at that.
The primary message we‘ve delivered today is that we are reaching
a core audience and getting a highlight show … SUM owns all the
television rights to MLS and SUM served as the agent on behalf of MLS
in entering into the transaction.”
STERNBERG ON TALENT TEAM:
“As to the announcers, we’re finalizing all the arrangements
right now for the on-air talent. We will be making an announcement in
the next five to seven days on who comprises the commentary teams. We
have just confirmed one very high profile MLS player whom I can’t
identify but who is transitioning out of his playing career and that we
think will bring a very unique perspective to the MLS Wrap show.”
STERNBERG ON TIME ZONE OF GAMES:
“Yes, it’s true that most of the games we’ll be taking
on Fox Sports World in this first season are coming from the Midwest and
the East Coast. That does have to do with time slots and relates to the
relatively short time frame in which we were able to conclude this arrangement.
As we go forward into future seasons we will definitely be looking to
add a wider range of venues to the programming schedule and clearly as
the new facility comes online in Los Angeles, we will take every opportunity
to showcase that.”
STERNBERG ON FOX SPORTS WORLD AUDIENCE:
“Fox Sports World is distributed in the U.S. in just under 20 million
households on cable and satellite and Fox Sports en Espanol is available
in about 5.1 million households of which roughly 45 percent are Hispanic
TV households. While those numbers are not enormous in the context of
the overall cable universe, they are very focused on the relevant audiences
and we have well over 1/3 of the Hispanic cable TV households in the country
with Espanol and we’re growing that distribution everyday. People
know that these networks are the destination for this kind of world class
soccer programming in either English or Spanish and in our expectation
that will drive very healthy audience numbers especially as our marketing
and promotional efforts kick into high gear.”
ABBOTT ON DEMOGRAPHICS OF FOX SPORTS WORLD:
“We also have additional national agreements, one with ESPN where
we have a game of the Week on ESPN2. They reach 82 million households
and we have three games a year on ABC - I think that’s about 100
or 105 million households for over-the-air networks in the U.S. Fox Sports
World is aimed at a very specific demographic. We’re interested
in a mix of broadcast arrangements which allow us to reach different people
and that’s why we’re excited about the potential here.”
STERNBERG ON RATINGS EXPECTATIONS:
“We don’t have a projection per se of the Nielsen ratings.
But I can tell you that based on other soccer programming we have on Fox
Sports en Espanol that this will do some sizable numbers in the Nielsen
Hispanic household survey. On Fox Sports World we believe we will have
a ratings performance that is at least consistent on a coverage basis
with what MLS has done in the past and probably given the targeting of
our audience will be higher. But at this point we’re still finalizing
our sales approach and we don’t have specific estimates.”
STERNBERG ON EXPECTATIONS IN PARTICULAR MARKETS:
“Certainly on the general market side with Fox Sports World, there
are markets and DMAs in the country that are historically very interested
in soccer with New York being perhaps the biggest one. There are also
cities like Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle is an important
market and there is Boston. Our distribution reflects that to some degree.
And of course we’re carried on DirecTV and DishNet on a national
basis. So even as local cable companies don’t carry Fox Sports World
for fans, there is the option of going to satellite. On Fox Sports World
Espanol the distribution is strongest in the top 20 Hispanic DMAs: California,
Texas, Florida, the Sun Belt and some of the urban northeast.”
STERNBERG ON INFILTRATING MAJOR CABLE OUTLETS:
“Obviously it’s an ongoing effort. We are fortunate to be
part of the Fox cable network group which encompasses Fox Sports Net,
the Speed Channel, FX, National Geographic and our two networks. I think
the power of being packaged with those networks is proving to be very
useful to us. In some months we’re adding as many as half a million
subscribers. The key to a lot of it is the rollout of digital cable. The
more the systems are upgraded and the quicker that happens, the more rapidly
our distribution will grow and we’re optimistic that that will be
the case as cable companies step up their marketing of digital cable and
tie digital video in with other product offerings like cable modems and
telephony to really create a strong consumer proposition. We’re
working with all the major cable systems around the country to ensure
we’re part of that rollout.”
ABBOTT ON FOX SPORTS WORLD’S REACH:
“Knowing the soccer fans as I do, they’ll be writing their
local carriers to do everything they can to get it. We’ re hopeful
that the channel is going to expand its reach, and that is its plans.
We hope to ride the wave with the channel and hopefully contribute to
its ability to expand its reach.”
STERNBERG ON WHETHER FOX SPORTS WORLD’S
MATCHES WILL AIR ON ANY FOX REGIONAL SPORTS NETWORKS:
“We’re not planning to put it out on the RSNs. In certain
markets where our distribution is not quite there we might tease it on
the local RSN to make people aware of what’s on Fox Sports World.
But in general our strategy is to keep these programs exclusive to Fox
Sports World and Fox Sports en Espanol and give the consumer one more
reason to pick up their phone, call their local cable operator and ask
for the network. Fox will be producing the highlight show from its studios
in LA. We will have an onsite reporter doing pregame, halftime and postgame
interviews and commentary. In certain postseason games we may make arrangements
for commentators to be on site in addition to the venue reporter and that’s
something that we would look at.”
STERNBERG ON THE PROMOTION OF THE NEW RELATIONSHIP
WITH MLS:
“On our side in addition to an event like this (press conference)
we’re going to be doing a fair amount of print advertising in certain
endemic soccer publications, doing a lot of crosschannel promotion with
other networks in the Fox family. And above and beyond that there will
be limited media buys both radio and online that we think will help reach
the targeted viewer base.”
ABBOTT ON THE REACTION BY ABC/ESPN TO THE DEAL:
“They should probably speak for themselves. But MLS Commissioner
Don Garber had a conversation with them and they believe that what’s
good for soccer which this is, is good for all soccer programming. We
have a strong partnership with them and have throughout have discussed
what we think this means for the promotion of soccer and they’re
in support of that.”
Transcript courtesy of Major League Soccer.
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