If the weekly ESPN broadcast of MLS Primetime Thursday was a regular part of your viewing schedule two things are clear. You are in a very small minority, and you will need to find something else to watch on Thursday nights (at least on some occasions).
The Sports Business Journal reported today that ESPN has scrapped MLS Primetime Thursday, opting instead to continue a weekly airing of MLS matches on a variety of days ranging from Wednesday to Saturday.
ESPN will still air MLS matches every week, but now only 10 out of 27 weeks will feature Thursday night matches, with matches now being shown on Saturday (eight matches), Wednesday (six matches) and Friday (three matches).
What's my take? As disappointing as it is to hear that numbers weren't great for the Primetime Thursday series, should we really be surprised? Thursday night is the toughest night on television, with several of TVs heavy hitters airing on network television. Having matches on different nights should allow us to get a better sense of what kind of audience is actually out there for MLS, and which night might wind up working better.
What do you think of this development? Glad to see Primetime MLS moving around or did you prefer the Thursday slot every week?
Share your thoughts below.
Ives
Here is a survey for you to do, how many of your readers out there have ever had one of those Neilson rating boxes in there home? I know I sure would like to have one.
How can you have ratings when espn won’t
promote the league. No sportscenter highlights! Espn has hurt american soccer!
tilt215,that’s funny that you say that b/c the past week or so, I’ve been seeing a lot of EPL scores running across the bottom of ESPN. Something I’ve NEVER seen before except on Champions League days. These are actually running at the bottom of Sportcenter and that did seem odd to me. Wouldn’t surprise me in the least. I would worry about that though. I would hope that if ESPN decides to broadcast the EPL that they keep the English announcers and just broadcast it that way. God knows ESPN can butcher soccer as they have multiple times in the past.
This brings to the point that I think MLS is always going to tank on ESPN b/c they don’t actually discuss the games when they’re on. Most of the time, it’s a discussion about some of the field crap or who John Harkes played with once or something. There’s never a focus. There’s never any sense of humor. It’s like everyone that’s related to soccer at ESPN is soccer-retarded. Why hasn’t Ives been drafted yet? He’s already on the payroll.
The office? That wasn’t even an issue in 2008. The office’s season was cut short due to the strike. They rarely overlapped if at all. Also through late may/early sept there are basically no quality shows airing new episodes.
Also 30 Rock>Office, seriously. The Office jumped the shark awhile ago.
I don’t like this, I never missed a Thursday night game but I missed pretty much all the Saturday FSC games.
I was either at a Fire game or getting home from one. Or I was out drinking and generally being an urban twenty-something year old.
This would not be happening if Garber and Co. had lifted the salary cap and allowed the MLS to attract decent talent to the league. I’ve tried to watch MLS on Thursdays, but I can’t. Lousy, lousy talent in this league. Until that changes, MLS doesn’t have a chance to succeed.
AMEN!!!!
MLS on Thursday nights was a joke and should have never been. Lemme see, we’ll play the day before the start of the weekend at some whack ass time for all to watch on TV in other markets.
DUMB!!!
Friday night Football would have been better provided the matches started later than the norm – more people are probably willing to take off or at the very least leave work early to watch those matches. Hell, I attended absolutely ZERO Thursday night Fire matches. Lemme see, leave the gig early to fight with traffic to the match then either go to work the next day or take it off and let’s not forget that I left early in order to get to the match. Not happening unless it’s a World Cup Qualifier or final rounds of Open Cup.
this sucks. Does hockey get higher ratings?
I am pleased that “prime time” Thursday has been scrapped. I’m not pleased that they will replace it with 10 Thursdays and 6 Wednesday’s and 2 Friday’s. All games should all be on Saturday at 7:30 local time.
The weekday games are difficult for this fan to attend and one of the primary reasons I did not renew my season tickets.
…mike…cant they just check on ESPNSoccer.net?
I watched Primetime every Thursday it was on. The only time i didnt do it was when Dish Network crashed at my place. TWC is much better. The ESPN Soccer Channel sounds like a great development. If it doesn’t happen then its a going to be the final indication that ESPN really doesn’t give a flying flip about Soccer/Football/Futbol.
i think this is bad because i used to know that a game would be on thursday now i wont be sure making it harder for me to watch. if people dont no when the game is there is a better chance of them missing it.
NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is BY FAR my favorite thing about Thursday. This is terrible terrible news. I tried to catch EVERY MLS ESPN game. I hate this news!
Personally, I went out of my way to watch PrimeTime Thursday. But even the casual soccer fan wasn’t watching. My friends at school were able to watch the 230 champions league starts on espn2 but never watched Thursday nights. I think a variety of nights is best.
I thought it was nice to have a consistent time slot, but even as a die-hard MLS fan, I would watch The Office over any game in which my team weren’t playing (in which case I’d be at the game). Hopefully this allows them more flexibility and they can pick out better games to showcase.
So what happens to the Saturday night games on Fox Soccer Channel? Do the swap and do weekday games do I get screwed out of one game for 8 weeks.
I like the new format, personally.
I kind of disliked that MLS had its own night and how they specifically schedule matches so they would air on television. It feels more like ESPN is adjusting to MLS now, rather thatn a league revolving around a channels best interests.
I’m not at all surprised. Soccer just fails to attract viewers in this country. I for one never missed a Thursday night. I’ll give up almost anything for soccer. Too bad everyone else doesn’t think the same.
I’m glad. now hopefully we can get rid of the mid week game.
midweek games are tough for fans and players and are probably better off gone. TV games don’t do the league any good when the camera shows vast numbers of empty seats.
Players – can’t play Thursday and go again Saturday or Sunday so they end up with a week and a half off.
I think Wed might be better for players but still not going to put butts in the seats
MattJack,
Word on the street is ESPN is making a very large push at gaining the US rights of the EPL from Fox. IF this happened, they would change ESPN Classic to ESPN Soccer and I am sure MLS would have a nice home on that network.
I could care less which night they play the games on as long as they continue to air them.
It really sucks for us on the west coast. I could count on heading straight home from work (or leaving early for a good game)on Thursdays and still catching The Office. It’s going to be a pain in the butt to “find” the games that ESPN will be airing.
I really enjoyed Primetime Thursdays. I even had an agreement with my wife about Thursday. Guess I’ll have to make a new contract up.
Also, Don’t know if anyone is reporting this on the DP blogs but Landon Donovan scored again.
That’s 2 goals and 1 assist in 3 games.
I did watch primetime thursdays regularly, mostly because it seemed like the Fire played every single one of them.
But I can understand why the ratings were pretty poor. I’m not sure Friday or Saturday will be too much better, but I guess it’s worth a shot. The saturday night games will be kind of like the good Mexican league games that air on the same nights. fun stuff, can’t wait for the season to start.
As long as MLS games are still being broadcast then I’m fine with the new schedule. It’s not imparative that MLS games are played on a fixed night. Low ratings are no suprise. I didn’t watch very often when the Fire weren’t playing. That’s the nature of the beast. I don’t really watch any sport unless it’s my team.
I wish they had done this earlier… there have been a bunch of times over the last few seasons where I have hosted a pretty big Thursday night get-together to watch the Fire, but with 1/2 my friends in attendance going and watching the Office in my bedroom for the half hour it was on. As long as they still show a game per week on ESPN2 I don’t really care what night it’s on, although I would rather that they showed 2 or 3 games instead of showing a bunch of poker or world’s strongest man re-runs.
why not just have a ESPN soccer channel? they could show MLS games, and old champions league games in HD.. whoever gets an HD soccer channel first will win the TV ratigns war. FSC and Gol TV suck. they have HD ads on their channels ,but dont broadcast in HD. im tired of watching blurry players run up and down the field on my 40″ tv.
i’ll miss the continuity of mls thursdays, but aside from that it doesn’t really mess with my schedule too much and probably gives mls match nights at better chance at higher ratings by showing weekend games
Believe it or not, the head of ESPN is a huge soccer fan and wants nothing more than to see the MLS make it in this country.
That being said, while I always enjoyed watching games on a certain night, I have to admit I think this is a great idea. As previously stated, there were many awful games on thursday nights and most of the important games that should have been on ESPN weren’t because those games were played on saturday. I would be interested to see if their new approach is to float their schedule and pick up games that they feel will be more entertaining to watch as the season unfolds. This is how many networks deal with the NFL; while they know they will be showing a game, they don’t always know what game will make national coverage at the start of the season. Plus, thursday night attendance always sucked.
As long as MLS is till being shown on the most recognized sports channel in the U.S., it is a good thing.
i think having a highlight/wrapup show is far more important. fans are going to find the games, but we need a way to follow the league as a whole.
other than fsc and/or goltv that is- which im sure isnt an option for espn programmers.
Not so fast on the TiVo option Bob. According to the article, ESPN is planning to have a lot more live programming to lead into the games. When was the last time a College Football or Basketball game ended on time? Be prepared to see games start on ESPN Classic and then go to the deuce 20 minutes into the match.
ESPN, the “worldwide leader in sports,” doesn’t even pretend to give the world’s leading sport fair coverage. It’s that simple.
They make fun of soccer every chance they get on that channel in any non-soccer broadcast. I remember a MetroStars game getting bumped by WNBA once. This is all on ESPN, not on the fans of MLS.
I think they should make it a Friday night or Saturday night. The turn out for Thursday games was usually terrible which made it even worse to watch on tv. It is always a better turn out on a Sat than a Thurs.
….wait im confuzzled….is ESPN going to be broadcoasting MLS every week still but just on different days or just every once in a while randomly?
this really pisses me off. i would frequently alter my work schedule/school studying in order to watch matches.
since it was on a regular night it was easy to do this. i have no inention of trying to figure out what days the matches are on/not on. it’s too much trouble.
looks like my mlsnet subscription will get more viewing, even if it will be only highlights of matches.
It’s clear ESPN “the main station” doesn’t care to raise the profile of the game.
They were all too eager to lap up viewers with “Beckham cam” during the first match where he spent 80 some-odd minutes on the bench, a camera dedicated to watching him sit, warm up, sit, warm up, and then finally jog around for a while.
But the station does little lese to promote the game. Even the most important US MNT matches get pushed to ESPN2 or even ESPN Classic while “World Series of Poker” gets primetime billing 4 nights a week. It’s enough to make you spit if you dont have FSC, Gol TV, or one of the other available footy channels.
I’m not necessarily sad to see MLS Thursday go, primarily because ESPN gave it that slot knowing that most people would be watching something else. As long as they continue to show a little MLS action for me to enjoy, there will be little to no change in my opinion.
For whatever reason, Thursdays always end up busy for me, so this should be solid. But my brother’s getting me MLSliveTV for my birthday, so I’ll be covered either way.
Bummed that ESPN isn’t committing to Thursdays. This means MLS and the network are really going to have to work to create awareness and visibility for the staggered TV schedule.
Well thanks to Mr Tivo no worries. Plus sometimes there are weak teams playing on Thursday when a great game is going to be on Sunday or Sat and no way to see it. So now that game could in theory be seen.
This is actually a really good idea because attendance will be higher for the weekend games. Think about how many times you’ve seen empty stadiums on Thursday ESPN games.
Speaking of which, this is something that annoyed me all last year. Why did MLS go through all the trouble of making a catchy theme song for the beginning of games only to have all tv broadcasts cut out whenever it’s played? I don’t want to hear the announcers giving their unimportant opinions while the players are walking out on the pitch, I wanna see that!
Get the cameras on the field when the players are walking out and the theme song (which is actually pretty good) is blasting and the crowd is cheering.
If you make it look like it’s important, then people will think it’s important.
I know it’s a little thing, but sometimes those things make all the difference.
Personally, I really enjoyed the games on Thursday. I knew it was at least once a week that was dedicated to the MLS by ESPN.
Problem is (at least the way I see it) is that nothing is going to change with this switch. ESPN never promoted these MLS games properly, never showed highlights on Sportscenter, etc. so its no wonder why it failed.
I don’t think that changing the day around will fix anything, if they continue with their measly promotional campaign. The numbers will poor otherwise, and the MLS needs to encourage ESPN to change their ways, otherwise, it will always struggle on ESPN.
MLS should have made it Prime Time Wednesday to tie in with Champions League. That would also give the teams involved more rest for a Sunday match.
I’m disappointed, but not surprised. I’m more disappointed in MLS for not making a better effort to field players that mainstream sports fan would be intersted in watching. They have really blew it with the DP rule and not taking advantage of it. Beckham is still the only noteworthy player in the league for average fans. They have dropped the ball by not trying to attract the names like Figo, (fat)Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Vieri, Owens, Zidane, Ronaldinho and others. Us die hards will watch anything and respect the players in MLS, but to attract a larger audience, Bigger names have to be brought in. Stop being afraid of the Cosmos legacy.
Probably a good decision. I watched Primetime Thursday every week, but this is a more intelligent programming move. As long as I can still get my MLS fix, I am happy.
PS Bring back Eric Wynalda
I’m disappointed that the ratings weren’t there, but glad it will be switching around, I agree we have a better chance of “making it” on other days. It just blows my mind that MLS cannot get more airtime on ESPN especially when you look at some of the JUNK ESPN puts on such as WNBA, NHL, Strongest Man, Poker(yes it’s fun to watch but only to a point), etc. etc.
Maybe I’m unrealistic, but I’ve got to believe that there’s more people interested in watching soccer than the ratings say. Someday.
I’d always wanted to watch MLS games on Thursday night but it just never happened. Whether it was going out or watching the Office etc., instead, I always thought Thursday night was no good.
The Saturday matches will be great, especially in the summer when there is nothing else on at that time.
I really think this is a good development.
It’s bad. I loved watching the Fire play on Thursday nights. Though I wouldn’t follow every other game, it was nice to see the MLS on in primetime. It was also nice to know that I could the MLS every Thursday if I chose. The fact that they can’t hold that timeslot is not encouraging, but it isn’t the end of the world.
as long as there are no games on Scrubs night (now tuesday, used to be thursdays.. causing a dilema), i’m cool (in the sense of being ok with it, not in the hip sense as i openly admit to watching Scrubs)
(aren’t parentheses fun?)