OneSoccer

[Unnamed Trialist]

First, as OneSoccer is a Media Pro company, I can assure you that there is no such bias in Media Pro Spain. It is balanced, and usually for the call and colour you'll get journalists from this or that region or explayers of a team.

OneSoccer first year had Marítimers calling HFX, BCers calling Pacific. Men and women. I haven't subscribed this year except for some matches. This should be the standard, some local colour always. A broadcast team from Valour west. The call at the match.

Some OneSoccer journalists have not even been to some CPL stadiums 3 years in. 

But for any final you need to do a far better job. They didn't interview Friend, they could have spoken to DeJong. 

Media Pro makes the effort and they have no record of regional bias. When most of Spanish sports journalism is radically Madrid biased,as are refs, disciplinary and governing committees (Real Madrid members are regularly named to them) and so on. The national federation (not league) tends to be far less so, probably because Spanish football is properly federated and the voting demographic is balanced. 

OneSoccer is seeing half its subscribers from Ontario and serving them, not the league. I also suspect that they are trying to consolidate salaries,which means less external collaborators and paying them a higher rate to be fuller time. And by doing so they've gone full-on Ontario. 

Edited December 7, 2021 by Unnamed Trialist

[canuckgbp]

He has a tweet thread in there that counters the bias argument. 

[Ruffian]

32 minutes ago, canuckgbp said:

He has a tweet thread in there that counters the bias argument. 

Taking a quick read of the tweets on this issue I don't doubt there is bias for Ontario teams but not as big of an issue as indicated by some tweets.

I think the criticism is good to help improve OneSoccer's coverage in future to make sure no area feels excluded but at the same time, there will always be posters/tweeters who will complain bias no matter what is changed.

[Nerf]

I think that we have to be happy that there is an outlet for Canadian soccer at all. How many decades did we go with no coverage of the game after the end of the NASL? You couldn't even watch the national team. However, there is always room for improvement:

Wheeler was awful, now he is OK. But do we really need to be reminded every two minutes about how great the Canadian team is?  Give it a rest. We know. We are the converted already.

There is no need to fill every second with words. Soccer is about subtlety, and I prefer that in my announcers too.

And to weigh in on the accent thing, it has always annoyed me that TSN has to have at least two Brits on staff. 

I really like the pre-and post-game team. Very professional.

And finally, tell me one league, one broadcaster, one news feed that doesn't have an east coast bias? they have the biggest market, and its hard for them to watch our evening west coast matches. This will never change.

[jonovision]

1 hour ago, Nerf said:

And finally, tell me one league, one broadcaster, one news feed that doesn't have an east coast bias? they have the biggest market, and its hard for them to watch our evening west coast matches. This will never change.

I think here again, the CFL can be the model for the CPL. Although it's largely because the fan base of the league skews west (check the ratings from any week of the season or playoffs), I find that the TSN coverage of CFL does not favor the Argos, Ticats or other eastern teams.

[m-g-williams]

15 hours ago, Nerf said:

And finally, tell me one league, one broadcaster, one news feed that doesn't have an east coast bias?

13 hours ago, jonovision said:

Although it's largely because the fan base of the league skews west (check the ratings from any week of the season or playoffs), I find that the TSN coverage of CFL does not favor the Argos, Ticats or other eastern teams.

As a born-and-bred Maritimer, I have to object to Onterrible being called "eastern"/"east coast". 😉

But I completely agree on the Upper Canadian bias in One Soccer, and in most English-language Canadian media outlets. I find that CTV, CBC, the Globe and Mail, etc. don't so much offer a national news perspective as they do an Ontario/Toronto perspective on national events (same happens in French with the Montreal lens dominating for Radio-Canada, TVA, La Presse, etc.). Having the local stations/affiliates helps, but it certainly doesn't eliminate the issue. 

Edited December 8, 2021 by m-g-williams

[Bison44]

Man thats sucks, they even took the "east" away from you. Do you call them westerers, and the rest of us far west westerners??

[m-g-williams]

10 hours ago, Bison44 said:

Man thats sucks, they even took the "east" away from you. Do you call them westerers, and the rest of us far west westerners??

If I had to break it down, I'd probably say:
-Territories = Up north
-BC = West coast/Pacific
-AB, SK, MB = Out west/Prairies
-Ontario = Onterrible
-Quebec = Quebec
-Atlantic Canada = East Coast/Civilization 

I know folks in different places attach different meanings to those terms, but hearing friends of mine from Edmonton talk about "going out east" to Ottawa or Montreal just sounds so wrong to me. I also learned while living in Newfoundland that if ever you say "west coast" there, you're talking about the west coast of Newfoundland (Corner Brook, Port-aux-Basques, etc.), not Canada. Federalism is wild. 

Edited December 8, 2021 by m-g-williams

[m-g-williams]

On 11/1/2021 at 7:57 AM, Ozzie_the_parrot said:

Meanwhile back on topic, there doesn't appear to be any hard evidence that the A Leagues are now on Onesoccer. Wikipedia mentions Onesoccer but the references provided for international broadcasters makes no mention of them:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-League_Men

https://www.a-league.com.au/our-international-broadcasters

https://www.a-league.com.au/news/how-watch-a-league-202021-season

Their broadcast rights got picked up by one of the main networks in Australia called Channel 10 (owned from the United States by CBS) and they have been reported to have attraced a large cash injection from an American equity firm by selling off a stake in their league:

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/a-leagues-set-for-130-million-payday-with-equity-sale-to-us-firm-20211023-p592jm.html

so they are doing quite well these days in terms of financial stability.

Has anyone heard anything further on this? The new A Leagues website lists ESPN+ as the only broadcaster for North America, and the My Football Youtube channel only seems to be showing matches for the Socceroos and the FFA Cup. I know there was a shift down under with the Paramount+ deal, so maybe this has an impact? 

https://keepup.com.au/our-international-broadcasters 

[SpursFlu]

There isn't a league in the world where fans aren't constantly pissed at broadcasters biased towards certain teams. Often it comes down to who occupies the area that media outlets occupy. Also who has the most interest and largest fan base, who the broadcasters have a history with or have a personal interest in. Its just kinda the way it is. As a born and raised Vancouverite, you just realize it's the way it is when it comes to sports. Same way Toronto fans feel slighted by NBA or MLB American media 

It's fun to complain and argue, it's all part of the massive distraction we call sports. But you kinda feel like some people want some sort of anti sport media discrimination bill pushed in Parliament or something. I don't get the end game on some of these grievances or people's ability to put things in to perspective. It feels weird or maybe that's just social media. Who knows

Edited December 8, 2021 by SpursFlu

[CanadianSoccerFan]

Lot of discussion about the next MLS TV deal.  I'm sure Onesoccer will have a pop.

The Athletic mentioned the Canadian TV deal split between TSN and TVA is worth 15M per season.  The US deal is 90M but includes rights to US soccer home games

https://theathletic.com/3003883/2021/12/07/las-vegas-is-mls-expansion-frontrunner-media-rights-diversity-policy-and-more-discussed-at-state-of-the-league/

[red card]

Bloomberg has an article on why soccer is the favourite sport of every US streaming service. 

Last year, the UEFA Champions League caused Paramount+ sign-ups to more than triple compared to the previous eight-week period, while the English Premier League's opening week caused a fourfold lift in Peacock sign-ups.

Being easy to stream soccer appears to have helped grow the sport. MLS saw the biggest increase in popularity among sports viewers, going from the 13th most popular league in 2019 to 7th in 2021. The number of sports viewers who don't get pay-TV bundles grew by 7 million people over that same two-year period, a sign that leagues like MLS are finding new fans among cord-cutters. TV viewership for soccer is also rising. NBC's Premier League coverage is having its best viewership since the 2015-2016 season.

The benefits of streaming have outweigh the hassle. On a typical Saturday, fans have live access to more than 75 professional soccer games, with many available only on streaming services.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2021-12-12/mls-playoffs-set-up-the-league-for-a-big-payday-from-streaming-services?sref=TXtONuyU

Edited December 13, 2021 by red card

[narduch]

MLS schedule is out.

Isd this TSNs last season as broadcaster?

 

Edited December 16, 2021 by narduch

[Watchmen]

1 hour ago, narduch said:

MLS schedule is out.

I wonder if the lack of Friday games means TSN is out as broadcaster

 

TSN doesn't want Friday night games for most of the year. That's their prime time for the CFL. I think it's more likely that the clubs don't want Friday night games.

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

6 hours ago, narduch said:

MLS schedule is out.

I wonder if the lack of Friday games means TSN is out as broadcaster

Check the final column of the graphic.

[nfitz]

I don't recall many (if any) Friday games in either the (aborted) 2020 or 2021 schedules. I think they got a lot of negative feedback about that from ticket holders. The only one this year is a bit odd, coming right after the international break, then with both teams having a 9-day break until the Decision Day.

If anything, this year's schedule is moving away from Cable, back to OTA, with CTV scheduled to air 6 of the first 13 games, along with their TSN service. I wonder if there'll be more through the year, once they sort out their summer/fall TV schedules. And I think it's in the interest of the sport, and long-term interests of the teams to have some games available to all.

[narduch]

3 hours ago, Ozzie_the_parrot said:

Check the final column of the graphic.

Lol.

It was cut off when I viewed it on Twitter. 

Am surprised their deal runs 1 year longer than ESPNs

[narduch]

2 hours ago, nfitz said:

I don't recall many (if any) Friday games in either the (aborted) 2020 or 2021 schedules. I think they got a lot of negative feedback about that from ticket holders. The only one this year is a bit odd, coming right after the international break, then with both teams having a 9-day break until the Decision Day.

If anything, this year's schedule is moving away from Cable, back to OTA, with CTV scheduled to air 6 of the first 13 games, along with their TSN service. I wonder if there'll be more through the year, once they sort out their summer/fall TV schedules. And I think it's in the interest of the sport, and long-term interests of the teams to have some games available to all.

Went back to check pre covid. In 2019 there were 3 Friday home games and in 2018.

I swear I felt like it was way more.

[Watchmen]

3 hours ago, narduch said:

Went back to check pre covid. In 2019 there were 3 Friday home games and in 2018.

I swear I felt like it was way more.

I think like some of the European  Leagues, MLS has tried out one game on Friday here and there to "kick off the weekend" but its by no means been the norm.

[Ansem]

4 hours ago, narduch said:

Lol.

It was cut off when I viewed it on Twitter. 

Am surprised their deal runs 1 year longer than ESPNs

From what I can tell, the deal is up in Canada but perhaps TSN can use the ESPN feed (parent company) like they did for the WQC-US until 2022.

Hard to think that there won't be a bidding war with MediaPro for the Canadian side. MLS/SUM wants to get paid - there won't be a "partner discount"

 

[narduch]

37 minutes ago, Ansem said:

From what I can tell, the deal is up in Canada but perhaps TSN can use the ESPN feed (parent company) like they did for the WQC-US until 2022.

Hard to think that there won't be a bidding war with MediaPro for the Canadian side. MLS/SUM wants to get paid - there won't be a "partner discount"

 

No.

This must mean they have 1 more year.

I thought ESPN deal was done too

[Ansem]

14 minutes ago, narduch said:

No.

This must mean they have 1 more year.

I thought ESPN deal was done too

So you're saying the current Canadian rights have been extended so the league can negotiate the new rights in 2022 all at once?

[narduch]

23 minutes ago, Ansem said:

So you're saying the current Canadian rights have been extended so the league can negotiate the new rights in 2022 all at once?

I don't think they were extended. 

I think people were confused about end

[Watchmen]

Interestingly, CTV is going to air 8 games nationally this year:

https://theathletic.com/3018787/2021/12/15/lafc-in-talks-with-manager-renato-paiva-mls-national-tv-schedule-free-agency-roundup-notebook?source=user-shared-article

[Ansem]

5 hours ago, narduch said:

I don't think they were extended. 

I think people were confused about end

You were right