OneSoccer

[Aird25]

Is anyone else amazed by how quickly OneSoccer seems to have abandoned CPL content on their review shows? It seems to all be about MLS and CMNT these days

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

Noticed a definite switch in focus on their twitter feed this past weekend as well. Maybe the MLS teams being in the Canadian Championship and national team games are generating more subscriptions for them at the moment.

[Ansem]

17 minutes ago, Aird25 said:

Is anyone else amazed by how quickly OneSoccer seems to have abandoned CPL content on their review shows? It seems to all be about MLS and CMNT these days

CMNT is understandable but the increase of MLS content makes sense if they use it as a way to gauge if going after the rights makes sense or not.

Otherwise, you're just advertising for your competitors unless there's an endgame to it - I think MediaPro makes a bid for the MLS rights, doesn't mean they'll succeed though. One thing is certain, if they succeed, this becomes a game changer for them so its a basic cost/benefits/risk management decision at this point.

Edited May 31, 2022 by Ansem

[Bison44]

Another head scratcher..how does Andi Petrillo look better on her Onesoccer zoom calls then when she is all dolled out in studio??  Asking for a friend.......

[red card]

RDS is showing Montreal CEBL action tonight.

This shows if CPL had a Quebec club, the monies won't be much but likely to be shown on RDS, TVA or Radio-Canada. There is a dearth of Quebec pro teams across sports but Quebec networks have more propensity to show local teams than TSN/SN. Filler American content isn't cost free as it is for TSN/SN.

Weekly showings of USL Impact matches were on Radio-Canada.

 

[Ansem]

2 hours ago, red card said:

RDS is showing Montreal CEBL action tonight.

This shows if CPL had a Quebec club, the monies won't be much but likely to be shown on RDS, TVA or Radio-Canada. There is a dearth of Quebec pro teams across sports but Quebec networks have more propensity to show local teams than TSN/SN. Filler American content isn't cost free as it is for TSN/SN.

Weekly showings of USL Impact matches were on Radio-Canada.

 

It's not that straightforward - the only sports channel I could see doing that in Quebec is TVA Sports, owned by Quebecor.

Sorry this will be a long post

I had an interesting chat about CPL with someone in business and talked about Onesoccer and the league not being on other networks. This is what she said in a nutshell

-->Major sports channel are owned by Bell and Rogers who both are major telecom companies

-->Despite them competing for clients - they've been ruthlessly efficient at keeping foreign players out of the Canadian market - which frustrates the government to no end who keeps coming up with ways to attract more players --> politically good (I think it was Verizon who almost came here)

-->This brings us to MediaPro, a Spanish company trying to get market share in the Canadian sport media business, challenging Bell and Rogers

-->Had CSB picked TSN or Sportsnet or even CBC - they would have behaved far differently towards the league

-->CSB picking MediaPro means that they also invited a foreign player in their market who made their intentions to launch a cable channel known very early - directly challenging both Rogers and Bell monopolies 

-->According to this person, TSN & Sportsnet aren't purposely "targeting" CPL, but they are trying to make it as difficult as possible for MediaPro to get a solid foundation in the market --> in a nutshell, they want them out 

-->So they are giving them as little publicity as possible to keep them as a marginal player and stop/stagnate their growth - CPL being ignored is collateral damage (no scores, highlights, barely mentioned on their medias, trying to bury Forge 1st CL run, not mentioning CPL unless they play an MLS club in Canchamp)

-->While they've been effective at containing MediaPro, it hurts the league attendance, popularity and exposure as a side effect.

-->While Rogers and Bell have shared properties multiple times in the past and are willing to do business with one other, they understand MediaPro business model and they will avoid purchasing games from them unless something major happens --> CanMNT incredible WCQ run --> Don't be surprise if they pass on Gold Cups and CNL + CanWNT otherwise, they'd be helping MediaPro business plan succeeding 

-->This is why Telus (and others) are willing to carry Onesoccer on cable but not Bell and Rogers. Unless the CRTC intervenes, they will fight it the whole way.

-->Quebecor who owns TVA Sports might buy the rights to CPL Quebec City games / they are a major player in Quebec --> CEO Peladeau hate of both Rogers and Bell is an understatement but TVA Sports has profitability issues so buying CPL games while already paying for MLS rights for CF Montreal might come down to how much resources they can allocate to that.

-->CPL's other problem is the nature of their deal with MediaPro. If it was up to them, they happily give a weekend game away on CBC to boost their visibility and grow their fanbase BUT they have no FINAL say on the matter until 2029.

-->The league choose the upfront cash and production value (which surprise a lot of people for a Canadian league here and abroad) OVER potentially more visibility/mainstream attention but little cash upfront --> I recall Paul Beirne saying on Twitter that major channel DID bid for CPL but it was nowhere near what MediaPro offered

As I mentioned previously, the increase of MLS content on Onesoccer might be a sign that they are setting the table to bid on the rights, which makes the most sense. Otherwise, you're just helping your rivals who wants you out by promoting the very product they hold the rights too which makes little business sense.

Getting exclusive rights to MLS would be the game changer they would need because they'd be in an advantageous position:

1. Drastic increase in subscription to their service
2. Their MLS content makes it more attractive other cable providers
3. Impossible for mainstream media/major providers to ignore MLS content with the footages being under "Onesoccer" control in Canada - that's more exposure for them
4. Freezing out CPL would no longer make any sense for those major conpanies --> content is key so expect highlights, scoreboards and soccer shows being more complete
5. For the league, there would be a noticeable boost in popularity and visibility improving their bottom line.
6. Reselling games is at the core of their business model - more channels (national & regional) would have the opportunity to broadcast CPL and/or MLS games as well boosting their viewership as well

There you have it - a business perspective on the media situation.

Edited June 1, 2022 by Ansem

[VinceA]

Big news for Nef. Man works hard so great to see.

Also nice to see OneSoccer get some younger faces in.

[narduch]

The upcoming CanMNT games will be available in English,  French and now also Spanish. 

 

[red card]

On 5/31/2022 at 11:00 PM, Ansem said:

It's not that straightforward - the only sports channel I could see doing that in Quebec is TVA Sports, owned by Quebecor.

Sorry this will be a long post

I had an interesting chat about CPL with someone in business and talked about Onesoccer and the league not being on other networks. This is what she said in a nutshell

-->Major sports channel are owned by Bell and Rogers who both are major telecom companies

-->Despite them competing for clients - they've been ruthlessly efficient at keeping foreign players out of the Canadian market - which frustrates the government to no end who keeps coming up with ways to attract more players --> politically good (I think it was Verizon who almost came here)

-->This brings us to MediaPro, a Spanish company trying to get market share in the Canadian sport media business, challenging Bell and Rogers

-->Had CSB picked TSN or Sportsnet or even CBC - they would have behaved far differently towards the league

-->CSB picking MediaPro means that they also invited a foreign player in their market who made their intentions to launch a cable channel known very early - directly challenging both Rogers and Bell monopolies 

-->According to this person, TSN & Sportsnet aren't purposely "targeting" CPL, but they are trying to make it as difficult as possible for MediaPro to get a solid foundation in the market --> in a nutshell, they want them out 

-->So they are giving them as little publicity as possible to keep them as a marginal player and stop/stagnate their growth - CPL being ignored is collateral damage (no scores, highlights, barely mentioned on their medias, trying to bury Forge 1st CL run, not mentioning CPL unless they play an MLS club in Canchamp)

-->While they've been effective at containing MediaPro, it hurts the league attendance, popularity and exposure as a side effect.

-->While Rogers and Bell have shared properties multiple times in the past and are willing to do business with one other, they understand MediaPro business model and they will avoid purchasing games from them unless something major happens --> CanMNT incredible WCQ run --> Don't be surprise if they pass on Gold Cups and CNL + CanWNT otherwise, they'd be helping MediaPro business plan succeeding 

-->This is why Telus (and others) are willing to carry Onesoccer on cable but not Bell and Rogers. Unless the CRTC intervenes, they will fight it the whole way.

-->Quebecor who owns TVA Sports might buy the rights to CPL Quebec City games / they are a major player in Quebec --> CEO Peladeau hate of both Rogers and Bell is an understatement but TVA Sports has profitability issues so buying CPL games while already paying for MLS rights for CF Montreal might come down to how much resources they can allocate to that.

-->CPL's other problem is the nature of their deal with MediaPro. If it was up to them, they happily give a weekend game away on CBC to boost their visibility and grow their fanbase BUT they have no FINAL say on the matter until 2029.

-->The league choose the upfront cash and production value (which surprise a lot of people for a Canadian league here and abroad) OVER potentially more visibility/mainstream attention but little cash upfront --> I recall Paul Beirne saying on Twitter that major channel DID bid for CPL but it was nowhere near what MediaPro offered

As I mentioned previously, the increase of MLS content on Onesoccer might be a sign that they are setting the table to bid on the rights, which makes the most sense. Otherwise, you're just helping your rivals who wants you out by promoting the very product they hold the rights too which makes little business sense.

Getting exclusive rights to MLS would be the game changer they would need because they'd be in an advantageous position:

1. Drastic increase in subscription to their service
2. Their MLS content makes it more attractive other cable providers
3. Impossible for mainstream media/major providers to ignore MLS content with the footages being under "Onesoccer" control in Canada - that's more exposure for them
4. Freezing out CPL would no longer make any sense for those major conpanies --> content is key so expect highlights, scoreboards and soccer shows being more complete
5. For the league, there would be a noticeable boost in popularity and visibility improving their bottom line.
6. Reselling games is at the core of their business model - more channels (national & regional) would have the opportunity to broadcast CPL and/or MLS games as well boosting their viewership as well

There you have it - a business perspective on the media situation.

The actual game changer will be seen starting this August. That's when the Premier League, the most watched football league in Canada, starts on fubotv for at least the next 3 years. PL followers may still not watch CPL matches for the same reasons most of them don't watch MLS.

OneSoccer getting Cdn MLS matches nicely fits their programming strategy. But given TSN/TVA pay MLS $15 million/yr, OS will need 150k+ new annual subs to break before production costs & ad revenue. And given how weak the MLS tv ratings have been and sluggish local engagement in all 3 markets, I don't see any drastic increase in OS annual subs until we get back to the engagement levels from 5 years ago.

You can see this on social media. When Canada men or women matches weren't on tv in the past year, there is a lot of hand wringing. When TFC/WFC/CFM played in the Canadian Championship last and this year, there is hardly a murmur. Given these are harder core followers, they may have signed up for OS for a month or are fine watching it on a free stream. You also see it on DAZN Canada forums, all the programming complaints are about football leagues, NFL & boxing - nothing about MLS.

 

[red card]

2 hours ago, narduch said:

The upcoming CanMNT games will be available in English,  French and now also Spanish. 

 

3 people for Spanish language broadcasts vs 1 for French. Are Mediapro looking to drum up more revenue from foreign media rights?

And Brennan seems to have taken over Dunfield as the top match analyst? I think it's an upgrade but Brennan needs to up his energy beyond jazz radio host levels.

 

[CanadianSoccerFan]

On 5/31/2022 at 11:00 PM, Ansem said:

It's not that straightforward - the only sports channel I could see doing that in Quebec is TVA Sports, owned by Quebecor.

Sorry this will be a long post

I had an interesting chat about CPL with someone in business and talked about Onesoccer and the league not being on other networks. This is what she said in a nutshell

-->Major sports channel are owned by Bell and Rogers who both are major telecom companies

-->Despite them competing for clients - they've been ruthlessly efficient at keeping foreign players out of the Canadian market - which frustrates the government to no end who keeps coming up with ways to attract more players --> politically good (I think it was Verizon who almost came here)

-->This brings us to MediaPro, a Spanish company trying to get market share in the Canadian sport media business, challenging Bell and Rogers

-->Had CSB picked TSN or Sportsnet or even CBC - they would have behaved far differently towards the league

-->CSB picking MediaPro means that they also invited a foreign player in their market who made their intentions to launch a cable channel known very early - directly challenging both Rogers and Bell monopolies 

-->According to this person, TSN & Sportsnet aren't purposely "targeting" CPL, but they are trying to make it as difficult as possible for MediaPro to get a solid foundation in the market --> in a nutshell, they want them out 

-->So they are giving them as little publicity as possible to keep them as a marginal player and stop/stagnate their growth - CPL being ignored is collateral damage (no scores, highlights, barely mentioned on their medias, trying to bury Forge 1st CL run, not mentioning CPL unless they play an MLS club in Canchamp)

-->While they've been effective at containing MediaPro, it hurts the league attendance, popularity and exposure as a side effect.

-->While Rogers and Bell have shared properties multiple times in the past and are willing to do business with one other, they understand MediaPro business model and they will avoid purchasing games from them unless something major happens --> CanMNT incredible WCQ run --> Don't be surprise if they pass on Gold Cups and CNL + CanWNT otherwise, they'd be helping MediaPro business plan succeeding 

-->This is why Telus (and others) are willing to carry Onesoccer on cable but not Bell and Rogers. Unless the CRTC intervenes, they will fight it the whole way.

-->Quebecor who owns TVA Sports might buy the rights to CPL Quebec City games / they are a major player in Quebec --> CEO Peladeau hate of both Rogers and Bell is an understatement but TVA Sports has profitability issues so buying CPL games while already paying for MLS rights for CF Montreal might come down to how much resources they can allocate to that.

-->CPL's other problem is the nature of their deal with MediaPro. If it was up to them, they happily give a weekend game away on CBC to boost their visibility and grow their fanbase BUT they have no FINAL say on the matter until 2029.

-->The league choose the upfront cash and production value (which surprise a lot of people for a Canadian league here and abroad) OVER potentially more visibility/mainstream attention but little cash upfront --> I recall Paul Beirne saying on Twitter that major channel DID bid for CPL but it was nowhere near what MediaPro offered

As I mentioned previously, the increase of MLS content on Onesoccer might be a sign that they are setting the table to bid on the rights, which makes the most sense. Otherwise, you're just helping your rivals who wants you out by promoting the very product they hold the rights too which makes little business sense.

Getting exclusive rights to MLS would be the game changer they would need because they'd be in an advantageous position:

1. Drastic increase in subscription to their service
2. Their MLS content makes it more attractive other cable providers
3. Impossible for mainstream media/major providers to ignore MLS content with the footages being under "Onesoccer" control in Canada - that's more exposure for them
4. Freezing out CPL would no longer make any sense for those major conpanies --> content is key so expect highlights, scoreboards and soccer shows being more complete
5. For the league, there would be a noticeable boost in popularity and visibility improving their bottom line.
6. Reselling games is at the core of their business model - more channels (national & regional) would have the opportunity to broadcast CPL and/or MLS games as well boosting their viewership as well

There you have it - a business perspective on the media situation.

This is it 100%.  I've made similar points on this thread.  Bell and Rogers have an abusive market position akin to owning the rails.  

[Unnamed Trialist]

7 hours ago, red card said:

3 people for Spanish language broadcasts vs 1 for French. Are Mediapro looking to drum up more revenue from foreign media rights?

And Brennan seems to have taken over Dunfield as the top match analyst? I think it's an upgrade but Brennan needs to up his energy beyond jazz radio host levels.

 

I'm wondering if I'm going to be able to see them in Spain. 

Or is it for another market?

Movistar had the US- Morocco on live in Spain and put it on repeat as well. They also picked up Forest - Huddersfield and even German 2nd tier playoffs, they re adding content now the main leagues have ended. 

[red card]

 

[Kent]

Customary post game complaint against OneSoccer. Below is cut and paste from the TFC vs Forge thread, so skip it if you've read it already.

So it looks like nobody had the problem I experienced with OneSoccer? It might have been due to me having to pause the game for 15 minutes or so to put my kid to bed. During the last couple minutes of regulation, plus the shootout and post game it was doing this thing where (assuming the broadcast is delayed 15 seconds or so at least) all of a sudden I would see a still image, which would be ahead of the sound, then 5 to 10 seconds later the video would continue on from that still frame (sound was synced at this point).

It was annoying, and then it was VERY MADDENING when it stalled on a "OneSoccer" wipe just after the first missed penalty in the shootout. I got to listen to the missed penalty as if it was the radio, but I didn't get to see it until I saw a replay. This so soon after missing Pacific tie up the game in injury time against York United because OneSoccer left for showing some filler content.

Maybe OneSoccer think they are doing me a favour by sparing me from seeing bad things happen to my teams (I'm a York United fan, and a TFC fan), but it's really frustrating. And this despite me getting a Roku specifically because it seems to be the best device for OneSoccer (and my experience has been that it is the best. The Silk browser on my firestick is constantly pausing and buffering and pixelating when watching OneSoccer. I think they still don't have an amazon firestick app yet.)

[scooterlawrence5]

FuboTV and OneSoccer = present pain because they are on line.  But that's exactly where the market will go with content consumption in the near future.

[red card]

fubo tv app is starting to be available on smart tvs in Canada like DAZN. LG just added it. So, watching OneSoccer is close to tuning to a tv channel.

https://ca.lgappstv.com/main/tvapp

 

[red card]

In a Federal court ruling, all major Cdn ISPs must dynamically block access to web pages illegally streaming NHL games till the end of the season.

Rogers, Bell & Quebecor were the plaintiffs. They will be paying ISPs up to 50k to cover costs. Rogers found 53k (seems low) incidents between Jan 30-May 30 2021 where unauthorized NHL games were streamed.

Telus, Cogeco & TekSavvy raised concerns or were strongly opposed. 

This is an instance where it is good Rogers, Bell & Quebecor don't care too much about soccer broadcast rights, let alone overpaying for it.

 

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/canadian-broadcasters-given-unprecedented-ability-to-force-internet-providers-to-block-illegal-nhl-streams

 

[RS]

Some people here were hoping MediaPro would get the MLS rights. 

Worldwide MLS broadcasts are on Apple TV as of next season. 

 

[Watchmen]

48 minutes ago, RS said:

Some people here were hoping MediaPro would get the MLS rights. 

Worldwide MLS broadcasts are on Apple TV as of next season. 

 

10 year deal.  I can still see TSN picking up some of the Canadian games. But yeah, no MediaPro deal the way some predicted.

 

Edit: Yup, some games will be on TV.

 

Edited June 14, 2022 by Watchmen

[RS]

6 minutes ago, Watchmen said:

10 year deal.  I can still see TSN picking up some of the Canadian games. But yeah, no MediaPro deal the way some predicted.

 

Edit: Yup, some games will be on TV.

 

Yeah, there will still be games on TV networks but they won't be excusive broadcasts. 

[Watchmen]

Season ticket packages will include a free subscription:

 

[Ansem]

1 hour ago, RS said:

Yeah, there will still be games on TV networks but they won't be excusive broadcasts. 

Meaning MediaPro could grab those games as well

That's clearly the best deal that was on the table, not necessarily what they hoped for as clearly - TV wasn't close to those numbers

[Ansem]

TVA Sports are out

 

[RS]

28 minutes ago, Ansem said:

Meaning MediaPro could grab those games as well

That's clearly the best deal that was on the table, not necessarily what they hoped for as clearly - TV wasn't close to those numbers

They'd need an actual TV network by Feb. 2023 to make it work.

[Ansem]

2 minutes ago, RS said:

They'd need an actual TV network by Feb. 2023 to make it work.

Aren't they on Telus?