For the first time since the 2014 FIFA World Cup, ABC will broadcast a soccer match on its over-the-channel to viewers in the United States.
The 2019 MLS Cup Final will get the honors when the game will air live on both ABC and Univision on Sunday, November 10 from 3PM ET. Executives will be hoping that the viewership on ABC will be an increase on the 2.2 million who watched the 1997 MLS Cup Final on ABC.
As mentioned on several episodes of the World Soccer Talk Podcast this year, ESPN executives had been mulling over the possibility of broadcasting an Italian Serie A match on the over-the-air ABC channel as early as last year. But Major League Soccer not Serie A will be the first to benefit from the elevated profile and increased audience opportunity.
ABC, the broadcast network of the Walt Disney Company, was the exclusive home of MLS Cup during Major League Soccer’s first 13 years (1996-2008). In all, 21 of the 23 previous MLS Cup matches have aired on ABC or ESPN since the league’s inception. ESPN has televised the championship match for eight of the last 10 seasons.
“ABC has a rich history of soccer coverage, including MLS Cup for more than a decade in the early years of Major League Soccer. We are excited to once again showcase the league’s marquee event on the network,” said Burke Magnus, Executive Vice President, Programming and Scheduling, ESPN.
ESPN’s top MLS commentator team of Jon Champion and Taylor Twellman will call the MLS Cup on ABC.
SEE MORE: Schedule of MLS games on US TV and streaming
In related news, ESPN announced this week that they’ve extended their agreement with USL until 2022 to broadcast the second and third division games for three more years.
The new agreement will see a three-fold rise in the number of games televised annually on ESPN’s networks, including the addition of Spanish-language telecasts on ESPN Deportes, as well as continued expansive coverage on ESPN+.
“We are thrilled to continue with ESPN and ESPN+,” said USL Executive Vice President Court Jeske. “USL is an organization that aims to put the fans first and we know that supporters across the country will be very pleased with this new three-year agreement and the exposure it brings.”
The relationship between the USL and ESPN will enter its fifth full year in 2020 as the league celebrates its 10th anniversary season. Under the new agreement, 18 regular-season games from the Championship will air on ESPN2, ESPNEWS, ESPNU or ESPN Deportes annually in addition to the USL Championship Final. All other matches will be streamed live on ESPN+
Nice, was going to say it’s dumb to schedule this smack dab in the middle of an NFL Sunday, but looking at that week’s games it looks rather weak (and my team on a bye!)
1PM
Lions at Bears (Lions will probably be bad)
Ravens and Cincy (meh)
Bills at Browns (If the Browns live up the the hype not terrible, but game could be lopsided if that’s the case)
Panthers at Packers (Newton, Rodgers, 2 possible playoff teams……so far the best one)
KC at Titans (should be lopsided)
Falcons at Saints (divisional matchup with 2 possible playoff teams….the new best one)
Giants at Jets (both should be bad)
Cardinals at Tampa (if Kyler Murray lives up the hype could be interesting, otherwise no)
4/4:25
Miami at Indy (with Andrew Luck retiring and Miami awful, this is ugly)
Rams at Steelers (should be a very good game, but after the MLS Cup starts)
To be honest, you were right with your original thought. I still think that more than half of the games you’ve listed are still big enough games to where it’ll draw away casual fans eyes from the MLS cup final by the hundreds of thousands to even a couple million. I would’ve preferred this game to have been played on a prime time hour on a Saturday evening where the only competition would’ve been some NCAAF game. But then again, ABC airs multiple college football games every weekend on their network so that’s where I think the MLS weren’t able to capitalize unfortunately.
You’re probably right. Have to factor in the people paying attention just for the fantasy teams too, they’ll watch anything
I also noticed that there is 3 NHL games and 1 NBA game during this time slot. I do not know how many of those games will be televised.
Game should be played on a Saturday night to begin at 9 p.m. Eastern- need prime time game not when NFL games are going on. Ratings would increase.
This seems obvious.
This is great news. Shows ESPN/ Disney commitment is increasing!!!
Fox souls consider sb licensing Quatar WC games to them !!!
I’m not sure if FOX can sublicense the 2022 world cup while the games played in November to December.
As much as this news seems amazing, i’m really perplexed at why they would air the game on a midday Sunday rather than on a prime time hour on a Saturday evening where it would get more attention by casual fans (or even non fans!) and it’ll generate much better viewership/ratings all together! But even in light of that, I really like this move by ABC & ESPN to have this cup final played on a free network for all!
But then again, ABC airs multiple college football games every weekend on their network so that’s where I think the MLS weren’t able to capitalize unfortunately.
ABC 👍
November 10 👎, better december 1
Sunday 👍
3 pm 👎, better 8 pm
I think ESPN/ABC recognize this will be a challenge from their comments but also that they believe MLS is at a point now to thrive on ABC again. The biggest take away I seen mention in other articles like this one from Frntoffice Sports is the return of regular season games to ABC thats huge! ESPN/ABC said they will put their shoulder behind MLS and ABC so it succeeds. Gotta like that commitment. MLS has had a solid year in TV ratings on ESPN this year. Here are some some passages from the FrnOffice Sports article below.
Burke Magnus, ESPN executive vice president, programming and scheduling, said that given MLS’s shift in its playoff schedule, the final “lined up well with an available window for ABC.”
“We’re bullish on the future of MLS, and it’s been great to use our array of distribution outlets to showcase the league,” Magnus said. “Their championship game had a great history for many years on ABC, so it’s a great opportunity to take it back over to the broadcast network.”
The shift is not dissimilar to what ESPN does with some of its other high-profile sports rights, such as moving games from the NBA Finals or college football to ABC.
However, the move for MLS is of note as it puts the league’s championship match essentially right alongside the 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. ET NFL games as the MLS Cup final will be aired at 3 p.m. ET.
On November 10, CBS is scheduled to air the Indianapolis Colts versus the Miami Dolphins at 4:05 PM ET, while FOX is scheduled to air the Los Angeles Rams versus the Pittsburgh Steelers at 4:25 PM ET.
Magnus said it “really becomes tough sledding for every sports property – and it’s not just an MLS-specific issue – that is looking for clear air for their biggest and best games once college football and the NFL hit.”
“It’s difficult to find that in any weekend, but we think that given the shift from December to November, the viewership landscape for MLS Cup won’t change,” Magnus said. “It’s not as deep into the NFL season, and we like the idea of condensing the playoffs and making it a tighter window so that from a media perspective there will be a lot more momentum going into it.”
Magnus said that the network will “put our shoulder behind” the new time slot for the MLS Cup final, noting that it is planning to use the promotional platform provided by the previous day’s slate of college football games to heavily promote MLS’s championship match. “We think it’ll put the match in front of an audience it doesn’t already reach, which will give it a very good chance to succeed.”
Magnus said it has not yet been determined what will either lead-in or follow the MLS Cup final broadcast on ABC, nor if the game will have any pre- or post-game coverage on the network.
READ MORE: MLS Goes Digital For New All-Star Skills Challenge
However, he did leave the door open to more MLS matches finding their way to ABC beyond the championship match next season.
“We look to use the broadcast network platform to complement what we do on the cable network, and on certain weekends where we have conflicts or where we’re loaded up pretty good on the ESPN networks we’re going to look at all the scheduling possibilities and add ABC into the mix – that’s for the total game inventory, and we’ll look to do that in the regular season as well.”
Not certain when is a good time in the Fall on the Weekend. College Football and the NFL are just juggernauts. Probably makes the most sense to schedule it on the heels of a college football game.
Why didn’t ABC/ESPN show the FA CUP Final on TV? The intrusive ticker at the bottom of the screen will make the MLS Cup unwatchable. Taylor Twellman will also put himself at the center of attention with his constant bragging voice. I’m sure TUDN will have better coverage. The MLS Cup should be on the big FOX network in my opinion.
Mr Whiny pants at it again!
The ticker is DEFINITELY worth complaining about.
I don’t understand why they didn’t schedule it for Sunday night 8 pm. It’s better to go against one NFL game than against 10.
Actually, they are only going up against one maybe two games which are less profile than an SNF game. Sunday afternoon games are regional, not national.
I wonder if they’ll do the same for the Euro 2020 final. According to the ESPN press release they are looking to add more soccer to the main network.
Where specifically did you see that? Would be cool if so but I only additional info I’ve read besides MLS Cup was ABC saying they look to incorporate more inventory of MLS regular season games moving forward next year.
I know that they are adding more soccer to ABC, but I was just speculating if that meant Euro 2020, the FA Cup, or Serie A like Chris mentioned above.