Sounders move to iHeart KJR 950

[KXA]

Albert Pike would be proud of you.

Why do you still want to show your ignorance? If you want to chase conspiracies, be my guest. That anger you harbor will only eat you up from the inside out. You appear to be only interested in yourself. So, do something selfish...go see a shrink and get that anger out of your system. Your attitude about life is what will hold you back, not some evil white person. You can thank me later.

 

[bobdavcav]

In most of the world, soccer is the money-minting golden sport.

However, media outlets don't employ the conventions that grew out of Baseball and, late, from American football, in running spots. Pre-recorded spots are run pre- and-post game and in the halftime. On radio, during play by play, live liners are used frequently (similar to the liners that are part of many station's traffic reports) and inserted where they fit. And certain game events, like penalties, goals, etc. are sponsored with a client "owning" each kind of event and receiving a tag during narration.

Many Spanish language stations in the US make good profits off soccer. But they commercialize the games in the proven way used internationally. The real question is why English language broadcasters don't adapt to a proven system.

This isn't an entirely foreign concept to baseball and football. One that I'm remembering from a number of years ago was for a couple seasons, the Mariners had the Built Green quality play of the game, and sometimes they'll advertise the U.S. Bank score, and they've got the Farms friendly review, as well as probably others that I'm forgetting.

 

[wn3]

This isn't an entirely foreign concept to baseball and football. One that I'm remembering from a number of years ago was for a couple seasons, the Mariners had the Built Green quality play of the game, and sometimes they'll advertise the U.S. Bank score, and they've got the Farms friendly review, as well as probably others that I'm forgetting.

This. Yes, you can monetize those 45 minutes, but with other sports you can play spots AND monetize game time as well.

 

[AQH]

It's just the opposite. Advertisers are not soccer friendly, because they don't know that in most of the rest of the world countless billions of dollars in advertising are placed in soccer matches, but using a different model: ads within play are tiny liners, done often and with the full emotion of the game being played. Ads of more conventional length are played in pre- and post-game shows and in the halftime break.

So it's the advertisers fault? Got it.

For the radio listener, the pace is faster and there are no tedious long interruptions.

It's still soccer. Americans care about soccer like Europeans care about baseball or American football.

If soccer wants to market itself better, it needs revenue. If they don't want to adapt to American-style marketing and advertising, that's their prerogative. They can stick to its boring image and its fans rioting and fighting.

The closest to soccer like intensive play is basketball, which tends to explain why that sport is growing rapidly in the rest of the Western Hemisphere, yet baseball and, particularly, American Football, have never gotten much of a foothold.

Because basketball actually markets itself. They market the sport through money they get through TV timeouts every quarter. Imagine that.

 

[davideduardo]

So it's the advertisers fault? Got it.

The blame for not adopting the most convenient advertising model for the game is partly owned by the media for not being willing to change and partly in the hands of advertisers who can't think outside the box to develop new markets.

It's still soccer. Americans care about soccer like Europeans care about baseball or American football.

For all practical purposes, European interest in those sports is nearly zero; interest in soccer in the US has been increasing dramatically in the last two decades. The issues surrounding brain damage and injury are causing fewer adolescents to play football, so within a decade or so we'll have a whole generation that has a significant portion not as interested in the sport.

If soccer wants to market itself better, it needs revenue. If they don't want to adapt to American-style marketing and advertising, that's their prerogative. They can stick to its boring image and its fans rioting and fighting.

There are literally thousands of significant matches every week. We hear about riots maybe once every year or so. Just as we have out of control fans following the winning or a basketball or football title...

The sport requires 45 minute non-stop periods, as part of the thrill of the game is witnessing the endurance of the players. If advertisers want to capture what will be a growing and significantly un-duplicated audience, they need to adapt their message to the environment.

Because basketball actually markets itself. They market the sport through money they get through TV timeouts every quarter. Imagine that.

It all depends on who you are and your media consumption. I have never seen such basketball marketing, yet I see and hear considerable soccer marketing.

 

[Rob Piotrowski]

The sport requires 45 minute non-stop periods, as part of the thrill of the game is witnessing the endurance of the players. If advertisers want to capture what will be a growing and significantly un-duplicated audience, they need to adapt their message to the environment.

NBC has taken that approach in long-duration Olympic events by dropping in :15s between short breaks in the action (i.e. between ski runs). Soccer could easily adapt that model.

 

[Rock knocker]

The Sounders did not air on 710, only 97.3. And it did not survive conflicts against the Mariners or Seahawks. KJR likely pitched exclusivity, and being fresh off recent success, the Sounders probably asked for too much.

Correction, it aired on 97.3 FM unless all three were going at once, then it was 'Hawks=97.3, Mariners=710 and Sounders=770am.

 

[Bongwater]

I wish they'd start broadcasting Aussie Rules football here.

 

[Rock knocker]

I need to correct myself again. If the Seahawks were playing, they'd get 710am and KIRO FM, the Sounders would get 770am.

 

[bobdavcav]

I need to correct myself again. If the Seahawks were playing, they'd get 710am and KIRO FM, the Sounders would get 770am.

I knew what you meant, and I still think that's absolutely ridiculous. Why should the football team get two frequencies when every other sports franchize in this market only gets one? The only time I'd support bumping the Mariners to 770 would be if the Mariners, Seahawks, and Sounders were all playing at the same time, and I don't think I've ever seen that happen. If I were negotiating the contract for the Mariners, I'd probably demand not to be bumped to the third-teer station just to give the football team a second stick. The only reason I don't have this issue with the Huskies is because 97.7 is in a 24/7 simulcast with 1000, it's not something special they do for the games.

 

[boombox4]

I wish they'd start broadcasting Aussie Rules football here.

That would be so cool. I'll never forget the first time I saw it on cable TV a long time ago.

Fast paced game.

Amazed that more Americans haven't already picked up on it, for that reason alone. But then, with the big five (NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, and then MLS -- which is growing), the US is probably sports'ed out. Most countries have maybe two major sports -- three at most (soccer, basketball and hockey in the European countries; Soccer, Rugby and cricket in the Commonwealth countries, etc.).

 

[Rock knocker]

KOMO seems to do OK with the Huskies, but there sure was a disconnect when KOMO broadcast the Mariners two decades ago, and when KTTH was the home of the Sonics. I think it's because the broadcast is property of the team, but the pre- and post-game shows are all on the carrier, and neither KOMO-Mariners nor KTTH-Sonics carrier partner was willing to step up and have a pre game with any gusto. And then in the hole the the Sonics departure left at KJR, they had some weird show. I remember one was all about fantasy sports. Those shows might do good late at night or week end mornings, but they just don't cut it three days a week at 7pm.

I do believe I remember a time when all three teams actually overlapped their broadcasts, probably in September with one team playing on the east coast and getting over when the others start on the west coast, with one of them in Seattle.

 

[bobdavcav]

You lost me when talking about the pregame. What annoys me about the way KOMO does the Huskies is the amount of pregame. Why does it have to begin five hours before the game starts? If the answer I'm going to get is it's so that KOMO gets some money from the game broadcasts with their own pregame before the network, then I'll counter with my rebuttle now. If that strategy is so successful, then why haven't I seen it done before? If it has been done before, then give me an example.

 

[Kelly A]

You lost me when talking about the pregame. What annoys me about the way KOMO does the Huskies is the amount of pregame. Why does it have to begin five hours before the game starts? If the answer I'm going to get is it's so that KOMO gets some money from the game broadcasts with their own pregame before the network, then I'll counter with my rebuttle now. If that strategy is so successful, then why haven't I seen it done before? If it has been done before, then give me an example.

Depending on the contract with the team, the flagship or affiliate station gets all the revenue from pre-or post-post game programming. The team typically owns all the in-game and some post game advertising, including in-arena, radio and (as applicable), TV. So consider this: The radio station owner pays the team for the rights to broadcast the games. During the game itself, and whatever prescribed post-game broadcast, the team gets all that revenue. So where does the station make any money from being a flagship or affiliate? If there wasn't any way of monetizing the games, there would be no motivation for any station to carry them.

 

[bobdavcav]

I'm going to assume that such contracts are the exception, rather than the rule?

 

[Rock knocker]

I would assume the opposite, if you look up most sports team, their broadcasting crew is on the teams pay-roll.

 

[AQH]

You lost me when talking about the pregame. What annoys me about the way KOMO does the Huskies is the amount of pregame. Why does it have to begin five hours before the game starts? If the answer I'm going to get is it's so that KOMO gets some money from the game broadcasts with their own pregame before the network, then I'll counter with my rebuttle now. If that strategy is so successful, then why haven't I seen it done before? If it has been done before, then give me an example.

Because in KOMO's case, they have to recoup the truckloads of money they are paying for the Huskies play by play rights. They get it back through advertising in the the pre and post-game shows. They are going to fetch more money from those pre and post game shows on weekends than they would having Mark Christopher working 20 hours a weekend to intro canned traffic and weather reports.

 

[Rob Piotrowski]

I'm going to assume that such contracts are the exception, rather than the rule?

Bob,

With all due respect, if you assume less and ask more you'll become much more educated in these things. Give it a try.

 

[AQH]

The blame for not adopting the most convenient advertising model for the game is partly owned by the media for not being willing to change and partly in the hands of advertisers who can't think outside the box to develop new markets.

Football has TV time outs. So does basketball. As does hockey. And MLB has a set amount of time between innings. NASCAR even allows networks to run spots during races.

For all practical purposes, European interest in those sports is nearly zero; interest in soccer in the US has been increasing dramatically in the last two decades. The issues surrounding brain damage and injury are causing fewer adolescents to play football, so within a decade or so we'll have a whole generation that has a significant portion not as interested in the sport.

Agree the NFL has issues, but to write their eulogy is foolish. More of the younger American soccer talent are going to Europe, and that's going to create its own talent drain. Heck, the U.S. failed to qualify for the World Cup. Those aren't going to help the sport's cause.

Again, when I start hearing the sports stations talk more about the Sounders during the MLS season a fraction as often as I hear those same stations talk about the Seahawks in the NFL off-season, I might be convinced soccer is one the rise.

Fact of the matter is the Sounders went from a pretty good FM signal with a lot of listeners to an AM station with a fraction of the listeners owned by a company that may not be around 52 weeks from now. If that's a sign of a sport that is "dramatically" on the rise, I'd hate to see what mediocre looks like.

There are literally thousands of significant matches every week. We hear about riots maybe once every year or so. Just as we have out of control fans following the winning or a basketball or football title...

The sport requires 45 minute non-stop periods, as part of the thrill of the game is witnessing the endurance of the players. If advertisers want to capture what will be a growing and significantly un-duplicated audience, they need to adapt their message to the environment.

Again, no dispute of the world popularity of the game. And there's no disputing the riots. But a few idiots idiots climbing up Philadelphia utility poles and turning over a car pales in comparison to riots where 74 people die. That stuff dates back to the 18th century.

The "requirement" and "thrill" of the game are both subjective. If MLS is going to up their game and be more media friendly, they're going to have to make concessions. Advertisers' messages do not need to change, it's up to MLS to adjust inventory. If MLS wants to satisfy the purists, then go right ahead. Just don't expect the media to bend over backwards for your product. The media is there for the exact same reason the teams and the players are, follow the money.

Fact of the matter is an average nationally televised MLS game on ESPN draws fewer viewers than the New York Yankees get on their local TV network.

It all goes back to the reason this thread exists; the Sounders win it all a year ago and went to the finals again this past year. Yet they had to downgrade to get a deal on a weaker brand in KJR. And the Sounders do not have a TV deal. Be advertiser-friendly and they might have one.

It all depends on who you are and your media consumption. I have never seen such basketball marketing, yet I see and hear considerable soccer marketing.

If your consumption of sports is done in a vacuum then of course you're not going to get specific marketing. To insinuate the NBA or specific teams does no marketing is foolish. I could not care less about the Sounders, but I'm not foolish enough to think they do not do any marketing at all.

MLS being weak is not just in Seattle, but even in L.A. In the case of the L.A. Galaxy, updating their webpage about radio broadcasts (there are no English language broadcasts) and the reference to the web streams for the 2016 season would be a good start to getting the media ducks in a row. At least the Galaxy have "Returning for a fifth season of radio broadcasts in 2012 is ESPN Deportes Radio, KWKW 1330 AM" for Spanish language broadcasts. Talk about slapdash.

 

[Kelly A]

I'm going to assume that such contracts are the exception, rather than the rule?

For larger market professional teams, it's totally the rule. Teams have their own: Ticket sales, in-arena advertising sales, broadcast advertising sales, and (as mentioned) team-paid broadcast talent. Radio only gets the advertising in the pregame and some potential post game call-in shows.

AA and AAA teams will sometimes give away their broadcasts to a local station, who owns all the advertising and expenses for talent, etc. in the broadcast. The team uses the broadcast purely to promote ticket sales.