MLS embracing Social Media

Major League Soccer has kicked off its season last weekend with it its new broadcasting deal with partner NBC. You might have missed the broadcasts because it seems that people are missing NBC Sports a good deal these days leading to very bad ratings.

NBC’s woes might not go away soon due to the fact that the MLS has not yet broken through as a ratings driver. Its troubles in this area are varied, and it has at different times come under fire for everything from when it starts to its trading window. A good look at some of the issues can be found in these transcripts from Eric Wynalda.

Yet if you attend a match the energy is great. Fans are knowledgeable and attendance is growing. So what more can be done? Well using social media and other tools to keep the sport in front of fans is one step, and one that the league is taking.

It conducted a Twitter-based contest last weekend called #FirstKick for fans attending their teams opening match. The rules were pretty simply and any fan with access to Twitter that attended a match could participate. All you needed to do was tweet a photo of you or your friends from a match to win.

The tweet needed a @MLS twitter handle; it needed the #FirstKisk hashtag, proof that you were actually at the game in the photos such as stadium, player, promo or sign visible in your photo and last a link to your photo available on public domain, ex. Twitpic, Lockerz, Yfrog, Photobucket, Flickr, etc.

Submissions were accepted from Saturday, March 10 at 6 PM EST and ends on Monday, March 12 at 11:59 PM EST, so there is still time to send your photo in! There will be a winner draw at random for each day.

Fans that are traveling, or have games that are not broadcast can watch the action via MLS Live, which the league has revamped for the current season. The program, which does have blackout rules, allows fans to watch games via computer, iPad or iPhone, Roku and can be integrated with Apple TV for broadcast as well. Cost for a season is $59.99 and the free preview unfortunately ends on March 12.

The league has the obligatory Facebook page that also has the ability to keep fans in touch with what is going on in games and the league as a whole. I was surprised to find two friends that I did not know were fans not only subscribed to the page but also wrote about the sport in blogs and posts elsewhere. I guess when you have 325,000 likes that is inevitable (the league not me). I did not check Myspace.

I feel that the aggressive use of outlets such as Twitter and Facebook, as well as revamping and increasing its online presence is vital to the success of MLS. The league has a number of soccer only stadiums that show off its product very well. But it is obvious that television alone will not get the message out.

Even as sports powerhouses Fox Sports and ESPN continue to turn up the presence of soccer in their sports programming, MLS often seems to be missing in the mix. Fox captured the World Cup broadcasts in 2018 and 2022 and has increased its broadcasting of soccer matches, just not US MLS. ESPN, after losing the World Cup to Fox has still increased its broadcasting and online efforts with things such as broadcasting the UEFA European Championships and upgrading its online presence.

MLS has been expanding and has seen strong attendance in the new towns like Portland where its games last season were sold out. However television viewership has been flat and this does not bode well for the sport. According to the Big Lead last weekend, MLS averaged 291,000 viewers on ESPN and ESPN2 last season and 70,000 viewers on FOX Soccer. That is just sad.

The league, which is kicking off its 17th season, does not have to worry about out of control salaries for players due to a hard cap, but this is a disadvantage because it will be hard to lure top talent from around the world or to keep talent that hears the siren call of a big payday. Glowing television viewership can change that, but it will take all of its tools, on-line, mobile and broadcast, to achieve this dream.

ESPN to Broadcast UEFA European Football Championship 2012

Good news for football fans ESPN will have games in June. Sorry I did not mean to get you excited if you misunderstood, it is not American football but the European style, when it broadcasts the UEFA European Football Championship 2012.

The network is staying true to its word about expanding and deepening its coverage of the sport in the US and it will be doing so with all of the tools at its disposal, live broadcasts, tape delayed, mobile and Internet coverage as well.

The broadcasts will be spread across three of its channels with some overlap starting with ESPN Desportes taking the lead with a total of 27 live matches and four tape-delayed ones for a total of 106 hours of programming.

Second at bat will be ESPN with 22 matches as well as pre- and post- game shows while ESPN3 will have six matches and the additional pre-and post-game programming as well. All 31 of the matches will be available on ESPN Deportes Radio, WatchESPN and 25 matches will be live on ESPN Mobile TV. All broadcast games will be in HD for the first time.

While pre- and post-game shows are a staple for American football fans this will mark the first time that ESPN will be including them in its UEFA broadcasts and including some of the traditions such as the teams walking onto the pitch, the national anthems and ceremonial handshakes that are a cornerstone of European pregame ceremonies.

The tournament begins Friday, June 8, and runs through Sunday, July 1, in eight cities across Poland and Ukraine. If you are on vacation, graduating from school, or working during the games all 31 matches will be archived and can only be accessed on ESPN3 through July 31, 2012, and non-exclusively through the end of the year. All matches will be available for replay on ESPN3 shortly after completion.

ESPN Delivers a new Mobile App for Soccer Fans

ESPN’s promise to further establish its presence in the soccer world despite losing out to Fox future World Cup matches is coming to fruition as the sports media company has taken the wraps off of its latest mobile app, this one that promises to provide comprehensive coverage online.

The company will leverage its established web site ESPNsoccernet to provide fans the level of news and information content that is currently available from that site but deliver it to mobile devices.

The app will enable users to personalize it to some extent adding their favorite team, league and tournaments to enable them to more easily follow the action on field and off. News from teams or leagues can also be groups so that it is available on a single page rather than having to go to different pages for the information.

The App is the latest in a series of International sports focused offerings

In addition to the static news there will also be a range of videos and podcasts available from the app including ESPNsoccernet Press Pass podcast, plus, video content from ESPN’s studio-based discussion and analysis shows.

ESPN is striving for comprehensive coverage with the app, which is asking a lot considering the depth and breadth of soccer. Aside from the news a features it will of course have the scores from around the globe including tournament scores. The app will allow push notification so that both half time and full game results will be proactively delivered to the phones.

The app will initially only be available in the English language and only on Apple iOS powered devices but ESPN said that it expects to quickly expand the platforms that it is available to also include those powered by the Windows Phone, Symbian, and Android operating systems.

ESPN has been increasingly looking to mobile apps to enhance its position in the international market and has already launched two similar ventures that focus on mobile sporting content, including the ESPNF1 and ESPNcricinfo apps.

Friday Grab Bag: Digitized Swimsuit Issue-Where do I sign up?


Ford to show at Mobile World Congress

At the Mobile World Congress there will no doubt be an array of interesting products and technologies introduced, and there will be at list one show first- Ford plans to launch a car at the show. The B-MAX to be exact.

Ford has one of the keynote speeches at the show and it has been revealed that it will take the wraps off of the car that has what it calls Easy Access Door System, but it claims that as yet unrevealed technology in the car is what it will be touting at the show.

ESPN to increase soccer coverage?
After ESPN lost in its bid to broadcast the upcoming 2018 and 2022 World Cups it seemed that all of the progress the network had made in its coverage of soccer would all go down the drain. However the Big Lead reports that in an interview with the World Wide Leader major changes are in the works to improve its coverage.

It reported that after this summer’s European Championships there will be a major effort to massively overhaul ESPN’s presence online. It currently has two separate sites that cover the sport so simply consolidating them would be a positive step forwards.

BlackBerry takes a hit as Government agency moves to rivals
Research in Motion, reeling from a bad year just got more unpleasant news as the U.S. Government’s General Service Administration, its primary procurement agency, has started issuing smartphones that run both the Android and Apple iOS operating systems.

Until recently RIM’s BlackBerry had been the only option available from the GSA. However it is not all dire news as the BlackBerry is still the most widely used device among the RSA’s 17,000 employees and currently the rivals’ only account for approximately 5% in a trial program that is just now starting. However once the camel’s nose is in the tent watch out for the rest of the beast.

Apple seeking blood from a stone?
Apple has asked a bankruptcy court for permission to sue Kodak for infringement. That is just the tip of the iceberg according to Cnet, which reports that Apple is also seeking to file a patent infringement claim with the International Trade Commission and plans to file a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Manhattan.

Apple is already a two time loser in regards to taking Kodak in front of the ITC, which has ruled that Kodak did not infringe on Apple’s patents. Kodak has returned fire and last month filed a suit against Apple saying it violated some of Kodak’s patents.

Apple wins round in Germany vs Motorola
Apple has won a major round in its ongoing patent disputes with Motorola Mobility when the Munich I Regional Court ruled in favor in regards to patent # EP1964022. Not familiar with that one, are you? Well it has to do with unlocking a device using a gesture on an unlock image.

Apple will now have the opportunity to defend the side and lock patent as Motorola has already appealed the decision. The court looked at three different implementations of the technology and Apple won on two, losing on the third, which is used by Xoom tablets.

Apple is also asserting the same patent against Samsung sop expect to hear more about this issue going forward.

Looking for a more digital Sports Illustrated? It is here.
One of the coming of age items for high school students was squirreling away the annual Sports Illustrated Swim Suit issue before the parental units could confiscate it. Well now you can view it, and all of the magazines content, in a growing array of digital formats.

The latest is available for iPads, with horizontal and vertical views available as well as for the iPhone for the Apple fans and then it’s also available for Android smartphone and tablet users. All for the low, low price of $6.99.

However there is also a range of video options as well including much that is exclusive to the tablet market. Then a user could simply also head over to SI.com for additional video, as well as YouTube and Facebook.

Google fixes Wallet Security Hole
Your digital pocket can no longer be picked, according to Google, which has issued a fix for the security flaw that was reported in its Google Wallet. While there are still threats to the security, the simply method that required almost no hacking skill has been resolved.

Along with putting in a fix for the security gap Google has made some additional enhancements to the Wallet, head over to Pocketnow for a run down.

Camping stove boils water and charges smartphones
Looking forward to the backpacking season but worried that your smartphone’s battery will not handle three days in the great outdoors? Well BioLite has just the tool for you, a stove that burns wood for cooking and can also generate electricity.

The CampStove does both by using the thermal energy created when a fire is kindled in it to run a thermoelectric module that is built into the side of the stove. The module runs a fan that blows air onto the fire to improve combustion but also has excess energy available.

That energy can be used to charge small electronics devices such as a mobile phone, a GPS or lights. Of course if you backpack with back to nature types the stove might not help you stave off attack from your friends for using your phone.

London Calling: BBC Sports Upgrades Site in Advance of Summer Olympics

The BBC has remade its BBC Sports website and will include a significant increase in the amount of live sports that will be made available on the site, a move that will certainly cheer fans of English and European sports.

The move is the first major change at the site in over a decade and recognizes the fact that the manner in which users visits the site, the technology that they use to do so and their expectations of what a good sports site contains has dramatically changed over the ensuing years.

The BBC said about the upgrade “As such, live coverage sits at the heart of the new designs. Whether it’s text commentary on transfer deadline day, audio & video coverage of events, or highly visual and immersive, up-to-the- second tables and stats – this is a sports service custom built for modern sports fans.”

The impact of social media can be seen in the inclusion of comment modules but that seems to be just a first step since that is something that it should have had for years. The BBC said that it will also work for increased sharing of content on the site.

This is just the first step from the BBC, which said that it will be adding additional features to help mobile users with tablets, smartphones and other mobile and connected devices gain access to sports in any manner in which they wish to access it. The broadcast giant said that additional products and features will be rolled out prior to this summer’s London Olympics.

Putting live data and video upfront and foremost shows that the BBC understands that its clientele is changing from one that only accessed the site from computers and may have access to a television at the same time to one that is increasingly mobile and wants more.

Expectations of what is available online have changed forever and fans expect to see live action and replays and if the BBC did not provide it they would simply look elsewhere for the information. The site currently is the most popular sports destination online in the United Kingdom, with 11.5 million weekly visitors.

Bleacher Report and Turner Sports Continue to Expand Sports Apps Space

Ever wanted to follow a Div III Field Hockey playoff or have streaming news from your favorite pro team? Well there is a couple more apps that will help you do just that as web sites and news organizations continue to expand their presence in the mobile sports space.

First up is Turner Sports which has developed a mobile app called NCAA Sports for the Apple iOS and Android platforms. Designed to cover a wide spectrum of sports that often do not get wide coverage the free app will include live streaming video of over 60 NCAA championship games.

It will provide live streaming video of championships for all NCAA sports including Division II football, Divisions II and III wrestling, Divisions I, II and III field hockey, Divisions II and III men’s and women’s soccer, and Divisions II and III women’s volleyball. The app will also include in-depth regular season coverage of football and basketball.

The program permits users to drop in and out of the live broadcasts and provides the ability to chat with friends using Facebook or to post comments via Twitter.

In addition Turner has added a new mobile website on its hosted NCAA.Com space that is designed for mobile browsers user with touch screen devices such as Tablets and smartphones. The mobile website will allow fans to get live scores, schedules, news, rankings and video recaps that have been tailored for display on the mobile devices.

In a press release Mark Johnson, vice-president of Turner Sports’ NCAA Digital group said about the development that “College sports content is underserved in the mobile space right now and we’re excited to offer fans mobile products that are 100% dedicated to college sports.”

Bleacher Report moves desktop offerings to mobile app

The second app coming down the road is from Bleacher Report called b/r Team Stream App and the free app is now available for both Android and Apple iOS devices. It will cover a number of sports including NFL, College Football, MLB, NBA, NHL Soccer, Tennis and Golf.

The app is in ways a news aggregation program, Bleacher Report searches the web for news on the team you have selected and streams them to your mobile device using the app. However it will also include tweets from athletes and sportswriters.