|
TV deal bundles World Cup, MLS
By Howard Fendrich, The Associated Press
NEW YORK — The 2002 World Cup finally has an English-language
TV home in the United States — ESPN and ABC.
The Walt Disney Co. networks will air the games from the
May 31-June 30 tournament in South Korea and Japan under a broad deal with Major
League Soccer announced Wednesday.
Most games start at 2:30 a.m., 5 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. EDT,
with the championship game at 7 a.m. EDT on June 30.
Unlike in 1998, though, ESPN and ABC won't be paying upwards
of $20 million for the broadcast rights to the world's most-watched sporting
event. Instead, the networks are turning over time slots to the MLS, which will
sell ads and cover production costs.
The package, which could help raise the sport's profile
in the United States, includes the 2006 World Cup in Germany, the 2003 Women's
World Cup in China, and five seasons of MLS games through 2006.
"This arrangement provides the opportunity for cross-marketing,
promotion, sales integration and strategic scheduling," MLS commissioner Don
Garber said. "We are pleased to continue our partnership with ABC and ESPN ...
and look forward to growing the sport together on television."
MLS reportedly paid $40 million to $50 million to buy the
U.S. TV and radio rights to the 2002 and 2006 World Cups and the 2003 Women's
World Cup from German media company Kirch Group. Kirch purchased the rights
from FIFA, soccer's governing body, in May.
Of the 2002 World Cup's 64 games, 17 will be broadcast
live on ESPN, 46 live on ESPN2 and the final live on ABC, which also will show
eight other games on tape.
Four years ago, when the tournament was in France, ESPN
showed 27 games, ESPN2 23, and ABC 14 — all live.
Univision holds the Spanish-language TV rights in the United
States and will show all the games live — 56 on Univision (which reaches
about 70% of U.S. TV homes) and eight on a new network it's launching in January
— with many being replayed in prime time to allow for a greater audience.
There is a sizable enough audience for soccer in the United
States, even if TV ratings for MLS (about 200,000 homes per game on ESPN and
165,000 on ESPN2 this season) and WUSA (a little above 300,000 on TNT) were
disappointing.
The 1998 World Cup coverage on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and Univision
averaged, combined, about a 4.4 national household rating. The final between
France and Brazil drew the equivalent of about a 7.4 on ABC and Univision together.
The numbers were even better in 1994, when the World Cup was played in the United
States.
A new company headed by Garber and formed by MLS investor-operators
Anschutz Entertainment Group, The Hunt Sports Group and Dentsu Inc., will oversee
sales and broadcast production for the World Cup telecasts.
Copyright 2002 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
|
