The ''MLS on NBC'' is the branding used for broadcasts of

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

(MLS) games produced by

NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division for NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, that is responsible for sports broadcasts on their broadcast network NBC, the Cable television, cable channels NBC owns, and on Peacock (streaming service) ...

, the sports division of the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

television network in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, and broadcast on NBC and

NBCSN NBCSN (also known as NBC Sports Network) was an American sports television television channel, channel owned by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It originally launched on July 1, 1995, as the Outdoor Lif ...

from 2012 to 2014.

Contract overview

On January 5, 2012, NBC Sports signed a three-year contract with Major League Soccer to nationally televise 40 matches per year, which would primarily air on the NBC Sports Network (now NBCSN), beginning with the 2012 season. All NBC telecasts included pre-game and post-game coverage, with the network intending to promote its games during broadcasts of its other major sports properties, such as the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

. More specifically as part of the new deal, NBC would carry three regular season and two playoff matches (the first time since

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

that that many MLS games were to be broadcast on English-language network television), as well as 38 regular season and three playoff matches on sister channel NBCSN; both networks also aired matches featuring the

United States men's national soccer team The United States men's national soccer team (USMNT), officially recognized as USA by FIFA, represents the United States in men's international Association football, soccer. The team is governed by the United States Soccer Federation, which is ...

(with two games airing on each network). NBC Sports took over the Major League Soccer rights from

Fox Soccer Fox Soccer (formerly Fox Soccer Channel & Fox Sports World before that) was an American television specialty channel specializing in soccer, owned by 21st Century Fox, which operated from 1997 to 2013. It formerly broadcast rugby and Australian ...

and

Fox Deportes Fox Deportes (formerly Fox Sports en Español) is an American pay television network dedicated to broadcasting sports-related programming in Spanish, aimed at the Hispanic population in the United States. Launched in 1993, Fox Deportes, a divis ...

. Previous deals with U.S. partners

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

ESPN2 ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between the Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%). ESPN2 was initially ...

ESPN Deportes ESPN Deportes (, ) is an American multinational Spanish-language pay television sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the ...

and

Galavisión Galavisión is an American Spanish-language pay television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. The network is unrelated to the earlier Mexican channel of the same name, though both broadcast Televisa-produced programming. As of February 20 ...

continued in 2012, as did with Canadian partners TSN,

TSN2 TSN2 is a Canadian English-language discretionary sports specialty channel that acts as the secondary feed of sports-centred channel The Sports Network (TSN) and owned by CTV Specialty Television Inc. It was launched in its current form on A ...

and GolTV.

Performance

NBC Sports' ratings for MLS improved greatly due to the increased presence of NBCSN (fueled by their NHL television package), with average ratings for the games jumping 122% for the inaugural season of the contract in 2012. Yet still, several games ranked at or near the bottom of the ratings among sporting event and entertainment telecasts, whereas ESPN's MLS coverage – which was railed by fans as being inferior to NBC's – had higher viewership, attributed to the greater availability of ESPN and ESPN2 nationally. NBC and NBCSN's MLS telecasts during the

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

season averaged 115,000 viewers per game, a steep drop from 2012. Looking to capitalize on further soccer opportunities, NBC Sports acquired the rights to the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

from Fox Soccer in 2012, in time for the

2013–14 Premier League The 2013–14 Premier League (known as the Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the 22nd season of the Premier League, the top-flight English professional league for men's football clubs, and the 115th season of top-flight Engli ...

season. Speculation abounded on if MLS was to be treated by the sports division secondarily to the Premier League, which has a greater U.S. audience than the domestic league, placing MLS' future with NBC in doubt. In 2014, negotiations broke down between NBC and MLS on a new television contract. The league instead signed an agreement with

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The name originates from Fox Broadcasting Company in the United States, which in turn derives its name from Fox Fi ...

to serve as its U.S. broadcast partner, beginning with the 2015 season in a shared rights deal with

. NBC also operates a blog, ProSoccerTalk, which ran news headlines from Major League Soccer and other international soccer leagues. With NBC acquiring the broadcast television rights to the Premier League in 2013, significantly more coverage of the English top-flight was added to the site.

On-air staff

Commentators

* Ron Burke – alternate studio host * JP Dellacamera – alternate play-by-play * Brian Dunseth – alternate color commentator *

Robbie Earle Robert Fitzgerald Earle MBE (born 27 January 1965) is a former football player and current television commentator. Born in England, he represented Jamaica in international football. An attacking midfielder, he played 578 league games in senio ...

– alternate color commentator *

Robbie Mustoe Robin "Robbie" Mustoe (born 28 August 1968) is an English former professional footballer who now works as a commentator for NBC Sports. He made nearly 500 appearances in the Football League and Premier League playing primarily as a defensive ...

– alternate color commentator * Brent Harris – alternate studio host *

Kyle Martino Kyle Hunter Martino (born February 19, 1981) is an American former professional soccer player who spent seven seasons with the Columbus Crew and Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer as a midfielder. He is currently a television soccer analy ...

– lead color commentator * John Strong – lead play-by-play * Russ Thaler – lead studio host

References

External links

*
MLS News: Cody Westheimer Composes Theme Music for Major League Soccer on NBCFor NBC the script is twofold: Tell the story of Major League Soccer while building the stature of its NBC Sports Network.Partnership Looks Bright For MLS And NBC

NBC Thinking Outside the Booth with Their MLS Soccer CoverageNBC Sports Group Combines To Show Over 40 MLS Games in 2012NBC Sports Group Taps Arlo White To Call MLS Games

{{Association football on television 2012 American television series debuts 2014 American television series endings