MLS Match Day Live Is Under My Skin

Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by the new CBA and the launching of MLS Match Day Live. Only, there's a lot of discontent simmering. All due to the absurd Greek tragedy that is MLSsoccer.com and it's Match Day Live service.

First impressions, good intentions and higher expectations are the cobblestones and road signs on the road to hell. As fans we realize if our League is going to launch a new website it is natural to have higher expectations. We can see the potential there and it excites us. The first impression we were left with upon launch however was "What chimp and circus trainer worked on this?" And that's the tamer version.

Obviously our League didn't plan to have a monkey humping a football. They wanted to bring us a state of the art viewing experience online with fountains of information just a click away. Okay they failed the launch. Disappointing as it was, we will forgive them. I won't hack on the tech issues as they are working on them. MLS even posted an apology. So like the economy we are on the road to recovery.....

Eventually all tech issues will be fixed and everything on MLSsoccer and Match Day Live will work. Awesome... but I still have a question.... What foolish person decided the BLACKOUT policy for MLS Match Day Live?

Here is the most glaring preposterous goatscrew in the whole field of cockups. Sit down for this one.

For $39.99 you can subscribe to Match Day Live and receive up to 160 matches live on your computer in HD! Suhweet! Nowhere do I see a blackout policy, I had to discover some of those oddities on my own.

I live in Salt Lake City, home of your MLS Cup Champion Real Salt Lake. All of RSL's games are televised so I expect NOT to see them on my Match Day Live service. No problem.

Last Friday I go to tune into the Chivas v Colorado on my HD Match Day Live service and I cannot view it. Problem. No customer service was available live so I filed a ticket. On Saturday after an hour or so I get hold of live chat support who tells me I am blacked out of all Rapids games as Salt Lake City is a Colorado Rapids TV market. Huh? That's right, Salt Lake is a TV market for the Colorado Rapids. (Don't tell RSL or Dave Checketts)

On a side note I checked all TV stations, especially the Altitude Sports Network and the Colorado game was not shown there on Friday night in this market.

On Monday I get this email from MLS support.

James,

Due to broadcasting rights assigned to the Altitude Sport Network, which is the primary broadcast partner for the Colorado Rapids and has a 10-state distribution zone that includes Utah, you will be blacked out for all Rapids games on Matchday Live. Please let us know if we can be of further assistance.

MLS Support


What we have here is a failure to communicate. ASN will rarely if ever air a Colorado game in this area. If they did that would be great, as I have the ASN channel on my cable. It gets better. Not all of Utah is blacked out. Not even all of Colorado is blacked out. Huh? I said not even all of Colorado is blacked out. They do this halfwit policy by zip code. Somewhere on Mainstreet USA a guy is blissfully watching Match Day Live while his neighbor across the street is blacked out. Brilliant.

MLS wants as MANY PEOPLE as possible to see their games and I concur. Who wouldn't? They better get a handle on this quagmire before everyone chalks it up to the half-baked marketing/pandering they have always done.

After all it seems, the more things change, the more they stay the same. And that's really unfortunate.

One Man, One Vote, One Table

I'm a busy man. I don't have time to write like I once did. It's been two months or more since I took the time to write a blog about something no one cares about, but today I feel the urge.

I don't know the reasoning behind two conferences in MLS. Sure I've heard the lame excuses but it is really just pure stubborn foolishness is it not?

Under the current format of confusing nonsense you have the reigning MLS Cup Champs, Real Salt Lake, having never won their conference. They are East Conference Champions due to the ridiculous seeding rules that does nothing to further the appeal of MLS.

I live in Salt Lake and I'm an RSL supporter. Do you think they should be the "Champs"? Under the current playoff format they deserve it. Did Columbus, after a season of excellence deserve to go out in the first round so easily? Absolutely not. It should have been harder for RSL and easier for Columbus to advance.

How does having a one table system balance the fairness element? Under the two conference system we could have a number two seed not being nearly as good as the number three seed from the other conference. Call it what you like, I will call it stupid. In fact the whole current thing has been covered ad nauseum so if you want more go look it up.

One Table, where Seed 1 plays Seed 8 at HOME with the 2nd leg AWAY. The reward for being the best over the course of the season should not be going on the road. Reward excellence, punish mediocrity. That's the American way I remember.

No one cares about a Conference Champion to any degree do they? 1 v 8, 2 v 7, 3 v 6, 4 v 5. Top seed at Home then Away. Hit the road after getting the home crowd to help give you the win. Fans don't care about not advancing to the next round on the road.

The 2nd round would be a one off at the home of highest seed with winners advancing to the Championship at the neutral site.

Some other steps to take. Reward the season winner with a little, no, A LOT, more recognition and what every player likes. CASH

One table would also make the scrap for Seed 8 more entertaining. We may not have relegation but we certainly could make the chase for the Season Title and the chase for the last playoff spot a lot more interesting.

I'm just one man but my one vote would go for the one table system.