By Paul Kennedy

After drawing 0.4 ratings for its first two MLS broadcasts, NBC drew an overnight rating of only 0.3 for Saturday’s Philadelphia-New York game.

The last time a network aired an MLS regular-season match was in 2003 and 2004 when two matches received 1.0 and 1.3 ratings.

The last MLS Cup to air on network television was the 2008 final on ABC, which drew a 0.6 rating. The previous 12 finals on ABC ranged from a 1.4 in 1996 and 1997 to a 0.6 in 2003.

Saturday's 0.3 MLS rating was the same rating ESPN2 drew for the Everton-Liverpool Merseyside derby Sunday morning. The EPL will move to the NBC family of networks in 2013-14.

The first of two MLS playoff games on NBC will air on Sunday when Houston hosts Sporting Kansas City at 3:30 pm ET.

MLS Cup 2012 will air Dec. 1 on ESPN like it has the last three years.

UNIVISION'S 10-YEAR CONCACAF DEAL. Univision reached an agreement with Concacaf for exclusive Spanish- and Portuguese-language U.S. broadcast rights to the Gold Cup, Concacaf Champions League and other Concacaf tournaments through 2012.

The matches will air on Univision Deportes platforms, including Univision, TeleFutura, Galavision, Univision Deportes Network, online and on mobile.

Last year’s Gold Cup was the highest-rated in Univision’s history.

GALAXY EXEC JOINS BLAZERS.Chris McGowan, who oversaw the Los Angeles Galaxy and NHL Los Angeles Kings as chief operating officer for AEG Sports, has left to join the NBA Portland Trail Blazers, where he will be president and chief executive officer.

MISL ONLINE. Every Major Indoor Soccer League game in the 2012-13 season will be available live online for free on MISLnation.com, powered by UNATION.com.

SEC TO STAY IN ORANGE BEACH. The SEC has extended its agreement with the city of Orange Beach, Ala., to play its women’s soccer tournament at the Orange Beach Sportsplex through 2015.
--------------------------------
Email: Send releases to Soccer America
Friend Soccer America Facebook
Follow Soccer America Twitter
Soccer Business Insider RSS feed