Soccer tops Olympic tweets, MLS TV gets boost, Bein Sport USA launches

• by Paul Kennedy  @pkedit, Aug 14, 2012

By Paul Kennedy

Olympic soccer's popularity among young viewers was evident in social media. Twitter reported that soccer had the most Twitter conversation with well over 5 million Tweets. Other popular sports: swimming, the track & field, gymnastics and volleyball.

MLS GETS OLYMPIC BOOST. Olympic coverage helped lift the MLS on NBC Sports Network to deliver its two most-watched games to date on NBCSN. The Portland-FC Dallas on Aug. 5 drew 405,000 viewers, beating the record set a week earlier when FC Dallas-Los Angeles drew 392,000 viewers.

MEXICO-BRAZIL SMASHES TELEMUNDO RECORD. Mexico's historic victory over Brazil in the men's soccer gold-medal game at the London Olympics averaged 3.6 million viewers, making it the most-watched weekend daytime soccer telecast in the network’s history and its most-watched Olympic event ever.

MAKING A LIST. U.S. women's star Alex Morgan ranked as the seventh most-clicked athlete on NBCOlympics.com ...

ATHLETES SPORT, COUNTRY VIEWS
Gabby Douglas Gymnast, USA 23,427,579
McKayla Maroney Gymnast, USA 14,119,945
Usain Bolt Track & Field, Jamaica 12,922,670
Michael Phelps Swimmer, USA 7,997,617
Misty May-Treanor Beach Volleyball, USA 7,638,830
Jordyn Wieber Gymnast, USA 6,645,748
Alex Morgan Soccer, USA 6,532,436
Aly Raisman Gymnast, USA 5,914,297
Feck Stephan Diver, Germany 3,799,552
Jen Kessy Beach Volleyball, USA 3,537,464

BEIN SPORT USA LAUNCHES WEDNESDAY. Bein SPORT USA, Al-Jazeera's new 24-hour sports channel, launches Wednesday on DirecTV at 7:30 p.m. ET. Its first event kicks off a half an hour later: the Ecuador-Chile friendly live from Citi Field, home of the New York Mets. It recently launched live streaming with Ligue 1 and Capital One Cup action.

CONCACAF REMAINS ON FOX SOCCER. Fox Soccer signed a new four-year agreement with Concacaf to broadcast the Gold Cup and Concacaf Champions League. The agreement starts with the current Concacaf Champions League season and continues through the 2015-2016 edition of the tournament. The deal also covers the 2013 and 2015 Gold Cups.

WHAT NAME DO YOU LIKE? Adidas has announced the short list of potential names for the 2014 World Cup ball: Carnavalesca, Bossa Nova and Brazuca. Fans can vote for their preferred candidate of quintessential Brazilian choices on its Brazilian Web page: www.adidas.com.br.
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