With two new teams in Atlanta and Miami, a fresh media deal on the way and, of course, the phenomenon known as the World Cup about to launch, Major League Soccer has grabbed plenty of headlines in recent weeks as the league continues to evolve its national presence during the 2014 season. In addition, MLS continues to beef up its digital presence with new initiatives designed to keep US Soccer front and center in the eyes of the fan.
Cynopsis Sports asked Chris Schlosser, Vice President, MLS Digital, about the future of the league, what makes digital engagement unique for the sport, and what to expect from the new media agreement.
On expansion: MLS is in a period of growth. It is an exciting time to be involved with the League and with the sport. New York City FC and Orlando City SC join next season, in 2015, and Atlanta, purchased last week by Arthur Blank, will join in 2017. David Beckham has exercised his option to own a club and has identified Miami as the market. He’s now working with local officials to land a stadium deal. We have announced that we plan to expand to 24 clubs by 2020.
On digital audiences: MLS has the youngest fans of any major U.S. League and significantly over-indexes in key digital metrics like smartphone usage, digital video usage and podcast interest. We want to grow MLS’ fan base through digital excellence and we strive to create products that enable our fans to stay close to their favorite players, clubs and national teams on any device. A majority of MLS content is now viewed on a mobile or tablet device. Across all of our digital products we have seen a large increase in audience and consumption and total average monthly users are up more than 50% vs. 2013 and the trend is accelerating.
On the World Cup: This World Cup will break all records for interest, viewership and social interaction. We are also very excited as the majority of the U.S. team will be made up of players from MLS – stars like Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley and Landon Donovan. The League has also attracted key international players like Julio Cesar, Brazil’s starting keeper, and Jermain Defoe, a striker for England. With all of these players in our League we will have extensive coverage on MLSsoccer.com and KICKTV, including Jimmy’s Road Trip, where former MLS & USMNT defender Jimmy Conrad takes you to the best games throughout Brazil. Daily video posts on KICKTV will take fans inside the World Cup to provide Conrad’s perspective on the tournament and the fan experience across the country. There is also Brazil Daily where KICKTV & MLSsoccer experts will bring fans daily news and analysis from the KICKTV studio overlooking Rio’s Copacabana Beach. In addition to daily video programming, MLSsoccer will leverage our cutting edge digital match experience to provide in-depth live data and social curation for all 64 World Cup matches. MLSsoccer will also launch the Brazil Bracket Challenge allowing fans to compete and predict the results in this summer’s tournament.
On state of rights negotiations: We have had positive discussions with many potential partners and expect to finalize an agreement in the next couple of months. Since our current agreements do not expire until the end of the year, we have plenty of time. As with any broadcast rights agreements these days, digital is a significant part of the discussions.
On sponsorship activation: MLS Digital works closely with partners to customize digital activations that allow partners to connect directly with soccer fans across our products and content. A great example of this partnership is our work with Castrol around the World Cup. Castrol will be the presenting sponsor of Brazil Bound, which will allow fans to follow the U.S. team as they prepare for and travel to Brazil. It will feature former MLS & USMNT midfielder Jesse Marsch and MLSsoccer’s expert analysts. Our crew will be traveling with the U.S. team starting in May all the way through the World Cup in Brazil. We will integrate their brand directly into the show. We will also help drive awareness for Castrol’s World Cup activation as they sponsor both FIFA and MLS. The integration will be augmented with customized media running across the MLS Digital Properties network, including placements on Goal.com and USSoccer.com.
