Nationally televised coverage of Major League Soccer has taken a step backwards.
The Sports Business Journal reports that ESPN has canceled its MLS Primetime Thursday telecasts for the upcoming 2009 season, choosing to instead air games on a variety of nights. SBJ calls the move a “tacit admission that MLS is not strong enough to anchor a regular prime-time slot on its own.”
The move allows for ESPN to give MLS telecasts stronger lead-in programming, such as “college football, NIT basketball, the College World Series, motorsports and U.S. Open tennis.” Additionally, ESPN will now be able to air more games involving higher-profile teams such as the Los Angeles Galaxy, who could not play Thursday night home games “during the school year because of various restrictions.”
Despite the change, most MLS telecasts on ESPN will still air on Thursday nights. ESPN will air ten games on Thursdays, eight on Saturdays, six on Wednesdays and three on Fridays.
