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Amazon Prime Video will stream some Seattle Sounders MLS games
But you'll only be able to watch them if you're in Washington state.
MLS' new app combines highlights, fantasy soccer and merch
Major League Soccer is launching a new flagship app today ahead of the 2019 season that will let fans get highlights, tickets, merchandise and fantasy info in one place. After you set your club preference, it'll personalize the app with the team colors and other touches. That'll all be in sync with an all-new ad campaign called "Live Your Colors," along with a behind-the-scenes look (below) that's also launching today to promote the app.
'FIFA' eSports league eMLS expands to 22 teams
eMLS, the FIFA eSports league of Major League Soccer, is getting ready to expand. Following a successful inaugural season earlier this year, the league run in parternship with EA Sports will head into 2019 with three new squads. Atlanta United, D.C. United and FC Cincinnati will all have eSports clubs appearing in the next season. They will compete for the eMLS cup and will join in the new eMLS League Series events.
Premier League wants video referees starting next season
The wheels are in motion for the Premier League to roll out the video assistant referee (VAR) system starting in 2019-2020. Teams have agreed in principle to the plan, and the league will formally request approval from FIFA and the International Football Association Board.
Twitter will livestream Major League Soccer games
Twitter hasn't scored a major sports livestreaming deal in a long while, but that drought is over. Variety has learned that the social network has struck a 3-year deal with Major League Soccer that will give it a selection of weekly video, including "at least" 24 live matches. The arrangement will turn Univision's normally Spanish-language broadcasts into English-language streams for Twitter users in the US. The first livestream has already taken place, in fact -- Twitter broadcast a match between Los Angeles FC and Real Salt Lake on March 10th.
YouTube TV adds Seattle Sounders local broadcasts to its MLS slate
YouTube TV has landed another Major League Soccer deal, and this time you might be more likely to notice. As part of a multi-year agreement, the internet TV service is now the official streaming option for all Seattle Sounders FC games. Similar to the LAFC deal, you can watch the 14 nationally televised games on conventional TV networks like ESPN and Fox (including through their online apps), but a dedicated YouTube TV channel will stream the teams' 20 regionally-broadcast games online.
MLS eSports league's first tournament streams on Twitch this April
Last month, Major League Soccer became the latest US sports association to create its own eSports league, eMLS, which will exclusively run EA Sports' game FIFA 18. We knew its first-ever event would be a tournament (the eMLS Cup) at the upcoming PAX East where 19 players, each representing an MLS team, will compete to qualify for the league's global playoffs. But today, the nascent eMLS has laid out how the tournament will go down -- and where folks at home can stream it.
YouTube TV snags rights to local Los Angeles FC soccer broadcasts
You can certainly watch sports on cord-cutting TV services, but major sports exclusives? Not until now. YouTube TV has reached a deal that makes it the official live TV and video partner for Major League Soccer's brand new team, the Los Angeles Football Club. The streaming service will be the only place for Angelenos to watch all locally televised English-language LAFC games, and it'll also carry all nationally broadcast games on ESPN, Fox and FS1. The deal will be impossible to ignore regardless of how you watch -- players will have YouTube TV's logo "prominently" plastered on their jerseys.
Major League Soccer is creating its own FIFA eSports league
There's a new eSports organization in town. In partnership with EA Sports, Major League Soccer is launching eMLS -- an eSports league in which 19 of the 23 MLS clubs will select a competitor to represent them. Those gamers will compete in the eMLS Cup, which will take place during PAX East in April, and the winner will then go on to the FIFA 18 Global Series and have a chance to play in the FIFA eWorld Cup.
FIFA’s tech ‘experiments’ drag soccer into the modern age
Soccer is the most popular sport in the world. It may not be as big as American football, baseball or basketball in the US -- at least not yet-- but there's a much larger interest in it here now than five or 10 years ago. One of the problems with soccer is that, unlike pro sports organizations such as the NFL, NBA or MLB, it has never been quick to adopt new technology. For decades FIFA, the sport's governing body, opposed cutting-edge ideas that could keep referees from making the wrong calls. "We shall rely on human beings," former FIFA President Sepp Blatter said in 2002. "Players make mistakes, coaches make mistakes and yes, sometimes referees make mistakes. But football is passion, football is emotion. Football has a human touch."
Starting August 5th, all MLS games will have video review
After a few years of planning and testing, Major League Soccer is ready to roll out video review in all of its games. For each game, including the playoffs and MLS cup, there will be a fifth referee on the crew with access to all available broadcast replays. That person's job is to alert the head referee to "clear and obvious errors or serious missed incidents" in four specific situations: Goals, penalty kicks, red cards and mistaken identity. Embarrassing referee gaffes have hit some high profile games over the years, and everyone hopes that video review will help, which is why the MLS and FIFA are expanding its usage.
Major League Soccer gets its first eSports player
A number of European soccer teams have their own eSports players, but what about American clubs? Don't worry, they're catching up. New York City FC has signed Major League Sports' first eSports player, Christopher Holly, to represent the outfit in FIFA tournaments. He's definitely not a newcomer to the game -- Holly has been playing some form of FIFA on PlayStation systems for the past 12 years, and plays well enough that he was the top-rated FIFA Ultimate Team player on the planet in December.
Facebook will stream live MLS soccer matches this season
Liga MX isn't the only pro soccer league you'll be able to watch on Facebook this season. The social network has signed another deal with Univision to stream at least 22 live Major League Soccer (MLS) matches in 2017. In addition to action on the pitch the league will produce over 40 "Matchday Live" analysis shows that will be exclusively available on Facebook.
This weekend's MLS championship will be broadcast in VR
As virtual reality matures as a medium there are going to be fewer firsts for it. But for now, at least, we have news that for the first time, Major League Soccer will be broadcasting a championship game in VR. That match is none other than Saturday's battle between Toronto FC and the Seattle Sounders. How's a "virtual suite" rife with player rosters and live stats sound? Somehow, the developers managed to fit a model of an Audi car in it because, well, this is an Audi-sponsored broadcast. There's a "magic window" experience too, whatever that is.
Major League Soccer deal lets you buy tickets on other websites
Sports leagues have historically clamped down on online ticket sales, in part to prevent the rampant scalping you see in much of the entertainment industry. Major League Soccer, however, is trying the exact opposite: it's throwing things wide open. The league has forged a partnership with SeatGeek that will create a ticketing platform that works through virtually any website or app. Other sites could sell tickets, for a start. You could buy tickets from Uber before you hail a ride to that Seattle Sounders game, for instance.
FIFA will test in-game video replays next year
It took FIFA, soccer's governing body, years to bring goal-line technology into the sport. And even now that the system is approved, there are only a few leagues world taking advantage of it. Still, that decision showed the organization's willingness to evolve and keep up with other sports. Today FIFA, along with the International Football Association Board (which sets the rules for soccer), is taking another step forward by approving tests of video replays to review controversial plays during matches.
ESPN to debut live player-tracking visuals during MLS Cup
The MLS Cup 2014 is taking place this Sunday, December 7th at the StubHub Center in Los Angeles, where the LA Galaxy will play host to the New England Revolution. Obviously, one of the main stories around the final match of the season is the retirement of Landon Donovan, who is expected to hang up his cleats after the game -- win or lose. On the technical side, ESPN is going to be using its program to introduce set of live player-tracking graphics, which were developed by ChyronHego, a New York-based company that makes visuals broadcasters. As you can see in the video below, these will be shown on screen live, highlighting key players as the play is developing or in a replay.
MLS aims to be first soccer league to tackle video replay
While goal-line technology debuted for both World Cup and English Premier League action this year, Major League Soccer is looking to take video assistance one step further. MLS commissioner Don Garber told Sports Illustrated that the league wants to be the first to test a replay system that would allow officials to review calls on the pitch after a coach's challenge. FIFA's president Sepp Blatter, the head of soccer's international governing body, has already called for testing next year in league action and during the Under-20 World Cup in New Zealand. It's worth noting that MLS has yet to employ the goal-line systems due to cost, but the instant replay kit could be less expensive to adopt. However, due to its status as an up-and-comer when compared to other professional soccer leagues, MLS could be a prime candidate for the trials. In the US, NFL and MLB already use a similar video system allowing coaches' challenges to help correct errors in officiating -- but only for a few calls. Of course, it comes at the expense of slowing down the action for replays that can sometimes take several minutes to sort. [Photo credit: Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images]
ESPN lets you get closer to the action during MLS All-Star Game (update)
Goal-line technology is still a relatively new thing in football, having faced its first real test only about a month ago at the World Cup in Brazil. Here in the US, ESPN is doing something along those lines, mostly for entertainment purposes, during the 2014 MLS All-Star Game -- a match between a collection of Major League Soccer's best players and German club Bayern Munich. As Sports Video Group reports, ESPN has installed a set of cameras inside the goalposts of the Timbers' Providence Park, located in Portland, Oregon, to give viewers at home a better (and much closer) look at what happens in such a critical zone of the field. Bob Frattaroli, the man in charge of directing ESPN's game broadcast, told SVG that having this system in place is perfect for fans to experience "what's going on in the 6-yard box" and to see what movements players are making around it. "First of all, it's a really unique angle, but there's also an intimacy to it that you're not expecting," he said. Update: ESPN has posted a video clip of the cameras in place plus a highlight from their unique perspective, check it out after the break.
Major League Soccer has big plans for the World Cup and beyond
On June 12th, most football fans around the globe will have their eyes set on Brazil's Arena de Sao Paulo, where the host nation is set to take on Croatia in the opening match of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Here in the States, ESPN has already revealed how it plans to deliver coverage of the world's biggest sporting event, making it easy for you to watch anywhere, anytime. Sure, there are some caveats (namely, you still need to be a pay-TV subscriber to watch games), but the way ESPN intends to bring you content from Brazil will likely still be better than anything we've seen from previous World Cups. And "The World Wide Leader in Sports" won't be the only one. Major League Soccer, too, wants to be a source of info for anything that comes out of the event in South America.
