Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect a Vancouver Whitecaps FC U.S. TV date and correct the French-language rights holder to MLS games in Canada.
We complained significantly that the Montréal Impact was shafted by U.S. TV outlets after reaching the Eastern Conference final. Well, Fox is coming to the rescue … in a way.
Sunday's Impact game in Atlanta will be on the Fox network but not in some major cities.
Fox carries the NFL on Sundays but the network is in the second year of an experiment to run MLS soccer on a week where the network only has a single NFL game.
The Montréal-Atlanta FC game will be on some Fox television stations that will carry an early NFL game (1p ET/10a PT). The coverage starts at 5 pm Eastern.
2017 MLS preview
While that sounds simple, there are a few complications. The Fox station in your area may still not carry the game you want.
Fox offers duopolies (more than one station) in a number of markets including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco, Washington, DC, Houston, Minneapolis, Phoenix, Orlando, and Charlotte. But they aren't using those Fox stations to carry both MLS games.
For example, Fox owns WFLD-TV and WPWR-TV in Chicago. WFLD-TV has to carry a late NFL game because the hometown Chicago Bears are in the early slot on CBS. As for WPWR-TV, the station is showing reruns.
WFLD-TV is carrying the early soccer game. So the station can't carry the late soccer game featuring the Impact.
This list of major U.S. cities will NOT get the Montréal Impact game. This is not a complete list:
Albuquerque, Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus, Denver, Houston, Indianapolis, Knoxville, Memphis, Miami, Nashville, Pittsburgh, Portland, Sacramento, San Francisco, and Seattle.
No market is designed to get both MLS games. You might be too young to remember the dreaded The Baseball Network concept that covered the 1995 MLB playoffs. In that scenario, viewers at home could only see the 1995 American League Championship Series or the National League Championship Series, but not both. The networks decided which part of the country would see which game.
The other great solution would be to run the soccer game on an alternate digital channel. Sadly, WFLD-TV is the only O&O network station in Chicago that doesn't have an alternate digital feed of any kind.
Unlike the nightmare that was The Baseball Network, the game is available on Fox Deportes if you have that cable channel. I don't know if there is a SAP signal for English speakers or whether Fox Deportes would offer one. Fox Sports Go will stream both soccer games but that isn't the same as showing the game on television.
Canadians who timeshift can pull up a Fox affiliate that would be eligible to carry that game. Americans don't have the ability to timeshift to pick up an alternate Fox feed.
CanadianCrossing.com soccer coverage
Fox Sports 1 is carrying drag racing instead of soccer. Fox Sports 2 does technically exist but I don't know anyone who has that channel.
If I had a choice between TVA Sports RDS and Fox Deportes, French vs. Spanish, I would definitely choose TVA Sports RDS to get more Montréal Impact soccer. If I can watch the CFL on RDS, watching the Impact in French on RDS would be just fine.
Seeing the game in Spanish, or even French, is better than nothing. But driving interest in MLS, especially an exciting team such as the Montréal Impact, requires a better-laid plan.
The Impact got some badly needed momentum with a 5-3 win over Toronto FC Wednesday night, snapping a 4-match losing streak. Montréal is 3 points out of a playoff spot in the East. The Impact team is 11-12-6 for 39 points.
Before Wednesday, Toronto FC had an 11-game unbeaten run, 6-game winning streak, and were undefeated at home. Still, Toronto FC is having an explosive season. The Reds have the best record in MLS and have clinched a playoff spot. The mark currently stands at 18-4-8 for 62 points.
In the West, the Vancouver Whitecaps are in 1st place with a 13-9-6 record for 45 points. The Whitecaps are still sitting on a lone appearance on U.S. television so far. Let's see if that changes. (The Whitecaps will be on UniMas October 7 at the New York Red Bulls. Better than nothing.)
photos credit: MLS; Montréal Impact/MLS
TVA Sports actually took control of all French language MLS soccer rights in Canada from 2017 through 2021 which includes all of the Montreal Impact games plus any other games they care to show. RDS used to have national MLS rights which included a number of Impact games among other games while TVA Sports held "local" rights to the Impact games not in RDS's deal. Now TVA Sports has bought everything.
http://blog.fagstein.com/2017/01/10/tva-sports-wins-mls-rights/comment-page-1/
Posted by: KWH84 | September 23, 2017 at 08:49 AM
D'oh. Good catch. If I lived in Canada, I would have noticed that. I would still take TVA Sports over Fox Deportes. I really enjoying listening to French even if I don't know the language well enough. Merci.
Posted by: Chad | September 25, 2017 at 08:50 AM