Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) on television

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The Major Indoor Soccer League, known in its final two seasons as the Major Soccer League, was an indoor soccer league in the United States that played matches from fall 1978 to spring 1992.

National coverage[]

Hughes Television Network (1979)[]

For the MISL's first season, a mini‐playoff package of the indoor championships[1] was broadcast on the Hughes Television Network,[2] which was an ad hoc syndicated network. In the New York area, WOR 9 broadcast two weekend games. The finals — a two‐of‐three‐game series which was scheduled to begin either on a Thursday or Friday — would be seen in New York the following week.

USA Network (1981–1983)[]

Beginning in the 1981–82 season, the USA Network[3] would broadcast a Friday night Game of the Week.[4] USA employed Al Trautwig[5] and Kyle Rote Jr.[6][7] as their primary broadcasting crew.

Despite the great exposure during its two-year deal with USA, MISL officials were continuously inquiring about how much they were paying them. USA told[8] the MISL's television committee that they weren't getting any big ratings and couldn't pay them. To put things into perspective, the USA Network during its infancy, only had about 1.3 million subscribers.[9] And an even smaller percentage of those subscribers watched sports programming, much less indoor soccer.

CBS (1983–1985)[]

See also: Soccer on CBS Sports

On May 7, 1983,[10] the MISL made its network television debut on CBS,[11] who carried the playoff game between the Baltimore Blast and Cleveland Force in Cleveland. CBS used this particular game as counter-programming against the Kentucky Derby on ABC. Ultimately however, CBS only got a 2.4 rating and 6 share. John Tesh and Al Trautwig called this very first broadcast for CBS.

The following year[12] on June 2, CBS broadcast Baltimore-St. Louis Steamers championship series game from St. Louis. This time, the ratings sunk to a 1.5 rating and 6 share.

On May 25, 1985,[13][14] CBS showed Game 4[15] of the championship series between the San Diego Sockers and the Baltimore Blast. This would be the final year that the MISL would have its games aired on network television. For this final game, CBS used Gary Bender and Kyle Rote Jr.[16] on commentary.

ESPN (1985–1987)[]

See also: Soccer on ESPN

The MISL landed a steady national TV contract for the first time since 1983 when they were on USA, as ESPN would televise 15 regular-season games on Sunday afternoons, the All-Star Game[17] and assorted playoff games.[18] beginning in the 1985–86 season. The MISL received no broadcast revenues from ESPN. In other words, the agreement with ESPN to had the league pay the cable network to televise its games. Bill Kentling, director and general manager of the Wichita Wings, was vehemently against the ESPN deal,[19] thinking that was ridiculous to go against the National Football League without having any time to set up sponsorship. Commissioner Frank Dale however, disagreed with Kentling's assessment saying: “If I held out waiting for money for the rights for something that has traditionally not done well in the ratings, we’d still be off the air.” Ultimately, the MISL got only three sponsors[20] for the weekly telecasts on ESPN.

For the 1986–87 season, ESPN actually paid the MISL a fee[21] instead of the league paying the network, as it had done the previous season. This time, ESPN would broadcast 18 games, including the All-Star Game from Los Angeles, as well as four playoff games. The San Diego Sockers were scheduled to be on four delayed telecasts during the regular season.

On commentary, ESPN employed JP Dellacamera,[22] Bob Kurtz, Bob Ley, and Bob Carpenter on play-by-play with Ty Keough, Seamus Malin, and Shep Messing as analysts.

FNN/Score (1987–1989)[]

The MISL marked the 1987–88 by signing a two-year[23] TV agreement with FNN/Score. This package included a Friday[24] game of the week, as well as the All-Star Game, the entire championship series and a weekly highlight show. In San Diego (home of the Sockers), the games were not seen locally[25] because FNN went off the air in San Diego before the games began. JP Dellacamera and Ty Keough were the primary broadcast team for FNN/Score.

ESPN (1989–1990)[]

The MISL would return to ESPN in time for the 1989–90 season, when they reached agreement with ESPN for a nine game[26] TV schedule. ESPN would also televise MISL playoff games[27] on May 2, 17, 24, 27 and June 9. The last game was expected to be broadcast live. The others tape-delayed, but shown the same day.

SportsChannel America (1990–1992)[]

As previously mentioned, the Major Indoor Soccer League, was known in its final two seasons as the Major Soccer League. At this time, commissioner Don Foreman had hoped to escalate the MSL's nine-game tape-delay ESPN contract into a live contract come the 1990–91 season. But a deal never came off, and Foreman had to settle for a 15-game live contract with SportsChannel America.[28] The first year of what would be a two-year deal included 10 regular-season Sunday afternoon games billed and marketed as a "game of the week", the All-Star Game from Kansas City's Kemper Arena and four playoff games. The only game that was not broadcast live was a March 10, 1991 game between the Baltimore Blast and San Diego Sockers in San Diego. The game was played Saturday night and then shown on tape delay the next day at 4:05 p.m., Baltimore time.

SportsChannel's coverage began February 3, 1991 with the Wichita Wings playing at the Kansas City Comets. The rest of the regular-season schedule included: February 10 -- Cleveland at Tacoma; February 17 -- Wichita at Dallas; February 24 -- Kansas City at Cleveland; March 3 -- Tacoma at St. Louis; March 10 -- Baltimore at San Diego; March 17 -- Cleveland at Dallas; March 24 -- Wichita at Cleveland; March 31 -- St. Louis at San Diego; April 7 -- St. Louis at Wichita. John Griffin, MSL director of communications who put the TV schedule together, said Baltimore's inability to start its Sunday home games at 4:05 p.m. prevented the Blast from being televised more often on SportsChannel.[29]

In the middle of what would be MSL's final season, 1991–92, commissioner Earl Foreman held preliminary talks with SportsChannel concerning added MSL coverage should the National Hockey League's strike continue. At the time, SportsChannel also held the American broadcasting rights to the NHL. Ultimately however, the NHL strike would only last for ten days. Come playoff time, SportsChannel would televise six playoff games. Earl Foreman said that owners decided to use all six telecasts[30] on the championship series.

JP Dellacamera[31] and Ty Keough served as the primary broadcast crew for SportsChannel.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Philadelphia Fever @ New York Arrows 1979 MISL Finals on YouTube
  2. ^ Eskenaz, Gerald (March 20, 1979). "Indoor Soccer: Losing Money, Gaining Confidence". The New York Times.
  3. ^ Ourand, John (March 6, 2018). "Cable Vision: TV pioneer Kay Koplovitz saw the future of sports networks". American City Business Journals.
  4. ^ Leptich, John (October 13, 1985). "MISL SET TO UNVEIL CABLE TV PACKAGE". Chicago Tribune.
  5. ^ Hecken, Phil (July 11, 2009). "When Indoor Soccer Was King". Uni Watch.
  6. ^ Lewis, Michael (April 24, 2020). "OFFSIDE REMARKS: Repost: One writer's most memorable 25 indoor soccer games". Front Row Soccer.
  7. ^ "The Town Talk from Alexandria, Louisiana · Page 46". Newspapers.com. February 20, 1982.
  8. ^ Marks, Jon (June 28, 2019). "Years After Fizzling Out, MISL 40th Reunion Ready For Launch". Forbes.
  9. ^ Maierhofer, Ronald P. (September 2009). No Money Down!: How to Buy a Sports Franchise. p. 81. ISBN 9781608441440.
  10. ^ Preston, Mike (July 11, 1992). "Soccer league fizzles, extinguishes city's Blast Last-minute talks to replace teams fail". The Baltimore Sun.
  11. ^ Deford, Frank (February 28, 1983). "SHOW, SEX AND SUBURBS". Sports Illustrated.
  12. ^ "ONLY MAJOR PRO SOCCER LEAGUE IN U.S. FOLDS". Deseret News. July 11, 1992.
  13. ^ Atkin, Ross (April 12, 1985). "Indoor soccer quite up-to-date in Kansas City, home of Comets". The Christian Science Monitor.
  14. ^ "Weekend TV Highlights". UPI. May 25, 1985.
  15. ^ Sarni, Jim (May 25, 1985). "BLAST FOR SOCCER FANS: CBS AIRS MISL GAME". South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
  16. ^ "Sewanee's Kyle Rote, Jr. Elected to National Soccer Hall of Fame". SOUTHERN COLLEGIATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE. April 28, 2010.
  17. ^ Dias, Roberto (February 23, 1985). "MISL All-Stars Clash on Sunday". UPI.
  18. ^ MISL Official Guide 1989-90. 1989. p. 49.
  19. ^ Trusdell, Brian (February 23, 1986). "Frank Dale Finds Going Tough as MISL Commissioner". Los Angeles Times.
  20. ^ Yannis, Alex (February 19, 1986). "M.I.S.L. COMMISSIONER ANGERS OWNER". The New York Times.
  21. ^ Appleman, Mark (November 14, 1986). "Major Indoor Soccer League Preview : Things May Change, but Sockers Still Favorites". Los Angeles Times.
  22. ^ Tannenwald, Jonathan (March 1, 2011). "J.P. Dellacamera moves to FSC, stays with Union". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
  23. ^ "Baltimore Blast (1980-1992)". NASLhistory. August 30, 2010.
  24. ^ Leptich, John (February 14, 1988). "IS A VERDICT NEAR FOR MISL?". Chicago Tribune.
  25. ^ Appleman, Marc (February 7, 1988). "MISL Review : MISL Coach of Year Honor Would Seem to Be Newman's Due". Los Angeles Times.
  26. ^ Patterson, Don (February 7, 1990). "For Sale: A Sign of the Times for Sockers? : Professional soccer: Owning the Sockers had been fun for Ron Fowler, until attendance and advertising problems turned the fun into a burden, giving rise to thoughts of unloading the team". Los Angeles Times.
  27. ^ "MISL All-Stars at Cleveland in '92". Los Angeles Times. February 20, 1990.
  28. ^ Free, Don (October 19, 1990). "MSL season to open with new look". The Baltimore Sun.
  29. ^ Free, Bill (December 2, 1990). "APSL-U.S. Federation feud could hurt World Cup club". The Baltimore Sun.
  30. ^ Geis, Jon (April 6, 1992). "MSL NOTEBOOK / JOHN GEIS : Owners Don't Delay in Making '92 Plans". Los Angeles Times.
  31. ^ McKee, Sandra (February 11, 1992). "Only steady as player, Dawkins rises to All-Star status as coach". The Baltimore Sun.

External links[]

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