The distribution issues facing Fox Sports 2 are slowly coming to a head. Yesterday the neat and tidy schedule of Fox Sports got hit with a curveball as the NASCAR race in Bristol faced a lengthy rain delay. When it was restarted in the evening, coverage moved to Fox Sports 1. That meant the MLS match between NYCFC and Portland was booted to Fox Sports 2.
MLS fans, especially Comcast subscribers without access to Fox Sports 2, were not happy. MLS lifted the US blackout on MLS Live, but it wasn’t enough to appease the soccer faithful, many of whom were stuck without the game on television, or stuck with it in standard def.
Apparently my login doesn't work for FS2, so I'll watch some more playoff hockey. Your loss @MLS.
— Isaac (@unclefuzz) April 19, 2015
https://twitter.com/Oregon_Red/status/589901336373690368
I would be watching MLS, but it's been bumped to FS2, which is in SD on Cox Cable. Get it together before the WWC, @FoxSports.
— SeenEnoughAlready (@Xperienced_) April 20, 2015
Wow @FOXSports1 still no mls and game almost over some of us don't have fox sports 2
— cynthiatrack (@runner1500) April 20, 2015
I'd like to thank @comcast for not offering Fox Sports 2 in HD in my area, because who likes to watch @MLS in HD, right? #Houston
— Michael Lundberg (@mwlundberg) April 20, 2015
https://twitter.com/itskeeks/status/589929762287550464
does @MLS know the state of Oregon doesn't get Fox Sports 2 because of Comcast. Be prepared for a ton of pissed off @TimbersFC fans #RCTID
— Mark Lavis™ (@mark_lavis) April 19, 2015
Fox Sports broadcaster John Strong sent this message on Monday to fans to start demanding Fox Sports 2 to be on their systems:
Lastly, sorry to those inconvenienced by our late switch to FS2 yesterday. But know that demand=distribution, so let your cable/sat op know!
— John Strong (@JohnStrong) April 20, 2015
Fox Sports 2 is the definitive weak link in the Fox Sports empire. It’s only in 45 million homes (up from 37 million), which still places it near the bottom of all the major national sports networks. Comparatively speaking, Fox Sports 1 is in 85 million homes. Both ESPN and ESPN2 are well above 90 million. And many of those homes with FS2, like mine, don’t get the channel in HD.
This is the dilemma that faces Fox Sports 2. In fact, MLS games airing on the network was a contentious part of negotiations because of the crappy distribution and HD offerings. No league really wants their games on FS2, and rightfully so. Every time Mike Francesa gets bumped to Fox Sports 2, he and Mongo Nation grumble as well.
This is a story that isn’t going to change anytime soon. In fact, it’s probably going to become more prominent as more high profile events and live programming come to FS1 and FS2. With the Women’s World Cup having games scheduled for Fox Sports 2, there’s going to be even more complaints about lack of distribution and HD carriage in the near future.
Even though it’s going to anger some fans, Fox Sports desperately needs to get more games on Fox Sports 2 to justify A) more carriage for the channel and B) higher fees for the channel. There’s no other way to accomplish what Fox needs to do with FS2 to make it a legitimate cable sports network. But until Fox can get to that point, there are going to have to be some growing pains along the way for fans that see the games they want to watch scheduled or moved to FS2.
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