MLS Direct Kick
Encyclopedia
MLS Direct Kick is an Out-of-Market Sports PackageOut-of-Market Sports Package
In the North America, an Out-of-Market Sports Package is a form of subscription television that broadcasts sporting events to areas who are unavailable to see them because the games are not broadcast in their local market....
distributed by most cable and satellite providers in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. As of the 2011 season, package subscribers will be able to watch up to 221 Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer is a professional soccer league based in the United States and sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation . The league is composed of 19 teams — 16 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada...
regular season games as well as some MLS Cup playoff matches. The package costs $79 for residential customers and $100 for bars, restaurants, and other commercial subscribers. The target market for this package (based on advertisements) is soccer fans who are unable to see specific games because they have moved out of that team's market.
Availability
MLS Direct Kick is available with these cable and satellite providers:- United States:
- DirecTVDirecTVDirecTV is an American direct broadcast satellite service provider and broadcaster based in El Segundo, California. Its satellite service, launched on June 17, 1994, transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in the United States, Latin America, and the Anglophone Caribbean. ...
- Dish NetworkDish NetworkDish Network Corporation is the second largest pay TV provider in the United States, providing direct broadcast satellite service—including satellite television, audio programming, and interactive television services—to 14.337 million commercial and residential customers in the United States. Dish...
- iN DEMAND providersIN DEMANDIn Demand is a provider of pay-per-view and subscription video-on-demand services, jointly owned by Comcast, Cox Communications, Time Warner Cable, and Bright House Networks...
- Cablevision (iO)
- ComcastComcastComcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the...
- Cox CommunicationsCox CommunicationsCox Communications is a privately owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises providing digital cable television, telecommunications and wireless services in the United States...
- Time Warner CableTime Warner CableTime Warner Cable is an American cable television company that operates in 28 states and has 31 operating divisions...
- Adams CableAdams CableAdams Cable is a local cable television and Internet provider that serves northeast Pennsylvania along with rural Broome, Chenango and Delaware counties in New York...
- Blue Ridge CommunicationsBlue Ridge CommunicationsBlue Ridge Communications is a regional cable television, Internet and VoIP provider that serves much of the Poconos area and central Pennsylvania. Products available include analog and digital cable television, HD television programming, PenTeleData Broadband Internet service, and Blue Ridge...
- Grande CommunicationsGrande CommunicationsGrande Communications is a United States telecommunications firm, based in San Marcos, Texas, that uses a fiber optic network for broadband services. In 1999, the company was established when the largest single round of venture capital funding in Texas was raised, in turn starting the first-ever...
- FiOSFíosFíos is one of 17 parishes in Parres, a municipality within the province and autonomous community of Asturias, in northern Spain....
- DirecTV
Blackout Restrictions
If a local MLS team is playing and the game is being seen locally, the associated feed on MLS Direct Kick is blacked outBlackout (broadcasting)
Blackout usually relates to the broadcasting of sports events, television programming, that is prohibited in a certain media market.The purpose is theoretically to generate more revenue by obliging certain actions from fans, either by making them buy tickets or watch other games on TV...
. Note also the games being televised on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
/ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
/ESPN2
ESPN2
ESPN2 is an American sports cable television network owned by ESPN. The channel debuted on October 1, 1993.Originally nicknamed "the deuce," ESPN2 was initially branded as a network for a younger generation of sports fans featuring edgier graphics as well as extreme sports like motocross,...
, TeleFutura
TeleFutura
TeleFutura is a U.S. Spanish-language broadcast television network owned by Univision with headquarters in Miami, Florida.-Overview:TeleFutura Is America’s #2 Spanish-Language Network in prime time...
/Galavisión
Galavisión
Galavisión is a Miami, Florida based Spanish language cable network owned by Univision Communications, Inc. The station is unrelated to the Mexican channel of the same name, other than sharing the Televisa-produced programming.-History:...
, and NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
/NBC Sports Network (formally Versus) telecasts are not available in the package due to the rights of those games being purchased by the previous television stations prior to the beginning of the season.
History
The MLS Direct Kick Package was known as The MLS/ESPN Shootout Package in the early years of MLS. The name change occurred prior to the 2005 MLS season.See also
- NFL Sunday TicketNFL Sunday TicketNFL Sunday Ticket is an Out-of-Market Sports Package that broadcasts National Football League regular season games unavailable on local affiliates. It carries all regional Sunday afternoon games produced by Fox and CBS...
- MLB Extra InningsMLB Extra InningsMLB Extra Innings is an Out-of-Market Sports Package distributed in North America by satellite provider DirecTV since 1996 and by most cable providers since 2001. The package allows its subscribers to see up to 80 out-of-market Major League Baseball games a week using local over the air stations...
- NBA League PassNBA League PassNBA League Pass is an out-of-market sports package that allows its subscribers to watch up to 40 out-of-market National Basketball Association games a week....
- NHL Center IceNHL Center IceNHL Center Ice is an Out-of-Market Sports Package distributed by most cable and satellite providers in the United States and Canada. The package allows its subscribers to see up to forty out-of-market National Hockey League games a week using local and national television networks.NHL Center Ice...
- NASCAR Hot PassNASCAR Hot PassNASCAR Hot Pass is a complementary television package available exclusively on DirecTV in the United States and on various cable & satellite providers in Canada. It debuted at the 2007 Daytona 500, which aired on February 18 of that year. In 2007 and 2008, it was a pay-per-view subscription package...
- ESPN GamePlanESPN GamePlanESPN GamePlan is a Out-of-Market Sports Package offering college football games to viewers throughout the United States.GamePlan begins on Labor Day weekend and continues through the first Saturday in December. It includes all regional telecasts on ABC, as well as games from various syndicators...
- ESPN Full CourtESPN Full CourtESPN Full Court is an out-of-market sports package in the United States that carries college basketball games. It is available on most major cable and satellite television providers, and on any computer whose broadband Internet service is provided by one of ESPN.com's business partners.The package...