At first glance, the stability of a six-team league might be in question. But with the recently signed television deal between the Major Indoor Soccer League and the VERSUS network, Blast officials are confident about the strength of the league.
“It?s important in sports today,” Blast president/general manager Kevin Healey said of the television contract. “It gives you that national recognition you?re looking for. It helps you in the community ? because it allows your fans to see what?s happeningin other cities.”
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VERSUS, formerly known as The Outdoor Network, will broadcast four lives games and a preview show leading into the MISL playoffs. The broadcast series will start March 24, with the Blast paying visit to Philadelphia for a 5 p.m. game. The network recently found success in landing NHL broadcasts.
“An authentic media partnership with VERSUS vastly increases the exposure and potential reach of our made-for-television professional sport, providing the league with the ability to generate increased knowledge of the MISL, the opportunity for the general sports fan to preview the Major Indoor Soccer League experience, and the platform for the league to begin positioning marquee MISL players as stars on a national landscape,” MISL commissioner Steve Ryan said in a statement.
Last season, the MISL championship was carried live on ESPN2. The network aired the second game and the golden-goal session that resulted in the Blast?s third title in four seasons. This year, the title will be determined in one game, with VERSUS airing the title contest at 4 p.m. on April 21.
The Blast, which has not hosted a live televised game since 1997, has been in talks with local television networks as recently as this season in terms of bringing live television broadcasts to the Baltimore market.
The MISL will expand to eight teams next season, and it is almost certain that VERSUS will be on board for a full season of broadcasts. More teams would equate to more geographical rivalries and an overall broadening of the product.
“We need to grow our league,” Healey said. “This is a big country, and for us to be sitting here with six looking at eight next year, there are a lot of opportunities.”
MISL ON VERSUS
» March 24: Blast at Philadelphia, 5 p.m.
» March 31: Milwaukee at California, 5 p.m.
» April 7: MISL Championship Series preview show, 4 p.m.
» April 14: MISL Championship Series semifinal, 4 p.m.
» April 21: MISL Championship Series final, 4 p.m.
