MLS Game of the Week | |
---|---|
Starring | Adrian Healey Taylor Twellman Max Bretos Alexi Lalas Kasey Keller |
Country of origin | United States |
Production | |
Running time | 2 hours (2.5 hours select games) |
Release | |
Original network | ESPN2 (2009–2022) |
Original release | 2009 – 2022 |
MLS Game of the Week was the weekly presentation of Major League Soccer games on ESPN2.
Following the 2008 season, ESPN discontinued MLS Primetime Thursday , citing lagging ratings [1] and hoping to find better lead-in programming. It was replaced by the MLS Game of the Week, which rotates among a variety of nights and time slots. [2]
ESPN left all MLS televising duties after the 2022 MLS season, of which games will mainly be shown via streaming on MLS Season Pass. [3]
Ratings have largely remained steady if stagnant despite the move from the regular time slot. Viewership averaged 299,000 per broadcast in 2009, up from 253,000 in 2008; [4] however, it dipped to 253,000 in 2010 before rebounding to 291,000 in 2011 [5] with some matches (having been moved to ESPN as opposed to ESPN2) drawing over 600,000 viewers.
Mike Tirico is an American sportscaster. He is currently the NFL play-by-play announcer on NBC's Sunday Night Football, having replaced Al Michaels in 2022. From 2006 to 2015, Tirico served as a play-by-play announcer on ESPN's Monday Night Football. Tirico has called a multitude of sports in his career, including the NBA, NHL, college football and basketball, golf, tennis, and World Cup soccer.
Adrian Healey is an English football commentator, currently working with MLS Season Pass broadcasts on Apple TV. He is a veteran football commentator in the U.S., working for networks such as ESPN; he was part of the ESPN commentary team in South Africa for the 2010 World Cup. He has also been a fill in host for Dan Thomas on ESPN's soccer show ESPN FC.
Thomas Michael Smyth is an Irish soccer commentator. Since February 1993, he has been employed by ESPN in the United States, where his primary role is as color commentator and in-studio analyst for major soccer events. He also commentates on Gaelic games, horse racing, harness racing, and American football.
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