December 3, 20231 yr I don’t have Apple TV, and my soccer fan friends who do chose this of all weeks to be taking their kids to Disney, so the watch party that would normally have been happening didn’t. Even just the highlights from this on YouTube are amazing, and I really wish I could’ve seen the full Hell Is Real semifinal.
December 3, 20231 yr 4 hours ago, Gramarye said: I don’t have Apple TV, and my soccer fan friends who do chose this of all weeks to be taking their kids to Disney, so the watch party that would normally have been happening didn’t. Even just the highlights from this on YouTube are amazing, and I really wish I could’ve seen the full Hell Is Real semifinal. You can do a free trial of Apple TV. Might be worth it for the final.
December 4, 20231 yr It was surreal. I went to THE soccer bar in San Diego...they didn't have the game. Called my friend who was at THE soccer bar in Cleveland....same. This is stupid for MLS.
December 4, 20231 yr 18 hours ago, VintageLife said: You can do a free trial of Apple TV. Might be worth it for the final. The final will be televised on FOX as well as Apple TV, so no need to worry about figuring Apple TV out for just one game.
December 4, 20231 yr 11 hours ago, surfohio said: It was surreal. I went to THE soccer bar in San Diego...they didn't have the game. Called my friend who was at THE soccer bar in Cleveland....same. This is stupid for MLS. Eh, I don't think it was stupid. Apple TV gives them a global reach now, which is something they never had before. It also got rid of the horrible regional sports network issue which was blacking out fans in their own cities (myself included) from watching their teams. MLS is extremely regionalized, being virtually irrelevant in non-MLS cities. They've been trying to change that for 25 years, but they've had almost no success. The national TV ratings prove this. Apple offered them significantly more money while also providing them a product that actually makes sense for their business model. I would bet there as many people watching the game internationally as there were people in the US outside of Columbus and Cincinnati.
December 4, 20231 yr This has to be one of the most epic pictures in Crew history. Ramirez celebrating the comeback victory with 1,000 Crew fans in their rivals stadium. You love to see it.
December 4, 20231 yr The game winning goal from field level. Listen to the roar of the traveling Crew fans.
December 4, 20231 yr 14 hours ago, surfohio said: It was surreal. I went to THE soccer bar in San Diego...they didn't have the game. Called my friend who was at THE soccer bar in Cleveland....same. This is stupid for MLS. I work at a sports bar in Cincinnati. We did not have the game. One person called asking if we had the game but that was it. I listened to the end of the game on the radio in my car. That was my first time listening to soccer on the radio and it's impossible to tell what is going on. You somehow need to know every player's name on both teams in order to understand a radio broadcast. The Cincinnati announcer just goes..."and Columbus taps it in and that's likely the end to Cincinnati's dream season". Like no detail.
December 4, 20231 yr 32 minutes ago, Lazarus said: I work at a sports bar in Cincinnati. We did not have the game. One person called asking if we had the game but that was it. I listened to the end of the game on the radio in my car. That was my first time listening to soccer on the radio and it's impossible to tell what is going on. You somehow need to know every player's name on both teams in order to understand a radio broadcast. The Cincinnati announcer just goes..."and Columbus taps it in and that's likely the end to Cincinnati's dream season". Like no detail. The Crew's radio announcer, Chris Doran, is way better than that. Still not great to listen to on the radio, but he's very solid. Apple TV gives you the option to listen to the home team's radio announcer instead of the TV announcers when you watch the game live, and many Crew fans will opt to listen Doran over the TV guys.
December 4, 20231 yr 1 hour ago, Lazarus said: You somehow need to know every player's name on both teams in order to understand a radio broadcast. I mean, this is true of any sport — you need to have some familiarity with the players, rules, etc. if you want to know what’s going. Tuning into the Reds without any context isn’t going to make sense and as you have reminded us of many times on both your old and new accounts—you don’t care for soccer. So this point is moot. Also, just because your specific employer didn’t show the match, doesn’t speak for the rest of the area. Social media and even physical marquees all over were advertising that they were showing the game.
December 4, 20231 yr 3 hours ago, cbussoccer said: Eh, I don't think it was stupid. Apple TV gives them a global reach now, which is something they never had before. It also got rid of the horrible regional sports network issue which was blacking out fans in their own cities (myself included) from watching their teams. MLS is extremely regionalized, being virtually irrelevant in non-MLS cities. They've been trying to change that for 25 years, but they've had almost no success. The national TV ratings prove this. Apple offered them significantly more money while also providing them a product that actually makes sense for their business model. I would bet there as many people watching the game internationally as there were people in the US outside of Columbus and Cincinnati. Granted that's an improvement. But they're still showing the Final simultaneously on FOX. Why even bother? Are people not interested in the Semi's suddenly interested in the Final?
December 4, 20231 yr 1 minute ago, surfohio said: Granted that's an improvement. But they're still showing the Final simultaneously on FOX. Why even bother? Are people not interested in the Semi's suddenly interested in the Final? This past Saturday was conference championship day for college football. The MLS games were going to be relegated to FS1, which continuously gets horrible ratings. They might as well just put it on Apple TV and continue to grow the subscriber base. This coming Saturday is like a barren wasteland from a sports standpoint. The Army-Navy game is at 3pm, but other than that there's not much going on. Early season college basketball. Early season NBA. Mid season NHL. Nothing significant though. So FOX wants something exciting to fill airtime and were probably willing to compensate MLS accordingly.
December 5, 20231 yr 8 hours ago, cbussoccer said: The Crew's radio announcer, Chris Doran, is way better than that. Still not great to listen to on the radio, but he's very solid. Apple TV gives you the option to listen to the home team's radio announcer instead of the TV announcers when you watch the game live, and many Crew fans will opt to listen Doran over the TV guys. Haha, this reminds me of when Brent Musburger would wind up on an OSU broadcast and people would protest by muting the TV and turning their radios on. I'm sure that's not the only instance of that happening but it's enough of a thing that it's a feature now. Would Steve Jobs be pleased by this development?
December 5, 20231 yr I think this is going to be a big ratings coup for Fox Sports. If so, they (and other networks) might make an offer to MLS to broadcast more games next year and in coming years. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
December 5, 20231 yr 13 minutes ago, KJP said: I think this is going to be a big ratings coup for Fox Sports. If so, they (and other networks) might make an offer to MLS to broadcast more games next year and in coming years. This season FOX/FS1 have broadcast a game every week, and I think the plan is to continue that next season. They also had about half of the playoff games as well. The thing is, every single game was also available on Apple TV. Most MLS fans (myself included) with MLS Season Pass subscriptions on Apple just got into the habit of watching on Apple and completely ignored the FOX/FS1 option. As a result, the ratings on FOX/FS1 suffered. I'll bet the same thing will happen for the final on Saturday. It's available on Apple and FOX, so Apple is going to take a lot of the eyeballs away from FOX.
December 9, 20231 yr Seriously?? A Cleveland guy is the first one to post this?? You slippin' C-bus! "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
December 10, 20231 yr 35 minutes ago, KJP said: Seriously?? A Cleveland guy is the first one to post this?? You slippin' C-bus! This was the first MLS soccer game I’ve ever watched. The Crew’s style of play and the crowd involvement made it a fun watch. Some good shots of the Columbus skyline as well.
December 10, 20231 yr 20 hours ago, KJP said: Seriously?? A Cleveland guy is the first one to post this?? You slippin' C-bus! Uh, dude, we all have hangovers from CELEBRATING. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
December 10, 20231 yr Columbus Crew Wins 3rd MLS Cup With 2-1 Defeat of LAFC The Columbus Crew deftly secured a home game win on Saturday night in the biggest game of the year. The team faced off against the Los Angeles Football Club for the 2023 MLS Cup, and wrapped up the game with a 2-1 victory. The Crew dominated possession of the ball during the first half of the match, scoring two goals before the midway point. Cucho Hernandez scored during a penalty kick in the 33rd minute and Yaw Yeboah put in another goal at the 37 minute mark. More below: https://columbusunderground.com/columbus-crew-wins-3rd-mls-cup-with-2-1-defeat-of-lafc-we1/ "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
December 10, 20231 yr 21 hours ago, KJP said: Seriously?? A Cleveland guy is the first one to post this?? You slippin' C-bus! Too busy celebrating my guy. The sports section of UrbanOhio is definitely not the first stop on my celebration route, lol.
December 10, 20231 yr 21 hours ago, jeremyck01 said: This was the first MLS soccer game I’ve ever watched. The Crew’s style of play and the crowd involvement made it a fun watch. Some good shots of the Columbus skyline as well. They were so much fun to watch this year. It will obviously be difficult to repeat with an MLS Cup again next season, but I hope they can replicate the style of the play. Next year’s season will be packed with action. Not only do we have the MLS regular season, we will also have the US Open Cup, CONCACAF Champions Cup, Leagues Cup, Campeones Cup, and the MLS playoffs if we qualify. Depending on how far we advance in each competition, we will play about 10 more games than we did this season.
December 11, 20231 yr 17 hours ago, ColDayMan said: Columbus Crew Wins 3rd MLS Cup With 2-1 Defeat of LAFC The Columbus Crew deftly secured a home game win on Saturday night in the biggest game of the year. The team faced off against the Los Angeles Football Club for the 2023 MLS Cup, and wrapped up the game with a 2-1 victory. The Crew dominated possession of the ball during the first half of the match, scoring two goals before the midway point. Cucho Hernandez scored during a penalty kick in the 33rd minute and Yaw Yeboah put in another goal at the 37 minute mark. The Yeboah goal was good, but the assist from Amundsen to Yeboah was an artistic masterpiece.
December 11, 20231 yr 7 hours ago, Gramarye said: The Yeboah goal was good, but the assist from Amundsen to Yeboah was an artistic masterpiece. And the roar of the crowd when the ball went into the net, breathtaking.
April 25, 20241 yr The Columbus Crew just took down Monterrey at home in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions Cup semifinal: Getting this far is impressive enough, but that what-ifs are almost like contemplating winning the lottery at this point--even just thinking about it can be fun. Because the winner of this tournament gets an entry into the FIFA Club World Cup, which opens up the possibility that we could literally see the Columbus Crew playing Real Madrid, FC Bayern, Barcelona, or Manchester City in competitive play. Or we could get eliminated by Monterrey in the second-leg game at their field this coming Wednesday. The Crew are the last US team in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. In the other semifinal, Club América and Pachuca tied 1-1 in the first-leg match in Mexico City. (For the unaware: These matches are not single-elimination and are also not best-of-3 series. They're home-and-home series, with series ties being determined by goal differential first, away goals second. If both of those are tied, then they play extra minutes in the second game and then penalty kicks in the 2nd game. The Crew won their quarterfinal match against the other Monterrey-area Mexican pro team, Tigres UANL, on penalty kicks in the 2nd game.)
May 2, 20241 yr Crew are heading to the CONCACAF Champions Cup finals! We'll play Pachuca next for the title. And we just went into the house of Monterrey, who had won nineteen straight two-leg series games in CONCACAF play, and racked up an even bigger win there than we did in our own house. I'd planned to go to bed at halftime (game started at 10pm Eastern), but after the last-second goal at the end of the half, ended up staying up to watch the whole thing. Dragging now, but worth it.
May 2, 20241 yr Me too. I stayed up for the whole game. It was worth it! "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
May 2, 20241 yr 6 hours ago, Gramarye said: Crew are heading to the CONCACAF Champions Cup finals! We'll play Pachuca next for the title. And we just went into the house of Monterrey, who had won nineteen straight two-leg series games in CONCACAF play, and racked up an even bigger win there than we did in our own house. I'd planned to go to bed at halftime (game started at 10pm Eastern), but after the last-second goal at the end of the half, ended up staying up to watch the whole thing. Dragging now, but worth it. What a game. Massive win. Probably the 3rd or 4th most important win in team history. If we win the final, we are in the Club World Cup next year. Insane.
May 12, 20241 yr I was at the Crew game tonight vs Cincinnati. A great experience. Unfortunately, FCC's defense/goalie and its ability to play keep-away was too much for Columbus. My first-ever MLS game. It won't be my last! "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
May 29, 20241 yr So bummed about the time zone issue playing Pachuca this Saturday. Late start plus soccer still not having quite the following of the big American sports means I've come up empty on finding a place to go watch it--and the kids are likely to fall asleep on the couch by halftime anyway. But, on the bright side: CONCACAF Champions Cup is not considered an MLS game within Apple TV's exclusive contract, so if you don't have Apple TV and want to watch or DVR this one, it's on FS1. (Which also isn't in everyone's channel package, but I think FS1 still gets more circulation than MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.)
August 11, 2024Aug 11 https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/leagues-cup-round-of-16-matchups-schedule Columbus Crew vs Inter Miami in the Leagues Cup round of 16 this year. I’m not sure, but I think this may be the first time we have played Miami in tournament play. Last year, Monterrey beat Miami and then we beat Monterrey, so we never played Miami directly. Lionel Messi has been out and I think he is likely to still be out on Tuesday, but I’m also not sure. Even without him, Miami has been an outstanding team, and this is a marquee matchup for a round of 16 game.
August 14, 2024Aug 14 Another moment of regret that I don't have Apple TV (and don't live in Columbus anymore where I could have been at this one live), because this was one of the best comeback wins in program history: Even with Messi still sidelined, Inter Miami had the best record in MLS and was the defending Leagues Cup champion. Up next: NYC (who beat Tigres) in the quarterfinal.
August 22, 2024Aug 22 First and foremost: We're going to the Leagues Cup final, after a convincing and at times downright beautiful win over Philadelphia Union: Second: The other semifinal isn't over yet, but at more than 60 minutes in, LAFC is up 3-0 on the Colorado Rapids, so it looks very much like the Leagues Cup final will be a rematch of the MLS Cup final. Third: All four semifinal teams were US (MLS) teams; no Liga MX teams made the semis.
August 26, 2024Aug 26 Go Crew! COLUMBUS CREW Columbus Crew wins Leagues Cup title 3-1 vs LAFC behind Cucho Hernandez efforts Brianna Mac Kay Columbus Dispatch The Crew have won the 2024 Leagues Cup title, defeating Los Angeles FC 3-1 behind two goals and an assist from striker Cucho Hernandez. https://www.dispatch.com/story/sports/mls/columbus-crew/2024/08/25/leagues-cup-final-columbus-crew-vs-los-angeles-fc-live-updates-results/74922655007/
August 27, 2024Aug 27 Hernandez is the real deal. Some people were probably crossing their fingers when we signed him because we paid $$$$ for him (way more than anyone else on the team and more than we'd ever spent on one player), so it was our biggest gamble ever. Four years at $2.6M+ per year, so $10M+ total contract. He's signed through 2025 with a club option through 2026, and unless something unfortunate and dramatic happens, we're going to be exercising that option. The Pachuca game really stands out this year at this point as a low point. But by winning the Leagues Cup, we have an automatic bid once again to the CONCACAF Champions Cup, and another shot at the Club World Cup. I really want to see how this team would fare against household-name Euro clubs, and I want to see it before one of those said clubs snaps up Wilfried Nancy with an offer we can't possibly match.
October 2, 2024Oct 2 Big regular season game tonight: Inter Miami comes to town. And while most of the MLS regular season games are only available Apple TV's MLS Season Pass, it looks like this one escaped somehow and will be viewable on FS1.
November 4, 2024Nov 4 Ugh. What a meltdown to end the 2024 season. #2 seed Crew drop the best-of-3 series 0-2 to the #7 seed New York Red Bulls to flame out in round 1 of the playoffs. We forced the game to a penalty shootout, had a kick to win it after making our first 4 that would have won the shootout 5-4, but not only saw that one get saved, but two more penalty kicks in a row after that.
December 18, 2024Dec 18 Thoughts on the Crew/Inter Miami FC game being moved to Cleveland? I already registered to buy tickets! "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
December 18, 2024Dec 18 I'd be disgusted if I was a Crew season ticket holder. On the bright side, Yellow & Black teams always win in Cleveland... "It's just fate, as usual, keeping its bargain and screwing us in the fine print..." - John Crichton
December 18, 2024Dec 18 17 minutes ago, KJP said: Thoughts on the Crew/Inter Miami FC game being moved to Cleveland? I already registered to buy tickets! Sickening. Totally unacceptable and tone deaf by the front office. Crew fans are not ok with this and I wouldn't be surprised to this plan scrapped within a few weeks.
December 18, 2024Dec 18 3 minutes ago, cbussoccer said: Sickening. Totally unacceptable and tone deaf by the front office. Crew fans are not ok with this and I wouldn't be surprised to this plan scrapped within a few weeks. Same tone deaf decision making that seems to follow this ownership group around! Sorry Columbus– if you follow the Browns stadium saga, you'd know it'll take A LOT to get them to budge even a little bit. Give em' hell!
December 18, 2024Dec 18 4 minutes ago, cbussoccer said: Sickening. Totally unacceptable and tone deaf by the front office. Crew fans are not ok with this and I wouldn't be surprised to this plan scrapped within a few weeks. The Crew's brand ambassador has been telling me they had been wanting to do more to market in Cleveland. This is like, really kind of jumping pretty far ahead lol.
December 18, 2024Dec 18 https://www.dispatch.com/story/sports/mls/columbus-crew/2024/12/18/columbus-crew-to-host-lionel-messi-inter-miami-in-cleveland/77056247007/ Sounds like this was baked into the season ticket holder renewal which shows this was determined a while ago. Huntington Field can also hold significantly more people. Crew fans from Columbus may not like it but I dont see this being changed. Huge money opportunity for the Haslams as well.
December 18, 2024Dec 18 This is a trial balloon for moving the Crew to Cleveland once the new stadium is built and/or splitting time there.
December 18, 2024Dec 18 10 minutes ago, downtownjoe said: Same tone deaf decision making that seems to follow this ownership group around! Sorry Columbus– if you follow the Browns stadium saga, you'd know it'll take A LOT to get them to budge even a little bit. Give em' hell! They tried changing our name and logo, and even remove yellow from our team colors. We got them to back down completely on the name change and color change, and we forced them to compromise on the logo change. 9 minutes ago, surfohio said: The Crew's brand ambassador has been telling me they had been wanting to do more to market in Cleveland. This is like, really kind of jumping pretty far ahead lol. I have absolutely no issue with them marketing to areas outside of Columbus. Totally fine. But playing the biggest home game of the season outside of Columbus is a complete and total slap in the face to the city and fanbase. 10 minutes ago, TDi said: https://www.dispatch.com/story/sports/mls/columbus-crew/2024/12/18/columbus-crew-to-host-lionel-messi-inter-miami-in-cleveland/77056247007/ Sounds like this was baked into the season ticket holder renewal which shows this was determined a while ago. Huntington Field can also hold significantly more people. Crew fans from Columbus may not like it but I dont see this being changed. Huge money opportunity for the Haslams as well. I highly doubt they sell any more than about 35k tickets for this game. Messi mania has mostly subsided by this point, April in NEO is not great weather-wise, and the Crew fanbase is totally uninterested in this. Furthermore, season ticket holders are already canceling their plans. When the long term revenue stream starts to dry up, it will force them to reconsider.
December 18, 2024Dec 18 18 minutes ago, cbussoccer said: They tried changing our name and logo, and even remove yellow from our team colors. We got them to back down completely on the name change and color change, and we forced them to compromise on the logo change. I have absolutely no issue with them marketing to areas outside of Columbus. Totally fine. But playing the biggest home game of the season outside of Columbus is a complete and total slap in the face to the city and fanbase. I highly doubt they sell any more than about 35k tickets for this game. Messi mania has mostly subsided by this point, April in NEO is not great weather-wise, and the Crew fanbase is totally uninterested in this. Furthermore, season ticket holders are already canceling their plans. When the long term revenue stream starts to dry up, it will force them to reconsider. If I have learned anything about Jimmy Haslam from being a browns fan it is that he will do anything for a buck no matter what the fan base wants.
December 18, 2024Dec 18 38 minutes ago, TDi said: If I have learned anything about Jimmy Haslam from being a browns fan it is that he will do anything for a buck no matter what the fan base wants. He also is public enemy number 1 for ditching a stable franchise QB for Deshaun Cosby and setting the browns back a decade. My guess is he’s trying to do anything to get some goodwill from Cleveland fans
December 18, 2024Dec 18 The Crew wouldn't move to Cleveland until the end of the useful life of the current stadium. Maybe in 20 years they move to Cleveland, but not any time soon. This is a one-off that is being used to extract money from Messi fans. You are locked into the game if you are a season ticket holder, so they're going to sell a lot more tickets that they would if they played it in Columbus. They obviously aren't using Ohio Stadium because the Haslems have control of the Browns stadium and stand to profit more. As an FCC fan, I would be furious if they moved this game from Cincinnati to Indianapolis or something. I absolutely would not go, and would sell my ticket on a second hand exchange. The only acceptable time to play a game in another city is for a friendly that isn't part of season tickets (or Leagues Cup, because no one likes it).
December 18, 2024Dec 18 37 minutes ago, ryanlammi said: They obviously aren't using Ohio Stadium because the Haslems have control of the Browns stadium and stand to profit more. The other issue is the field is artificial turf and it's way too narrow. NYCFC's field at Yankee Stadium has been much derided for being too narrow, and the field at Ohio Stadium would be even more narrow.
December 18, 2024Dec 18 2 hours ago, ryanlammi said: The Crew wouldn't move to Cleveland until the end of the useful life of the current stadium. Maybe in 20 years they move to Cleveland, but not any time soon. Even 20 years from now, this would probably be a horrible decision that would lose a significant portion of the fan base. I get that they can create new fans, but it would be a pretty dumb idea, especially with the Columbus population expectations.
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