The FIFA World Cup is being held 10,000 miles away in South Africa, but one of the biggest U.S. beneficiaries of the event is none other than the Fox Soccer Channel, a News Corp. subsidiary in West Los Angeles.
The channel does not own the rights to the games, which are being carried by ABC/ESPN, but it plans a heavy lineup of previews, recaps and other related shows during the monthlong tournament that started June 11.
The channel, available in 37 million homes, has built the largest soccer audience in the United States since it was founded in 2005 in a building it shares with other News Corp. subsidiaries, such as Fox Sports en Espanol, a Spanish-language sports network.
The network has hired Andy Gray to boost its coverage. The Brit, one of the world’s leading analysts of soccer talent, is hosting a preview and recap show from the local studios with reporters on location in South Africa.
The network has benefited from the increased interest in soccer this year and recent contracts it has signed to show leading tournaments. In the first quarter, the network registered an 89 percent rise in total-day audience, according to Nielsen ratings data. Weekend audience was up 65 percent versus the prior year and prime-time ratings increased by 71 percent.
The network shows games from top European soccer leagues such as England’s Barclays Premier League, Italy’s Serie A and the Union of European Football Associations’ Champions League. On April 28, the UEFA Champions League match between Barcelona and Inter Milan set a ratings record for the station with a 1.2 coverage area rating, which is equivalent to well over 1 million homes.
Its audience demographics have helped attract more advertisers. According to Nielsen, the channel’s audience had the highest median viewer income of any advertiser-supported cable network during the first quarter.
“That audience is attractive and we’re seeing tremendous growth from the advertising community,” said David Nathanson, general manager of Fox Soccer Channel and sister station Fox Soccer Plus, who assumed his position in January.
Game Change
When Walt Disney Co. announced last week that it will shutter five of its seven remaining ESPN Zone restaurants around the country, one of only two to survive was the eatery at L.A. Live. There’s a good reason for that.
The L.A. Live location opened a year and a half ago under a unique agreement with Walt Disney Co. unit ESPN that makes downtown L.A. entertainment and sports company AEG the managing partner of the restaurant.
Now, AEG, which developed and operates L.A. Live, will be able to make changes to distinguish the local restaurant from its less successful corporate brethren.
“We now can take advantage of a little more autonomy,” said AEG spokesman Michael Roth. “We are looking to add a couple of distinct Los Angeles elements to the restaurant, to personalize it a little more.”
Aside from new menu items, the restaurant will alter its operating hours to accommodate sporting events. Right off, it plans to open early this month to show every World Cup game live.
“Our restaurants will stay open as long as the business will warrant it,” Roth said.
During the restaurant’s first year of operation, that hasn’t been the case. For example, after recent Los Angeles Lakers playoff games, the restaurant kept its regular 10 p.m. closing time and locked the front doors. Inquiring visitors were told they could go to the Yard House, a neighboring business that stays open later.
Yard House and other L.A. Live restaurants have been more accommodating. They’ve remained open later than normal, catering to the postgame crowds and those staying in downtown hotels. Lakers player Josh Powell can be frequently found dining at Yard House after games, and several Phoenix Suns players and coaches dined at Katsuya after games during their playoff series with the Lakers.
“Yard House has done a great job to maintain a local business,” said Jim Houston, principal at OnSite Consulting, an L.A. Angeles restaurant adviser. “It has local owners who are connected to those locations. In a model like ESPN Zone, it doesn’t adjust to individual markets.”
Sports Study
The release last week of the Los Angeles Sports Council’s latest study on the local sports industry reinforced one truism: Few corners of the economy have escaped the recession.
Local sports teams and venues generated $1.7 billion in revenue during 2009, down from $2.1 billion in 2007, when the last study was conducted. During the period attendance at local sporting events dropped from 24.9 million to 20.8 million despite a drop in average ticket prices.
About the only teams to escape the carnage were the Lakers and Los Angeles Dodgers, who topped Major League Baseball in attendance last year with 3.8 million tickets sold.
“In the case of the Lakers, they’re at close to capacity,” said David Simon, president of the Sports Council. “The Dodgers have been selling more than 3 million tickets for a number of years now. That’s a tribute to their marketing.”
The study is the seventh in a series dating back to 1993. It uses data obtained from 55 local sports teams and venues in Los Angeles and Orange counties.
Staff reporter David Nusbaum can be reached at [email protected] or at (323) 549-5225, ext. 236.
