Sporting KC Extend Deal With KSMO

Sporting KC today announced a new TV deal with KSMO today. Not only today did KC announce that KSMO will be broadcasting the 2012 season, but KSMO will also be broadcasting the 2013 season as well. There's plenty of good news out of the deal that was announced today.

First, all 28 games that are not being broadcasted on national television will be shown live on KSMO. So outside of the games on ESPN, ESPN2, and NBC Sports, KSMO will be the home of Sporting KC. To add onto how good the relationship between KC and KSMO is, KC will have two of their games this season on sister station, KCTV5, the local CBS affiliate. They will be showing KC's home game against the Houston on 7/7, the first of three Eastern Conference final rematches. That game's kickoff time has been moved up 30 minutes to accommodate the new station. KCTV5 will also be showing the September 22nd game from Saputo Stadium. This is a good sign of how well Sporting KC has done this past year in KC, reports were that KC's ratings improved as the season went on and were higher than anyone really expected I think. It shows good faith in the team by KCTV5 that they're going to put the games on.

As part of the deal, the 30 minute preshow continues on KSMO, which I really like. It continues the "major league" feel of the broadcast. The fact that there is pregame, hyping the game and looking at both Sporting and the opposition just seems to give the broadcast that extra level of legitimacy.

Also returning is the Sunday evening Off the Pitch. The weekly recap show was another step forward for KC last season. Good content and good insight into the week that was for KC. I'd like to see some of the production values improve, but overall I'm extremely happy that this show has returned for me to watch.

In unsurprising news, Callum Williams and Jake Yadrich will be returning together to the booth. I like the move, Williams is extremely good in the booth and will only continue to improve. Yadrich brought stability to the color position after the first bit of the season saw KC rotate through who was in the booth with him.