''MLS Primetime Thursday'' was the weekly presentation of

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

games on

ESPN2 ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%). ESPN2 was initially fo ...

for the

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

and

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

seasons. The program was presented by

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History

ESPN and MLS had previously had a contract where

televised live games, usually on Saturday afternoons. Under the arrangement, no rights fee was paid, and MLS controlled production, advertising, and promotion. Time slots varied under the deal, secured by

Soccer United Marketing Soccer United Marketing is the for-profit marketing arm of Major League Soccer which primarily deals in the promotion and sanctioning of professional soccer in the United States. In 2016, Soccer United Marketing was also chosen as the exclusive ...

's providing of rights to the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

. For the 2007 season, an eight-year deal was signed with an $8 million rights fee. ESPN added several features in an attempt to improve presentation—high-definition broadcasts, a sky-cam for some matches, a virtual offside line, a ball tracer, a sideline reporter, and three commentators. For the inaugural season,

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

announcers Dave O'Brien and

Eric Wynalda Eric Boswell Wynalda (born June 9, 1969) is an American soccer coach, television commentator, and retired player. He was formerly an analyst and color commentator for soccer coverage on Fox Sports 1 and ESPN. Previously, he served as head coach ...

served as play-by-play and analyst, respectively, with Allen Hopkins serving as the

sideline reporter Sideline(s) may refer to: * Extended side, the geometric line that contains the side of a polygon * Sidelines, the lines that mark the outer boundaries of a sports field * Sideline (app), a smartphone app * ''Sidelines'' (newspaper), the studen ...

Tommy Smyth Tommy may refer to: People * Tommy (given name) * Tommy Atkins, or just Tommy, a slang term for a common soldier in the British Army Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Tommy'' (1931 film), a Soviet drama film * ''Tommy'' (1975 fil ...

was later added as a co-analyst. Glenn Davis and Rob Stone filled in for O'Brien on occasion. For the 2008 season,

JP Dellacamera John Paul "JP" Dellacamera (born January 11, 1952) is an American play-by-play sportscaster primarily for Major League Soccer with the Philadelphia Union, as well as major soccer tournaments and ice hockey. Commentary career Soccer In the 1 ...

and

John Harkes John Andrew Harkes (born March 8, 1967) is an American soccer coach and former professional player who is the head coach of Greenville Triumph SC. A member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame, Harkes was the first American ever to play in the ...

replaced O'Brien and Wynalda as the lead team with Davis, Smyth, and

Julie Foudy Julie Maurine Foudy ( ; born January 23, 1971) is an American retired soccer midfielder, two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist. She played for the United States women's national soccer team from 1988 to 2004 ...

occasionally filling in. Following the 2008 season, ESPN discontinued the Thursday programming, citing lagging ratings and hoping to find better lead-in programming. It was replaced by the ''

MLS Game of the Week ''MLS Game of the Week'' was the weekly presentation of Major League Soccer games on ESPN2. History Following the 2008 season, ESPN discontinued ''MLS Primetime Thursday'', citing lagging ratings and hoping to find better lead-in programming. It ...

'', which rotated among a variety of nights and time slots.

Ratings

After averaging 223,000 viewers during the 2006 season, ratings increased slightly in 2007, to 289,000 viewers, including a regular-season high of 658,000 viewers for

David Beckham David Robert Joseph Beckham (; born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer, the current president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City. Known for his range of passing, crossing ability and bending fr ...

's second regular season match. However, ratings dipped to 253,000 in 2008. Attendance often lagged, with few sellouts for the weeknight matches, with marquee club

Los Angeles Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began play ...

unable to host home matches at the

Home Depot Center Dignity Health Sports Park is a multi-use sports complex located on the campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills in Carson, California. The complex consists of the 27,000-seat Dignity Health Sports Park soccer stadium, the Dignit ...

on Thursdays due to its agreement with

California State University, Dominguez Hills California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH, CSU Dominguez Hills, or Cal State Dominguez Hills) is a public university in Carson, California. It was founded in 1960 and is part of the California State University (CSU) system. In 2020, ...

Personalities

Play-by-play announcers

# Dave O'Brien (2007), lead #

(2008), lead # Glenn Davis (2007–2008), secondary

Analysts

(2007), lead #

(2007–2008), secondary #

(2008), lead

Sideline reporter

# Allen Hopkins (2007–2008)

Studio team

* Rob Stone (host, 2007–2008) *

(studio analyst, 2007–2008)

References

External links

ESPN MLS HomepageMLS Homepage
{{MLS on ESPN Primetime Thursday ESPN2 original programming 2007 American television series debuts 2009 American television series endings