(Background: "Why are Canadians being shut out of MLS MatchDay Live?" and "Update on MatchDay Live in Canada")
Seattle and Los Angeles will be getting the MLS regular season underway on Tuesday night. But fans in Canada who were hoping to catch First Kick using the league's web-streaming service, MatchDay Live, won't get that chance.
A notice on the league website, added in the last week, states: "If you are trying to access the service from Canada please check back. We are working to add the service for Canadian subscribers as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience."*
So, how soon is "as soon as possible"?
"We hope to have something in market within a week," a league official told Canadian Soccer News via email late Monday night. "The delay was due to the finalization of the Canadian broadcast deals both nationally and locally."
Update: MatchDay Live is now available.
TSN announced its national package weeks ago. The Vancouver Whitecaps announced their regional broadcaster over 10 days ago. That would seemingly leave Toronto FC -- and the situation surrounding its regional broadcasting schedule -- as the culprit behind the ongoing MDL delay.
Not so, according to a person with knowledge of TFC's broadcasting situation, who told CSN that "the two issues are not linked."
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
That person, who requested anonymity because the deal has not yet been made public, says details of Toronto FC's regional broadcasting package should be announced in about a week.
That's right around the same time that MatchDay Live is supposedly, finally, going to be available to Canadian fans.
Coincidence?
Either way, it appears this saga is finally set to come to an end. In an ideal situation, fans would have been aware of their viewing options long before the season began, rather than once it had already gotten underway.
But as it stands, the appropriate parties should be providing Canadian fans with details on how they'll be able to view MLS games during the 2011 season in about a week's time.
And if they don't... Canadian Soccer News will be on it.
*Note: Thanks to a reader who pointed out that, as of midday on Wednesday, the notice has been removed from the MLS site. It had appeared as recently as Tuesday. No word yet on why that may be.