By ALAN SNEL
LVSportsBiz.com
Cox Communications, which distributes cable TV programming in Las Vegas, blocked the non-commercial telecast of the Las Vegas Lights FC’s first-ever regular-season game Saturday, leaving Vegas soccer fans to watch the inaugural franchise game in Fresno on YouTube and the Lights’ owner mad.
The Lights have a deal with the city of Las Vegas to broadcast Lights games on KCLV Channel 2 on the local Cox cable TV system in Sin City. In fact, there was a Channel 2 broadcast of the Lights’ first pre-season game at Cashman Field Feb. 10.
Lights owner Brett Lashbrook thought the soccer team’s first regular-season match with fellow expansion team Fresno FC would be broadcast in Las Vegas via the city’s TV channel. The Lights defeated Fresno FC, 3-2, in the opening game for both United Soccer League clubs.
There would be no commercials and no ad spots on the Lights’ sponsors such as Zappos or the Plaza hotel-casino during the broadcast on Channel 2, Lashbrook said.
City spokesman Dave Riggleman said that since the Lights were not going to include any commercials on the Lights game telecast on KCLV Channel 2 that “we thought were on solid ground.”
But Cox refused to distribute the Lights game content on Channel 2, arguing the KCLV telecast of a Lights game is commercial in nature because the team is a for-profit entity, Lashbrook said.
LVSportsBiz.com received a statement from Cox Communications spokesman Juergen Barbusca Monday on this issue. We are publishing the entire statement:
“Cox Communications met with the City and Mr. Lashbrook over a month ago on February 14 to discuss our concerns with carriage of his professional sports team’s games on the City’s designated Government Access channel. At that meeting, Cox made it clear to Mr. Lashbrook that regardless of whether there are commercials aired during the game or not, federal law and Cox’s state cable license prohibit the use of Public, Government or Education (PEG) access channels for commercial use. Carriage of the games of a professional, for-profit sporting team with paying sponsors on the City’s government access channel, is a commercial use. There are hundreds of PEG channels across the country programmed by local governments, and while some may carry local high school sports, none air professional sports. We have and will continue to work cooperatively with the City to help find other alternatives for the games to be shared with Las Vegas residents.”
Riggleman confirmed Cox’s side of the story. “Cox felt the games would be commercial in nature,” Riggleman said, and therefore it could not be allowed on a government access channel.
But it left Lashbrook in a sour mood.
“It’s been frustrating with Cox,” Lashbrook told LVSportsBiz.com Sunday afternoon.
Lashbrook explained further, “Cox wants the Lights to pay Cox to air the games on one of its own stations such as YurView Channel 1092. Cox says they won’t ever allow Lights games on Channel 2 — and if the city moves forward with airing Lights matches on KCLV (even without any commercials) Cox would have to cancel its carriage license with KCLV/city of Las Vegas.”
But Lashbrook said the team’s deal with KCLV “put the city at zero risk and provided a platform to further promote downtown as a destination . . . The Lights would pay all production costs and exclude selling any traditional commercial sports.”
In fact, Lashbrook said, the Lights paid six figures to produce the soccer game to be broadcast on the city’s TV channel with the goal of Cox distributing the feed to its viewers in Las Vegas.
Riggleman even noted that the city would have to pay a worker overtime and acquire more bandwidth to accommodate the Lights telecasts in Channel 2, but he said Lashbrook was going to reimburse the city for those costs.
But things went sideways. Lashbrook said, when Cox Communications interpreted the Lights game telecast on Channel 2 as a commercial endeavor and, thus, Cox refused to distribute the KCLV broadcast on its Las Vegas system.
Instead, Cox wants the Lights to buy time on a Cox channel to broadcast the team’s games, Lashbrook said.
“Public access channels across the country air high school sports without issue,” Lashbrook said. “Not sure why Lights FC matches without commercials is any different.”
The Lights play at city-owned Cashman Field, so Lashbrook reasoned that because the city TV channel promotes all things Las Vegas, it would make sense to televise Lights games at Cashman.
Lashbrook said Saturday’s game broadcast would have contained PSAs promoting city topics such as downtown. “We love the city of Las Vegas and want to work with them hand in hand to grow downtown Las Vegas and generate economic impact.”
Riggleman said the Lights game telecasts tied directly into the city’s downtown redevelopment efforts and helped the city create an “opportunity to bring people into downtown.”
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As a result of Cox’s actions, Lashbrook said he is in talks with other TV broadcasters and distributors in hopes of getting the Lights games on TV in the Las Vegas market.
Riggleman said he could understand Lashbrook’s interest in pursuing alternative ways to get the Lights games on local TV. “More power to him,” Riggleman said. “If he finds that would help him, we’d be happy for him.”
Sunday evening, LVSportsBiz.com reached Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman, who said there are more discussions set between the city and Cox regarding Lights games on the city’s Channel 2.
But Goodman said the talks are fluid and she hopes to have more definitive information Monday.
Riggleman acknowledged that the mayor is “hopeful” something can be worked out between Cox and the city to broadcast the Lights games on Channel 2.
LVSportsBiz.com emailed a Cox Communications spokesman for a response, but did not hear back.
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The team’s regular season home opener is Saturday at 7 p.m. at Cashman Field where the Lights will play in-state rival Reno 1868 FC.
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