CUP TO RUNNETH OVER TO MLS.

Byline: TOM HOFFARTH Media

Sifting through the reams of soccer TV data coming in from all sources, there's one thing apparent to programmers - World Cup fever could be a long-term disease among American viewers if a few things go right in the next few weeks.

``The ratings have been extraordinary, but it's by no means the final step,'' said ESPN's senior vice president of programming, Mark Quenzel, on the eve of the U.S.-Germany quarterfinal match.

``We already knew we had a loyal base, but the level of the ratings we've received show there's a casual fan who's getting excited, and our mission from here is to make them understand there's more soccer to follow after this.''

Meaning, Major League Soccer?

Apparently so, since AYSO has no national TV contract, and ABC and ESPN have a vested interest in the success of the country's only real professional league that provided the core of players for this American team.

Quenzel understands that ``anytime you wrap the American flag around a team, you're going to see an increase in interest. But if the MLS didn't exist, this team wouldn't be there right now. The MLS gets beaten up in ratings, but they're the development league feeding this system.''

So it's the hope of Disney that, with the ratings it and Spanish-language Univision have generated these past three weeks, there will be a natural spillover to the MLS, which has continued to play its schedule practically out of sight and mind while the World Cup goes on.

In addition to ESPN's season-long MLS schedule, ABC has the MLS All-Star Game on Aug. 3 and the MLS Cup championship Oct. 20.

--History lesson: In January, the MLS announced a five-year contract extension with ESPN and ABC that included the U.S. TV rights to the World Cup, which the league bought in a unique arrangement that also includes the 2003 U.S. Women's World Cup.

Anschutz Entertainment Group, which owns seven MLS teams including the Galaxy, is an investor in the new MLS TV production company.

``The vision of this new company is to be one of the premier soccer organizations in the world,'' AEG President Tim Leiweke said at the time of the announcement.

Added ABC Sports president Howard Katz: ``Soccer has been an important part of ABC Sports' long tradition, so it is gratifying that the next three World Cups and MLS will continue to be an important part of our schedule.''

The combined audience for ESPN and Univision watching Monday morning's U.S.-Mexico match was about 7 million - 4.2 million coming from Univision. ESPN says it was the most-watched late-night (1-to-6 a.m.) program ever on cable watched by men 18-34 and men 18-49.

Pulling out just the numbers for Los Angeles, the game was seen in about 785,000 homes, translating to about 1.9 million viewers. Univision had 610,000 of those homes.

``I'm thrilled for us and for them,'' said Quenzel about the ESPN and Univision success. ``I view it as a win for soccer. I don't feel we're in competition. And God willing, everyone will come to us for more soccer when this Cup is all over.''

--Technical merit: The opinion on the street is that Univision's coverage is better than ESPN in two subtle areas.

First, Univision doesn't compress the screen to get the score scroll across the bottom as ESPN does. And because ESPN delays the feed from South Korea and Japan for up to eight seconds to accommodate its own graphics and promos, Univision actually has the action first.

By the way, even ESPN has been using Univision's ``gooooooal'' call on ``SportsCenter'' when showing some of the World Cup highlights. With Jack Edwards doing play by play, that's understandable. It was Edwards who crafted the phrase - ``The land of the free, the home of the brave is into the round of eight!'' - after the U.S. victory over Mexico.

--It's worth a try: With the elimination of the Italian team, the country's state broadcasting station is considering legal action against FIFA for reimbursement of its rights fees because of bad referees who caused what it deemed a ``serious fraud.''

RAI paid German company Kirch Media about $140 million to show all the games from the 2002 and 2006 World Cup. RAI had up to 20 million viewers a game when Italy played, but with the team's early exit, the audience, and advertising revenue, dropped sharply.

--First serve: The 15-year agreement that the soon-to-be-launched Tennis Channel reached with Time Warner cable might put into motion a change in the way sports networks are added or subtracted from the future menus of the cable systems.

Expected to launch officially in early December, The Tennis Channel will go on Time Warner's digital sports tier. That means the cost of subscriber fees will be passed on to those who want the channel bad enough.

In the long run, it saves every customers' monthly bill from going up every year. The sports channels historically pass on the increasing rights fees that they've committed to pro and college sports leagues and teams onto the cable systems, which pass it on to viewers.

As a result of this unique agreement, Time Warner vice president of programming Fred Dressler has said this will be the way he'll likely deal with all new cable channels, especially those with sports. Time Warner has 12.8 million customers in major cities such as Los Angeles, New York, Tampa, Orlando, Raleigh, Houston and Milwaukee.

Time Warner digital customers will probably pay about $2 a month extra for the sports tier on their bill. The Tennis Channel expects to charge Time Warner and all other cable system about 15 cents per subscriber, about what The Golf Channel and The Speed Channel asks for.

There's a thought that the long-term success of this arrangement might cause some cable companies to push for an ESPN or Fox Sports Net to this digital sports tier as those channels continue to up the sub fees into the $2 per subscriber range.

``It's hard to know because of what other channels need,'' said David Meister, the Tennis Channel's Chairman and CEO. ``In our case, we aren't about bidding up sports rights fees and causing a burden later on.

``This wasn't so much about sending a message, but if there's something to be learned, it's that there are new ways to get things done in this business.

``I see it as we're a bunch of guys who've helped write the rules in this business before and we're showing how rules can be written in another way. It's all very sound and logical when you see what's involved. If you want to make progress and if you can be resourceful and innovative, you can accelerate the pace for success.''

--Classic Buck: From Oct. 15, 1988, came this famous call: ``Gibson swings, and a fly ball to deep right field. ... This is gonna be a home run! Unbelievable! A home run for Gibson! And the Dodgers have won the game 5-4! I don't believe what I just saw!''

But for Los Angeles listeners, Jack Buck's description of Kirk Gibson's game-winning homer in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series wasn't heard.

Vin Scully was doing the game on TV for NBC. Most here were savoring his ``in the year of the improbable, the impossible has happened'' poetry of a call. For Los Angeles radio listeners, Don Drysdale was on the air.

Buck was working for CBS Radio, which went to the rest of the country. His call later was inserted into many of the replays of the homer.

Remembering the Hall of Fame broadcaster, who died Tuesday at age 77, Scully said: ``He was a gruff-voiced guy with a big heart. I can understand why the people of St. Louis and throughout the Midwest especially loved him and put him on the highest pedestal. He was everything a Hall of Fame sports announcer should be: warm, interesting and most importantly, accurate.''

Chick Hearn, who in 1954 lost out on the St. Louis Cardinals play-by-play job to Buck, also had this tribute: ``He truly was an artist when it came to describing baseball or any other sport he did. ... He truly was an icon in our business.''

SOUND BYTES

WHAT SMOKES

--By ESPN proclamation, these next few days are to be known as ``Women and Sports Weekend,'' a way to recognize the 30th anniversary of Title IX as well as fill in some holes in the 24-hour programming of its three main channels. The highlight of the 40-hour block of shows will be a documentary ``On the Basis of Sex: The Battle of Title IX'' (Saturday, 5 p.m.) followed by one of those town-hall, empowering get-togethers. How far have the gals come in sports programming? Aside from the LPGA, WTA and WNBA events this weekend, ESPN will have an all-female boxing card tonight on ``Friday Night Fights,'' women's pro billiards and the World's Strongest Woman competition. So, yes, they've arrived.

--Before the official NBA video comes out, Fox Sports Net has the one-hour look back at the Lakers' just-concluded season in a special ``A Dynasty Defined,'' airing first Monday at 7 p.m. with at least a dozen replays on FSN and FSN2 through July 7.

WHAT CHOKES

--Apparently, enough quotes about his bathroom habits got the Lakers' Shaquille O'Neal voted onto the NBA's all-interview team for 2001-02. Selected by American and Canadian sportswriters and broadcasters, Shaq made the first team with Chicago chronic complainer Charles Oakley, Milwaukee movie star Ray Allen, Minnesota's Kevin Garnett and Seattle's Brent Barry. The Clippers' Elton Brand was on the second team.

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SOUND BYTES (see text)