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OneSoccer Fails To Stream FC Edmonton vs Valour FC Game
By Update: OneSoccer has now released a statement saying the following: “The adverse weather conditions severely affected the live broadcast setup to a point we deemed unsafe for our crew to continue working in.” The service apologized for not streaming the match and will be offering compensation for impacted viewers.
Fans of the Canadian Premier League will be familiar with OneSoccer, the global streaming service that streams all of the Canadian Premier League games. Well, all of them but one: the streaming service was unable to stream last night’s match between FC Edmonton and Valour FC.
It’s fair to say that this fixture between the two teams seems to trend towards ill fortune, as the spring season version of it was delayed by a day due to air quality concerns.
This time around, the game was delayed by a half hour due to lightning, and a few minutes after it finally kicked off the referee spotted lightning once more and halted the game. The poor weather continued during the long delay, which saw wind blow down a hospitality tent and water pool along the pitch.
A few fans in attendance at Clarke Stadium speculated that the game was being postponed due to seeing MEDIAPRO crew members pack up the camera gear used to broadcast the games. However, the signal to continue eventually arrived from match officials: the game was to be played after all, but by that time MEDIAPRO had reportedly dismantled its equipment.
The end result is that FC Edmonton and Valour FC played to a nil-nil draw at Clarke Stadium without MEDIAPRO providing its necessary production service for OneSoccer. Fans who had stayed up awaiting a stream were understandably upset when the streaming service tweeted that it wouldn’t be able to stream the match.
At the time of this article, it isn’t clear why MEDIAPRO packed up its equipment when the game had yet to be cancelled.
To make matters worse, the OneSoccer Help account was informing users that the game was postponed and would be rescheduled. These now-deleted tweets occurred while the match had actually resumed, echoing a similar miscommunication that marred the York9 FC league home opener – though on that occasion, the production crew stayed through the lightning delay.
The production gaff hasn’t been fully explained by OneSoccer yet, but the tweet indicating that OneSoccer would be unable to stream the game has spurred plenty of negative reactions from fans who are split between demanding a refund and complaining about the service in general.
For its part, OneSoccer still provided social media score updates at half-time and full-time on Twitter, so it’s clear somebody at OneSoccer stayed late at work. FC Edmonton and Valour FC stepped up to live-tweet the match as best they could, but such efforts don’t compare to an actual broadcast crew.
The twice-delayed match will have been an interesting first impression for new Valour FC signing José Galán, who was an unused substitute on Rob Gale’s bench. Italian striker Michele Paolucci did not travel with the squad to the game, and probably ended the night a lot dryer than his new teammates.
For now, it looks like the best thing for OneSoccer to do is offer an explanation – and an apology – for completely missing the match. It’s not something one typically sees in the modern sports world, especially after MEDIAPRO made such a significant investment in its production deal with Canada Soccer Business.
The last week saw OneSoccer making some aggressive expansion efforts in terms of its catalogue of offerings: the streaming service has added both the Chinese Super League and Liga MX for the rest of the year, in addition to its Canadian Championship, Canadian Premier League, and home Canadian national team matches.
Subscribers will be hoping the inability to stream the Canadian Premier League fixture is a one-off. The burgeoning league has played through plenty of stormy nights, and a few matches in snow to boot. While there have been some technical difficulties throughout the year, last night marked the first time a match was completely missed by the streaming service. Fans will be hoping that it’s also the last.