NASL, USL Pro to have every 2014 game streamed live online
The NASL champion New York Cosmos will have every game in 2014 streamed live online. (Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images)
While MLS gets set for its new television rights deal to kick in following the 2014 season, the two lower tiers of professional soccer are getting their ducks in a row for viewers as well.
Both NASL and USL Pro will have every game in the 2014 season streamed live online. The second-tier outfit just partnered with Perform, a digital sports content company, and will be charging a monthly fee of $4.99 for access to games both live and archived on demand in addition to supplemental programming.
USL Pro, which will feature a few handfuls of MLS players on loan at their respective clubs' affiliates, will have all games streamed live and archived on demand at no charge on YouTube, the third-tier league announced on Friday. Each team's channel, which will have team-specific content, can be found here.
There was no mention of whether the live streaming will extended to U.S. Open Cup games, whose rights belong to U.S. Soccer.
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For a refresher, here are the current affiliations between MLS and USL Pro teams, which MLS clubs can use to loan players in need of more minutes on the field:
Columbus Crew - Dayton Dutch Lions
D.C. United - Richmond Kickers
Houston Dynamo - Pittsburgh Riverhounds
New England Revolution - Rochester Rhinos
Philadelphia Union - Harrisburg City Islanders
Sporting Kansas City - Orlando City SC/Oklahoma City Energy
Toronto FC - Wilmington Hammerheads