Crew SC has extended its broadcast partnership for 2018 with Sinclair, which includes WTTE (Channel 28), WSYX (Channel 6), CW Columbus and MyTV Columbus, club president of business operations Andy Loughnane said.

Crew SC likely won't announce any simulcast partners for 2018 during this season, Loughnane said. Spectrum Sports has aired all non-nationally televised Crew SC games this season, along with Toledo-based Buckeye Cable Sports Network.

By the end of the 2017 regular season, 25 Crew games will have aired on CW Columbus, four on MyTV Columbus, two on WSYX and one on WTTE.

“Our organizational priority as it relates to TV viewership is to widen distribution and provide freedom of choice with respect to the screen type so that the modern-day viewer can consume a Crew SC match,” Loughnane said. “We are pleased that we will be able to continue that with the consistency and accessibility that CW Columbus and for that matter ABC 6 and FOX 28 provide to help us cross-promote our product to an audience that may not have otherwise tuned into an MLS match.”

With one broadcast agreement taken care of for next season, Crew SC will look to improve its TV ratings through the end of the season and into next season. Year-to-date TV viewership for Crew SC broadcasts is down approximately 20 percent from 2016, Loughnane said.

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Loughnane called Crew SC’s TV ratings during the club’s first eight-match unbeaten streak since 2010 “a bit of a mystery”.

“We haven’t necessarily seen a direct correlation between performance on the field and performance in the ratings,” Loughnane said. “For example, across the entirety of our entire eight-match unbeaten streak, we’ve averaged a 0.3 rating.”

That average includes 0.1 ratings for each of Crew SC’s past two home matches, against the New York Red Bulls and D.C. United, Loughnane said, both of which have had considerable MLS playoff implications.

“Consecutive 0.1 ratings during our push for the playoffs is a humble reminder and source of motivation for me personally but it directly speaks to our need to battle for relevance on TV and at the box office,” Loughnane said. “We know we can’t simply demand viewership and recognize the need to captivate an audience with compelling drama and compelling story lines, however we are hopeful that playing meaningful matches with playoff implications will carry relevance and drive ratings.”

Crew SC’s final two regular-season matches against Orlando City SC and New York City FC will be broadcast on Spectrum Sports, CW Columbus and Buckeye Cable Sports Network. Major League Soccer’s national TV partners — UniMas, FS1 and ESPN — will carry the playoffs.

“Increasing Crew SC ratings, especially during undefeated streaks and playoff pushes, will help grow other parts of our business, including our TV advertising efforts and our sponsorship sales, both of which are priorities,” Loughnane said. “We want to increase ratings, we want to increase sponsorship sales.”

aerickson@dispatch.com

@AEricksonCD

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