Editor's Note: Statements from the team and CSN Washington below the jump. Here is the original story.
On the same day that MLS announced a three-year television deal with NBC and Versus (soon to be renamed NBC Sports Network), we were served with a reminder of just how far the league still has to go in terms of TV coverage. This afternoon, D.C. United and Sporting Kansas City announced that the August 21 match between the two teams, originally scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time, had been pushed back to 8:30 p.m.
Now, the annoying part. Comcast SportsNet was originally supposed to air the game live and in its entirety at 7:00 p.m. Now that the game has been moved, the network will air the match on tape-delay starting at 9:30 p.m. For the record, the match will be carried live on local TV in Kansas City (Spanish-language channel Galavision was also slated to televise the match, but they've backed out due to the changed start time).
For the record, here is CSN's current TV listings for Sunday, August 21.
Update: D.C. United spokesman Doug Hicks emailed the following in response to SB Nation D.C.'s inquiries:
"[Sporting Kansas City] had to move the match back due to a parking dispute at the stadium grounds. As for the CSN broadcast, they contracted a show after our schedule was in place and cannot go back on the commitment. We'll air the game in its entirety on CSN, but it will not be available on [MLS DirectKick] or [MatchDay Live]."
Update to the Update: Brian Potter of Comcast SportsNet has sent me an email that read, in part, as follows:
"The start time of the game was changed from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. -- a decision Comcast SportsNet was not involved with and just learned of. The network would very much prefer to carry it live, but it is a complex situation and, although not ideal, airing on a one-hour delay is the best option available to us and United.
"[W]e do have solid programming commitments that prevent us from airing live coverage. We never expected the game time to change, especially 10 days before the match, and had very limited options due to the nature of the programming. We have to be fair to all of our partners and viewers in these situations.
"DC United is a longtime partner of Comcast SportsNet and we have an excellent relationship with the team. This season we are airing 20 games, three of which we just added to the schedule last week. We hope that United fans still enjoy the game, as well as the others on the schedule this season."