Apple TV subscribers will be able to watch all Major League Soccer matches without an additional subscription beginning next year.
During the first three years of MLS’ 10-year, $2.5 billion agreement with Apple, a standalone Season Pass subscription was needed to access all matches. During this season, over 200 matches were simulcast on both MLS Season Pass and Apple TV, including the league’s “Sunday Night Soccer” package. Dropping the separate subscription was announced Thursday at an owners’ meeting.
Apple has made its Friday night Major League Baseball doubleheaders available to all subscribers since its start in 2022. It recently secured U.S. rights to Formula 1 for five years which will also be available beginning next season.
Making the MLS games more accessible also comes as the United States hosts the World Cup next year and the league contemplates switching to a late summer to spring calendar matching the European model in 2027. The current season runs from late February to early December,
MLS deputy commissioner Gary Stevenson said Apple approached MLS early this year about the possibility of moving all of its matches to Apple TV.
“We had been testing ‘Sunday Night Soccer’ on Apple TV and we got a really good reception to it. Then we talked to them about the potential schedule change and they thought that made sense. So it all kind of seemed like the perfect evolution to what we started and we think that the fans are going to find the experience and the value to be significantly better,” Stevenson said.
MLS season ticket holders will receive Apple TV subscriptions after previously receiving MLS Season Pass.
MLS said it averaged 3.7 million gross live match viewers per week across streaming and linear platforms for its 15 weekly matches, a 29% increase over 2024.
Apple has worldwide rights to MLS, which have benefitted them in South America after Lionel Messi joined Inter Miami in 2023. The league has also seen an influx of Asian viewers after Son Heung-Min began playing for LAFC in August. Messi and Son had the top two jersey sales in the league this season.
Messi and Son’s clubs have both advanced to the league quarterfinals. LAFC is at Vancouver on Nov. 22 while Inter Miami travels to Cincinnati on Nov. 23.
___
AP MLS: https://apnews.com/hub/major-league-soccer
By JOE REEDY
AP Sports Writer
