Apple TV subscribers will be able to watch all Major League Soccer matches without an additional subscription starting next year.
For the first three years of MLS's 10-year, $2.5 billion deal with Apple, a separate Season Pass was required to access all matches. This season, more than 200 matches were broadcast simultaneously on both channels. MLS Season Pass and Apple TV, including the Sunday Night Soccer league package. The elimination of the separate subscription was announced Thursday at an owners' meeting.
Apple has made its Major League Baseball Friday Night Double Headers available to all subscribers when they launch in 2022. The company recently secured US rights to Formula 1 for five years, which will also be available starting next season.
Making MLS games more accessible is also possible as the World Cup takes place in the United States next year and the league switches to a late-summer to spring calendar, following the 2027 European model. The current season lasts from late February to early December.
MLS Deputy Commissioner Gary Stevenson said Apple approached MLS earlier this year about moving all of its matches to Apple TV.
“We tested 'Sunday Night Soccer' on Apple TV and it was very well received. Then we talked to them about possibly changing the schedule and they thought it made sense. So it all seemed like the perfect evolution of what we started, and we think fans will find the experience and value significantly better,” Stevenson said.
MLS season pass holders will receive an Apple TV subscription after receiving a previous MLS season pass.
MLS said it averaged 3.7 million live match viewers per week across streaming and linear platforms for 15 weekly matches, up 29% from 2024.
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Apple has MLS rights around the world, which benefited them in South America after Lionel Messi joined Inter Miami in 2023. The league also saw an influx of Asian spectators after Son Heung-min began playing for LAFC in August. Messi and Son had the two highest shirt sales in the league this season.
Messi and Son's clubs reached the quarterfinals of the league. LAFC will play in Vancouver on November 22, while Inter Miami will travel to Cincinnati on November 23.
