This is a historic moment for the league and soccer in the USA. Last June, 2022 the MLS announced that Apple was going to be the exclusive partner to watch every single live MLS match beginning in 2023 for the next 10 years in a $2.5 Billion dollars deal. The time has come, MLS Season Pass is here! February 1st, 2023 marked the day when the channel is now available worldwide on Apple TV, MLS Season Pass will be home to all MLS and Leagues Cup matches, and hundreds of MLS NEXT Pro and MLS NEXT games. In the past years fans have struggled finding the league’s soccer matches across different broadcasters and games happening on different days of the week. MLS and Apple will bring consistency to the fan, all the games in just one channel, no blackouts, on every screen.
The main benefit offered by the league and its new project is to bring accessibility to the game, both entities will work on being consistent and assign strategic time slots to every week schedule, plus a whip-around show that will give access to the extra game shows, like pre-match analysis and post game discussions, led by new and fresh talent. The new deal represents a bet for both the MLS and Apple. In the case of the League, the Major League Soccer is going to be the first league in the world that offers the games exclusively via streaming, an unprecedented act that has the objective to be the first league in the world moving into this model, every other league has a linear TV partner. Streaming provides benefits, like Convenience, Portability: Apple TV services can be accessed from multiple devices, including smartphones, laptops, and smart TVs, providing fans with the ability to watch games on the go or from home and access to a wider range of content, Access to a wider range of content: the MLS subscription includes shows like Beyond the Pitch, The Ritual and The Movement, lastly this will bring Internationalization to the league, the MLS is going to be available to watch all around the globe.
For Apple is a bet to advance in the race for top sports media content, starting with its Apple Originals hit, “Ted Lasso,” Apple TV+ has had a growing presence in sports media. Then they made a deal with MLB for Friday night games worth $85 million annually. This partnership is a strong statement on their plan to keep acquiring live sports events and as a result increasing subscriptions and users to their platform.
The first year is going to be a challenge, a lot of money will be invested in production and promotion to convince the MLS fans and soccer enthusiasts to buy the monthly subscription priced at $15 dollars / month or $99 dollars the whole season. With the Apple deal the MLS has distribution, but is the price point what you were expecting? Is it too expensive? Or do you consider it a good deal? Comment below what you think and let’s start a conversation.
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