MLS, Apple announces details of new deal: What to do with prices, later start times

On Wednesday, Major League Soccer and Apple provided further details about their new broadcast deal starting with the 2023 season. The league and the tech giant announced a 10-year pact this summer, with Apple paying $2.5 billion for the rights to show every MLS match. Here’s what you need to know about today’s update:

• Starting February 1, fans can subscribe to MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app for $14.99 per month during the season or $99 per season, and Apple TV+ subscribers can sign up for a special price of $12.99 per month and $79 per season.
• Season ticket holders of any MLS club will have an annual subscription included with their package. Apple expects 300,000-400,000 subscribers to fall into this bucket.
• Almost all games (scheduled for Wednesday and Saturday, with some Sundays under consideration) will kick off at 19:30 local time, with pre-game coverage starting half an hour earlier.
• MLS will produce a show similar to “NFL RedZone” and CBS Sports’ “Golazo Show.” to allow fans to continue with several matches at the same time.
• The opening weekend of the season will be fully available for everyone to watch before the paywall.

What we already knew

On October 27, Athletics reported some key details in relation to ongoing planning efforts for the nascent manufacturing operation. The league has interviewed over 200 play-by-play voices and color commentators as they look to build English, Spanish and French broadcast teams. If you don’t fancy the task of league commentary, viewers can switch to the home team’s radio feed for a more local perspective. Match windows will include a national half-hour pre-match show, a match-specific primer at each stadium, a half-time show and a national post-match show. Given the number of time zones to cover, there would typically be coverage on game nights from 7:00 PM to 1:00 AM ET.

A significant number of matches can also live in front of the MLS-specific paywall. A document circulated to clubs in August indicated there could be six midweek and four Saturday games available before the paywall. MLS also expects to announce linear broadcast partnerships (with particular eyes on ESPN/ABC, TUDN and Fox given their history), and a source said Athletics the league expects to have a significantly higher number of games available for free in 2023 than at any other point in the league’s history.

According to the document, the plan is to stream the MLS All-Star Game only on Apple TV+ and Apple’s MLS streaming service — in that scenario, the game will not be available linearly or in front of the Apple TV paywall. The league would like the MLS Cup final to be simulcast on a linear network and in front of the paywall on Apple TV until at least 2026.

Other MLS playoff games will be broadcast on the Apple TV streaming service and, most likely, on a linear platform. The league is still trying to work out a simulcast deal with linear partners like ESPN, Fox and Univision in the United States and TSN and TVA Sports in Canada. Where exactly the playoff games will be broadcast will depend on the specifics of those potential simulcast deals.

Teams will also have the ability to generate their own content to suit local fan bases, which will live on the Apple TV app alongside replays of national matches and league-generated content.

What we learned on Wednesday

First, and most important, was the price. Once the service launches on February 1, fans can subscribe to the MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app for $14.99 per month during the season or $99 per season, and Apple TV+ subscribers can sign up for a special price of 12, $99 per month and $79 per season. It’s unclear how many simultaneous viewing screens will be allowed with a subscription, a key detail for families and opportunists like me.

The repeated fact that a subscription will be included for season ticket holders is a necessary incentive to encourage die-hard fans of the teams to test the new platform from its launch. Having the opening weekend of the season in front of the paywall will also give them a chance to advertise to non-season ticket members and more casual viewers, but could give a damaging first impression if the operation is not to standard level immediately. While the $99 price tag may seem steep, it’s comparable to the league’s previous venture. Before it switched to ESPN+, MLS Live offered all games for $79 a year — minus those pesky local blackouts. Pay roughly $12 a month to watch every MLS team, but your favorite was a tough question. With local power outages no longer included in the new format, it appears to be a fair market value to continue an increasingly relevant league even if you don’t have a seat in a team’s stadium.

However, some will understandably balk against the increase over the previous price point with ESPN+. The ability to bundle that sports service (which includes many more football leagues as well as many other sports to add more to the subscription money) with Hulu and Disney+ made it an easily digestible monthly fee given the content offered. Granted, ESPN+ featured local blackouts, which were the bane of on-the-go fans and writers in the market. Whether or not the increase is clearly justified will depend on the content created by the league and its clubs to complement a full list of watchable matches.

Perhaps more curious to me was the decision to move back the start times. While kick-off times fluctuated widely throughout the season, the basic window was a 7.08pm local kick-off to ensure matches were finished by 9pm (barring scandal or injury, of course). With games starting at 7:30 p.m., MLS has a more visible window for pregame shows, but will cut back further into the evening — an important consideration for families as well as viewers on strict bedtimes.

The initial reaction among fans has been extremely mixed (as evidenced by tweets and quote mentions here). Some see it as a fair rate given full access to MLS games and the promise of additional content. Others see it as a cash grab to offset a massive rights deal from a subscription service that already charges a hefty monthly fee — the dreaded paywall within a paywall.

Wherever you land, MLS has two and a half months to prepare the platform before it kicks off in February. As is the case with the unveiling of the jerseys, it will be easier to decide if it’s worth your money once you see it in action.

(Photo: Jeff Halstead / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)