Major League Soccer has announced that Apple TV will be the home to all of the league’s matches globally for 10 years, starting in 2023.
With the league’s media rights deals expiring at the end of 2022, it has been engaged in talks with several potential partners, but Apple has emerged as the league’s choice in a first-of-its-kind agreement.
Fans will be able to watch every live MLS match, in English or Spanish, by subscribing to a new MLS streaming service through the Apple TV app. No longer will there be any local TV blackouts, as every MLS team’s local television deal will expire at the end of 2022.
Sports Business Journal has reported that the deal is worth $250 million per year.
The deal also includes the forthcoming expanded Leagues Cup involving all MLS and Liga MX teams, as well as select MLS NEXT Pro and MLS NEXT matches.
“For the first time in the history of sports, fans will be able to access everything from a major professional sports league in one place,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of services in a news release. “It’s a dream come true for MLS fans, soccer fans, and anyone who loves sports.”
The new streaming service will include a weekly live match whip-around show, providing live look-ins and goal highlights from MLS games as they happen. Details on the cost of the new service, as well as other programming, broadcast teams and what the league says are more consistent match windows are forthcoming. MLS fans with full-season ticket packages to their local team will receive the service for free.
The league has said that it will be simulcasting some games on linear television, with further details to come on those plans in the coming months. There will also be a “broad selection of MLS and Leagues Cup matches” available to Apple TV+ subscribers without the need to subscribe to the new MLS streaming service, and a select few matches will be available for free.
“Partnering with the world’s most innovative company is an unparalleled opportunity to create an entirely new home to bring more MLS content than ever directly to our fans in one place,” said MLS commissioner Don Garber. “No matter if you’re a super fan or a casual viewer, we’re making it incredibly easy to enjoy MLS matches.”
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