Apple and Major League Soccer announce a 2023-2032 broadcasting deal, with games available via MLS Apple TV app or Apple TV+; source: deal is worth $250M+/year
In a historic first for sports, fans can stream every single MLS match through … Tim Baysinger / Axios : Apple builds sports empire with MLB, MLS deals Aisha Malik / TechCrunch : Apple signs 10-year streaming deal with Major League SoccerRob Pegoraro / PCMag : Apple to Exclusively Stream All Major League Soccer Matches in 2023 Philip Elmer-DeWitt / Philip Elmer‑DeWitt : Apple cuts a revenue-splitting deal with Major League Soccer Oliver Haslam / Redmond Pie : Apple Announces 10-Year Major League Soccer Deal To Live Stream Games Joseph Pompliano / Huddle Up : Apple's $2.5 Billion Bet On Major League Soccer Jason Snell / Six Colors : Apple inks 10-year deal with Major League Soccer ↦ Jared Newman / Techhive.com : Apple's Major League Soccer deal is how sports streaming should work Maggie Tillman / Pocket-lint : Apple will stream every Major League Soccer match from 2023 to 2032 Daria Rud / Coinspeaker : Apple and Major League Soccer Sign 10-Year Streaming Deal for All MLS Matches MacDailyNews : Cable takes substantial hit: Major sports league will stream exclusively on Apple TV app Cosmin Vasile / PhoneArena : Apple to debut new service to stream all MLS games in the US Ars Technica : Bad news for cable: A major sports league will stream exclusively on Apple TV Own Goals : What Major League Soccer's 10-year deal with Apple TV means for Real Salt Lake Tweets: Michael Leach / @leachcitynewsto : Whoa... #MLS and Apple announce partnership to stream all MLS games anywhere in the world starting in 2023. That's a... wow. No local blackouts. #TFCLive https://twitter.com/... Tim Cook / @tim_cook : We're thrilled to bring @MLS to @AppleTV! Starting next year, ⚽️ fans around the world can watch all Major League Soccer matches in one place. https://www.apple.com/... Taylor Twellman / @taylortwellman : Welcome @AppleTV to @MLS and here's to growing the league to new levels. No blackouts will do wonders for the league and the amount of apple devices now being directly linked with @MLS will only help the league grow. 👊🏼💪🏼 #MLS https://twitter.com/... @appletv : Never miss a moment. Learn more: https://www.apple.com/... https://twitter.com/... Cæsar / @cesarberardini : @il_pugno @Apple Add NextVR and we've got a whole new service... https://twitter.com/... Jason Snell / @jsnell : key point here - even if ESPN or Fox makes a deal with MLS, every single one of those games will also be on the Apple/MLS streaming subscription service. No exclusivity, no blackouts. https://twitter.com/... Stu Holden / @stuholden : Congrats @Appletv and @Mls on beginning of new partnership. Excited to see the new fans it brings to a league on the rise in the global game. https://twitter.com/... Will Oremus / @willoremus : @dkiesow yeah i mean, i think for the kind of people who already like MLS and would shell out for Apple TV+, this is a great deal. i just think the bigger challenge for the league long-term is reaching the people who weren't already in those venn circles Timothy Burke / @bubbaprog : plz get rid of your DRMtim apple https://twitter.com/... Corey Clayton / @coreyclayton : @MLS_Buzz But that's BEFORE @ESPN/@FoxSports/@TUDNUSA all pay their share for their weekly broadcast rights. And before any regional broadcasters pay up to continue to show their local @MLS team's matches in-market. Could be $300-350M a year by the end — more for teams in big markets. @entstrategyguy : @DavidPoland Apple has tiny penetration. A sport/league can sign the wrong deal and then the product doesn't build equity with fans. So very risky for MLS. Apple can spend unlimited money, and that's a different issue for society. (It's bad.) Don Garber / @thesoccerdon : Looking forward to working with you and your incredible team to grow @MLS and the sport of soccer. Welcome @AppleTV to the MLS family! 🍎x⚽️ https://twitter.com/... Corey Clayton / @coreyclayton : @MLS_Buzz ... Also, that extra $4-5M per team could usher in a higher salary cap, more DPs per team (4-5 DPs, and extra U22 DP), etc. It could also lead to the @MLS purchase of @USL and @NWSL, to get them in their deal with Apple. And would set up the tiered pro/rel split in @MLS. Tom Bogert / @tombogert : A small thing I really like about this: Every season ticket holder for every club will get access to the new MLS streaming service with their ticket package. That's awesome and a nice, common sense perk for fans. https://twitter.com/... Cæsar / @cesarberardini : Add NextVR to these sports deals and @Apple will dominate the metaverse without ever using nor pronouncing that word. https://twitter.com/... Grace Robertson / @graceonfootball : Apple tends to want to be worldwide exclusive and that was probably an important part of this deal. Might rule them out of the divided-by-territory nature of too European leagues, though. https://twitter.com/... @tariqpanja : MLS has signed away it's next 10 years for 2.5x what it got for the last 10 years. Great platform, but that figure for 10 years leaves it trailing behind the biggest football leagues for a decade. Considerably less than say the Premier League makes in a single year. https://twitter.com/... @technology : Apple just won a deal for Major League soccer. Disney just lost Indian cricket. Is sports going to determine who wins the streaming wars? Lightshed Partners' Rich Greenfield tells @emilychangtv https://www.bloomberg.com/... https://twitter.com/... Denz / @f4denz : @tim_cook ... So first I need to find a device that supports Apple TV, then I have to subscribe to AppleTV+ and then I need to pay for another subscription to watch what was free on local TV, yeah this will for sure grow the league. I get the MLSHQ money grab, have yet to see how it helps fans Scott Moore / @moorescottmoore : A game changing deal for sports. Cable and satellite bundles have clung to live sports as a content driver. As Apple and Amazon get more into sports, it will impact the traditional sports broadcasters. Watch for more of this over the next few years. https://www.apple.com/... @dylanparks : @pkafka Per Adweek article - “The deal does not include linear rights. ESPN and Fox are among those still negotiating to lock down games, but those would not be exclusive to broadcasters, and instead simulcast with Apple” @mls_buzz : MLS previous TV deal - 8 years, $840m - $105m annually - $3.75m per club, per year in 2022 MLS new TV deal - 10 years, $2.5b (minimum) - $250m annually - $8.5m per club, per year in 2023 Considering ratings that haven't been amazing, this is a good deal for the league. Carolina Milanesi / @caro_milanesi : Considering soccer fans are growing nicely in the US this is a great addition for Apple. Not surprised it requires a subscription considering how expensive rights are for these games https://t.co/yQTGjCUAH7 Vadim Yuryev / @vadimyuryev : Apple is taking over sports for Apple TV+. They already have Baseball and Soccer, and are rumored to make a deal for Football. This is likely for a huge VR push to get content for their VR headset, as well as TV+ Now, watch Apple buy Activision EA Games for their Sports games. https://twitter.com/... Rachel Bachman / @bachscore : NEW: Apple announces 10-year deal to stream all Major League Soccer games. MLS becomes the most prominent American league to have an all-digital, global agreement. w/@timkhiggins https://www.wsj.com/... Gene Munster / @munster_gene : Apple's live sports offering is gaining momentum with their just announced 10 year MLS deal, which goes along side their MLB streaming content. https://www.wsj.com/... Robert Scoble / @scobleizer : As I told you last year the Apple headset will be huge to watch your favorite football team on. Ted Lasso coached both kinds of football. He will teach you plays on your living room floor next Christmas. https://twitter.com/... Will Oremus / @willoremus : putting the entire MLS exclusively on Apple TV+ for the next 10 years seems like a great way to ensure that domestic soccer remains a niche sport in the US for the next 10 years https://www.wsj.com/... Peter Kafka / @pkafka : American pro soccer needs $ so Apple TV exclusive is good for that. But American pro soccer also needs exposure, and Apple TV is niche, for now and maybe a while, so that doesn't help. https://t.co/QWDTqB6Zly Rene Ritchie / @reneritchie : Now we just need Ted Lasso (and Ryan Reynolds) to come run the Montreal and Vancouver soccer teams for a season! — Apple and Major League Soccer to present all MLS matches around the world for 10 years, beginning in 2023 https://t.co/wMntDovJIH https://t.co/5YzOmxXac2 Mark Seman / @marksayshi : Wow. No local blackouts. #RBNY @NewYorkRedBulls https://www.apple.com/... Jordan Gardner / @mrjordangardner : ... based on very poor historical TV ratings nationally and non-existant local TV viewership. Also, the top line number for the deal is still well below what I would expect for a league valuing most of it's clubs at north of $500mil. 2/2 https://www.apple.com/... Darrius Barnes / @d_barnes25 : MASSIVE! Excited to see this partnership come to life and the continued growth of the League, globally. https://twitter.com/... Romit Mehta / @theromit : Amazon has NFL games. Disney has ESPN content. Apple TV with baseball and now soccer. Is Netflix missing a beat by ignoring sports (or in general, live TV)? We shall see! https://t.co/i4xoUjpkOH Benjamin Mayo / @bzamayo : Some games included with TV+ but separate subscription required to watch all games; pricing TBA. Ten year deal. Android Apple TV app has to be coming right ... right? https://t.co/Y1rtdb5u0E Howard Megdal / @howardmegdal : “Apple is paying a minimum guarantee that sources say is worth $250M per year starting in '23.” I know a league with similar TV ratings that gets roughly 1/10 of that, deal coming due next few years. https://twitter.com/... Arik Hesseldahl / @ahess247 : Best news I could hope for. No more struggles to watch my beloved @TimbersFC without a cable package. Thank you @mlsoccer and @apple #RCTID https://www.techmeme.com/... @mls : Every club. Every match. Everywhere. Coming to the @AppleTV app, 2023. Details: https://mlssoccer.com/apple https://twitter.com/... Kyle McCarthy / @kylejmccarthy : Pretty nice price tag in the end, but production costs are going to eat into it. MLS as a global standalone subscription product is a big unknown. Linear deals aren't going to be particularly lucrative if they aren't exclusive. Tough scene for Android users. #MLS https://twitter.com/... Jeremiah Oshan / @jeremiahoshan : Sounds like mls is still negotiating for linear tv rights but that those games will no longer be exclusive. Fans will be able to watch ALL matches with an Apple+ subscription. https://twitter.com/... Zach Leonsis / @zacharyleonsis : This is BIG news in sports media. A sign of things to come in the future? Very impressive partnership struck between @MLS and @Apple TV+ to feature all games on one platform without geo-restriction too. #streaming https://twitter.com/... @jacobfeldman4 : 3 years ago, Eddy Cue told me “You really can't own all the rights, so therefore at some point you need to solve some other problems.” In the interim, MLS had all of its rights expire this year so that Apple could in fact (co-manage) all of them. https://www.sportico.com/... See also Mediagazer
Whoa... #MLS and Apple announce partnership to stream all MLS games anywhere in the world starting in 2023. That's a... wow. No local blackouts. #TFCLive https://twitter.com/...
We're thrilled to bring @MLS to @AppleTV! Starting next year, ⚽️ fans around the world can watch all Major League Soccer matches in one place. https://www.apple.com/...
Welcome @AppleTV to @MLS and here's to growing the league to new levels. No blackouts will do wonders for the league and the amount of apple devices now being directly linked with @MLS will only help the league grow. 👊🏼💪🏼 #MLS https://twitter.com/...
key point here - even if ESPN or Fox makes a deal with MLS, every single one of those games will also be on the Apple/MLS streaming subscription service. No exclusivity, no blackouts. https://twitter.com/...
Congrats @Appletv and @Mls on beginning of new partnership. Excited to see the new fans it brings to a league on the rise in the global game. https://twitter.com/...
@dkiesow yeah i mean, i think for the kind of people who already like MLS and would shell out for Apple TV+, this is a great deal. i just think the bigger challenge for the league long-term is reaching the people who weren't already in those venn circles
@MLS_Buzz But that's BEFORE @ESPN/@FoxSports/@TUDNUSA all pay their share for their weekly broadcast rights. And before any regional broadcasters pay up to continue to show their local @MLS team's matches in-market. Could be $300-350M a year by the end — more for teams in big mar…
@DavidPoland Apple has tiny penetration. A sport/league can sign the wrong deal and then the product doesn't build equity with fans. So very risky for MLS. Apple can spend unlimited money, and that's a different issue for society. (It's bad.)
Looking forward to working with you and your incredible team to grow @MLS and the sport of soccer. Welcome @AppleTV to the MLS family! 🍎x⚽️ https://twitter.com/...
@MLS_Buzz ... Also, that extra $4-5M per team could usher in a higher salary cap, more DPs per team (4-5 DPs, and extra U22 DP), etc. It could also lead to the @MLS purchase of @USL and @NWSL, to get them in their deal with Apple. And would set up the tiered pro/rel split in @MLS…
A small thing I really like about this: Every season ticket holder for every club will get access to the new MLS streaming service with their ticket package. That's awesome and a nice, common sense perk for fans. https://twitter.com/...
Considering soccer fans are growing nicely in the US this is a great addition for Apple. Not surprised it requires a subscription considering how expensive rights are for these games https://t.co/yQTGjCUAH7
Apple tends to want to be worldwide exclusive and that was probably an important part of this deal. Might rule them out of the divided-by-territory nature of too European leagues, though. https://twitter.com/...
MLS has signed away it's next 10 years for 2.5x what it got for the last 10 years. Great platform, but that figure for 10 years leaves it trailing behind the biggest football leagues for a decade. Considerably less than say the Premier League makes in a single year. https://twitt…
Apple just won a deal for Major League soccer. Disney just lost Indian cricket. Is sports going to determine who wins the streaming wars? Lightshed Partners' Rich Greenfield tells @emilychangtv https://www.bloomberg.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@tim_cook ... So first I need to find a device that supports Apple TV, then I have to subscribe to AppleTV+ and then I need to pay for another subscription to watch what was free on local TV, yeah this will for sure grow the league. I get the MLSHQ money grab, have yet to see how…
A game changing deal for sports. Cable and satellite bundles have clung to live sports as a content driver. As Apple and Amazon get more into sports, it will impact the traditional sports broadcasters. Watch for more of this over the next few years. https://www.apple.com/...
@pkafka Per Adweek article - “The deal does not include linear rights. ESPN and Fox are among those still negotiating to lock down games, but those would not be exclusive to broadcasters, and instead simulcast with Apple”
MLS previous TV deal - 8 years, $840m - $105m annually - $3.75m per club, per year in 2022 MLS new TV deal - 10 years, $2.5b (minimum) - $250m annually - $8.5m per club, per year in 2023 Considering ratings that haven't been amazing, this is a good deal for the league.
Apple is taking over sports for Apple TV+. They already have Baseball and Soccer, and are rumored to make a deal for Football. This is likely for a huge VR push to get content for their VR headset, as well as TV+ Now, watch Apple buy Activision EA Games for their Sports games. ht…
NEW: Apple announces 10-year deal to stream all Major League Soccer games. MLS becomes the most prominent American league to have an all-digital, global agreement. w/@timkhiggins https://www.wsj.com/...
Apple's live sports offering is gaining momentum with their just announced 10 year MLS deal, which goes along side their MLB streaming content. https://www.wsj.com/...
As I told you last year the Apple headset will be huge to watch your favorite football team on. Ted Lasso coached both kinds of football. He will teach you plays on your living room floor next Christmas. https://twitter.com/...
putting the entire MLS exclusively on Apple TV+ for the next 10 years seems like a great way to ensure that domestic soccer remains a niche sport in the US for the next 10 years https://www.wsj.com/...
American pro soccer needs $ so Apple TV exclusive is good for that. But American pro soccer also needs exposure, and Apple TV is niche, for now and maybe a while, so that doesn't help. https://t.co/QWDTqB6Zly
Now we just need Ted Lasso (and Ryan Reynolds) to come run the Montreal and Vancouver soccer teams for a season! — Apple and Major League Soccer to present all MLS matches around the world for 10 years, beginning in 2023 https://t.co/wMntDovJIH https://t.co/5YzOmxXac2
... based on very poor historical TV ratings nationally and non-existant local TV viewership. Also, the top line number for the deal is still well below what I would expect for a league valuing most of it's clubs at north of $500mil. 2/2 https://www.apple.com/...
Amazon has NFL games. Disney has ESPN content. Apple TV with baseball and now soccer. Is Netflix missing a beat by ignoring sports (or in general, live TV)? We shall see! https://t.co/i4xoUjpkOH
Some games included with TV+ but separate subscription required to watch all games; pricing TBA. Ten year deal. Android Apple TV app has to be coming right ... right? https://t.co/Y1rtdb5u0E
“Apple is paying a minimum guarantee that sources say is worth $250M per year starting in '23.” I know a league with similar TV ratings that gets roughly 1/10 of that, deal coming due next few years. https://twitter.com/...
Best news I could hope for. No more struggles to watch my beloved @TimbersFC without a cable package. Thank you @mlsoccer and @apple #RCTID https://www.techmeme.com/...
Pretty nice price tag in the end, but production costs are going to eat into it. MLS as a global standalone subscription product is a big unknown. Linear deals aren't going to be particularly lucrative if they aren't exclusive. Tough scene for Android users. #MLS https://twitter.…
Sounds like mls is still negotiating for linear tv rights but that those games will no longer be exclusive. Fans will be able to watch ALL matches with an Apple+ subscription. https://twitter.com/...
This is BIG news in sports media. A sign of things to come in the future? Very impressive partnership struck between @MLS and @Apple TV+ to feature all games on one platform without geo-restriction too. #streaming https://twitter.com/...
3 years ago, Eddy Cue told me “You really can't own all the rights, so therefore at some point you need to solve some other problems.” In the interim, MLS had all of its rights expire this year so that Apple could in fact (co-manage) all of them. https://www.sportico.com/...
Apple seems significantly involved in the product's development and rollout, with input stretching from the league's schedule to “what happens in the app itself.”
remember how Amazon started with simulcasting? and now is set to broadcast Thursday Night @NFLALLDAY Apple is building from 2 random MLB games/week to every MLS game — what comes next? #SundayTicket (we hope)
If you love soccer and care about its growth in America, this is great news. #MLS & Apple announced that the Apple TV app will be the exclusive destination to watch every single live MLS match beginning in 2023. #Futbol #Soccer @MLS https://twitter.com/...
Interested to see what the cost is going to be, but no local blackouts/restrictions is HUGE. It's been my biggest issue with ESPN+ https://twitter.com/...
Sports taking center stage in the #streamingwars ⚽️⚽️ ⚽️ The future of linear tv is growing dimmer by the day as the last thing holding the bundle together, sports continues to migrate to streaming VERY big deal given its @AppleTVPlus $AAPL #goodlucktv #goodluckbundle https://twi…