NEW YORK (AFP, BLOOMBERG) - Major League Soccer (MLS) and Apple TV announced a 10-year media rights agreement on Tuesday (June 14) worth a reported US$2.5 billion (S$3.48 billion) that will see every single MLS game broadcast from the 2023 season onwards.
The new agreement will see MLS games made available on Apple TV+, the tech company's general-interest streaming service, via an app. The service's price was not disclosed. Season ticket holders for MLS clubs will be able to access the app for free.
"For the first time in the history of sport, 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.
"It's a dream come true for MLS fans, soccer fans, and anyone who loves sport. No fragmentation, no frustration - just the flexibility to sign up for one convenient service that gives you everything MLS, anywhere and anytime you want to watch."
No figures for the deal were revealed, but Apple is paying a minimum guarantee worth US$250 million a year, according to Sports Business Journal.
The new deal will also herald a reorganisation of how MLS games are scheduled. Currently, games are played on multiple days throughout a given week. As of next season, games will be played on Saturday nights, with midweek games taking place every Wednesday.
"We're going to make it easy for people to fall in love with MLS and root for their favourite clubs," Cue said.
The deal reflects the steady rise of MLS in the United States. Launched in 1996, the league now features 28 teams with a 29th due to join in 2023, with the United States, Canada and Mexico also hosting the 2026 World Cup.
"MLS is already on a tremendous trajectory as the fastest-growing soccer league in the world," Cue said. "We think it's going to get even bigger as the (2026) World Cup comes to the US, Canada and Mexico."
The agreement also sees Apple taking another step in its growing ambitions as a sports broadcaster. In March, it reached a deal with Major League Baseball to air Friday night games on Apple TV+ this season.
The company has also reportedly shown interest in picking up the National Football League's Sunday Ticket package now held by DirecTV.
Deals between the MLS and Walt Disney Co.'s ESPN, Fox and Univision expire this year. More than a dozen companies expressed interest in acquiring the rights, including tech giants like Amazon and Apple and traditional media companies Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. and Paramount Global.
With viewership rising, the league aimed to collect much more than the US$90 million a year it received under the previous agreement.
MLS struck a deal with Apple partly because it would allow the league to showcase its games in one place and boost MLS' popularity globally, especially since the league features many players from foreign countries, according to MLS commissioner Don Garber.
"What we're trying to do here is aggregate as much of our content together to make it easy for our fans, wherever they are, however they consume," he said during a press conference on Tuesday.
The league is still in talks to sell its traditional TV rights. Asked about ESPN, Garber told reporters that "we're in discussions for them to continue with us".
MLS will handle the broadcast production for the matches.
The deal is another sign of how football has become the go-to sports property of the streaming era. Paramount+ airs Italy's Serie A matches. NBC's Peacock has the English Premier League, which it renewed in November for more than US$2.5 billion. ESPN+ has Spain's La Liga and Germany's Bundesliga.
