Blog

Jan 29, 2024

Apple making huge push to fuel its bet on Major League Soccer

Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios Major League Soccer has been around for a

Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios

Major League Soccer has been around for a quarter century, but the red-hot media race for U.S. professional sports rights is fueling its new future, today.

Why it matters: Apple is going all-in, deploying money and a content strategy in an innovative bet that the world's most popular game can finally make a dent domestically.

Zoom in: Apple's push goes far beyond the 10-year rights deal it signed last year to stream MLS games in a subscription package on Apple TV+, for which will pay the league no less than $2.5 billion.

Between the lines: Apple will reportedly pay Messi a cut of revenue from new subscriptions to its MLS Season Pass — compensation on top of his team salary and another profit-share arrangement from league partner Adidas.

Meanwhile, Apple's content strategy for the league doesn't stop with its game streaming, as it also offers short features on players and teams, game previews and weekly analysis.

Be smart: The company will look to capture the same ratings magic that a similar docu-series’ from Netflix has done for F1, another global sport with a niche U.S. following.

The impact: Rumors of Messi's move to Miami already sent MLS ticket prices soaring in the secondary market.

The bottom line: Apple doesn't share specific subscription numbers, but Eddy Cue, its senior vice president of services, told media last week that MLS Season Pass was already "doing much better than we had forecasted" in its first year, before possibly hinting at what was to come.