The biggest story for Apple TV in 2025: sports changes
The biggest story for Apple TV in 2025: sports changes
The streamer acquired a major sports property this year, and also announced a major transition for its partner Major League Soccer.
There was plenty of change on display at the flagship Apple streaming service Apple TV this year. For one thing, that streamer got a name change in 2025, and is no longer going by the name it had at the start of the year. For better or worse, Apple decided to drop the former “+” from its streamer’s name, forcing the service to share the Apple TV moniker with the app in which it lives, as well as the set-top streaming device made by the company.
The name change itself was certainly a candidate for the biggest story of the year for Apple TV, as was the fact that the streamer's price went up for the third year in a row this fall. But in reality, there was no bigger story for Apple TV this year than the changes made to the streamer’s sports lineup.
Apple had been weighing the merits of a deal to acquire the rights to Formula 1 racing as far back as 2023 — or perhaps even earlier. The company was forced to bide its time, however, as ESPN snapped up the rights to F1 races that year and continued to hold them through this year.
ESPN had little interest in retaining F1 races past 2025, however, and (links: https://thestreamable.com/formula-1-likely-headed-to-apple-150-million-espn talks between Apple and the racing league) heated up over the summer. A deal seemed poised to be announced for months, but it wasn’t until October that the deal was officially finalized. Starting in 2026, Apple TV will stream Grand Prix races, qualifying, and Sprint sessions at no extra cost to all subscribers.
Apple TV will gain another new sports offering in 2026, but this move isn’t according to the original plan Apple envisioned when it acquired the rights to the sport in question. Earlier this year, some MLS owners began to grumble about the league’s deal with Apple to stream all games live on the MLS Season Pass subscription service for 10 years starting in 2023.
In November, Apple announced sweeping changes to that deal, including an early end to the pact in 2029. The MLS Season Pass service has been shuttered, and starting in 2026, all MLS games will become available to stream with an Apple TV subscription at no extra cost. Previously, MLS Season Pass cost as much as $15 per month.
There were certainly other changes for Apple TV over the course of the year, but none that affected the streamer so dramatically as these two major sports storylines. They were the biggest stories generated by Apple over the course of the year, and could have major implications for the company as it heads into 2026.
Apple TV
Apple TV (formerly known as Apple TV+) is a subscription video streaming service for $14.99 per month, offering a growing slate of original series, films, documentaries, and specials. Unlike other platforms that combine licensed titles with originals, Apple TV is built entirely around exclusive programming, making it the home of critically acclaimed hits such as “Ted Lasso,” “Severance,” “The Morning Show,” and “Silo.” Its lineup continues to expand with award-winning dramas, comedies, family-friendly shows, and blockbuster original films like “CODA,” which won the Academy Award for Best Picture.