Apple Announces MLS Season Pass Price, February Launch Date, More
With the 2022 Major League Soccer season wrapping up earlier this month, on Wednesday, Apple announced details for its expansive, 10-year deal with the domestic soccer league, which will launch early next year. MLS Season Pass will officially kick off on Feb. 1, 2023 and will make every MLS regular-season, playoff, and Leagues Cup match available to fans in over 100 countries and regions without blackouts, whether they are watching teams in or out of market.
Soccer fans can subscribe to MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app for $14.99 per month during the season or $99 for the entire season. Apple TV+ subscribers can sign up at a special price of $12.99 monthly or $79 per season. This means that customers will not need to subscribe to Apple TV+ to have access to MLS Season Pass, but that they will receive a discount if they do.
For comparison, before moving to ESPN+, MLS LIVE cost $79.99 per season, but only included out-of-market games. So, for long-time MLS fans, Apple’s new package represents a significantly better value.
“There isn’t a more perfect time to introduce MLS Season Pass, coming off the heels of the most dramatic MLS Cup in history and with MLS as the fastest-growing soccer league in the world,” Apple VP Eddy Cue said. “We’re counting down the days to February 2023 when fans everywhere can enjoy MLS Season Pass on billions of devices — all with no blackouts.”
In addition to having every game of the entire MLS slate, Season Pass will also be the home of hundreds of developmental league games MLS NEXT Pro and MLS NEXT, and on MLS match days, the package will feature an exclusive, live whip-around show that will make sure that fans never miss an exciting goal or save. The show, similar to the NFL Redzone, will also air game replays, highlights, and analysis.
The MLS season will kick off on Feb. 25 when the 2022 MLS Cup champion Los Angeles FC will square off against their cross-town rivals the LA Galaxy in the Rose Bowl. All matches during the “MLS is Back” opening weekend will be available to watch for free on the Apple TV app without an MLS Season Pass subscription. The league’s complete 2023 schedule will be announced next month.
In addition to all games being available on Season Pass, some matches will also be made available to Apple TV+ subscribers at no extra cost, while some will be available for free to everyone via the Apple TV app. In addition, a subscription to MLS Season Pass will also be included as part of full-season ticket packages with MLS clubs.
“We could not be more excited to bring our fans MLS Season Pass, a new home for all MLS matches and a wide variety of league and club content they can’t get anywhere else,” MLS commissioner Don Garber said. “We have the most engaged and passionate fans in sports, and now they’ll have every match everywhere with MLS Season Pass.”
Additional details about the MLS Season Pass broadcast teams, production details, and other ways that apple will be bringing MLS content to fan will be announced in the coming weeks.
Apple TV+
Apple TV+ is a subscription video streaming service for $9.99 a month that includes high-quality original shows and movies including Best Picture winner “CODA,” popular sitcom “Ted Lasso,” and dramas like “The Morning Show” and “Severance.” Apple TV+ is also home to MLB baseball games on Friday nights and MLS Season Pass.