Major League Soccer Announces Multi-Year Linear Broadcast Deal with FOX, Others — But Not ESPN
Major League Soccer has a linear home for the time being — but it’s not ESPN.
On Tuesday, MLS announced that it had signed a new four-year linear television agreement in the United States and Canada. In the U.S., MLS fans can watch linear broadcasts on FOX and FS1 in English, as well as FOX Deportes, Univision, [UNIMÁS], and TUDN in Spanish.
Likewise, Canadian viewers can watch the MLS on TSN (English) and RDS (French). For all four MLS seasons through 2026, FOX Sports channels will have exclusive English and Spanish language linear broadcast rights to an average of 34 regular season, and eight Audi MLS Cup Playoff, games. FOX and FOX Deportes will also be the linear broadcast home for MLS Cup in the U.S. for the next four years.
“We are proud to continue our partnerships with FOX Sports, Univision, and TSN, and we are pleased to have MLS matches on RDS in Canada,” MLS Commissioner Don Garber said. “These broadcast industry leaders continue to demonstrate their deep commitment to MLS and soccer. Our linear agreements, along with our partnership with Apple, are the culmination of a series of collaborative discussions to provide our fans with the most expansive and accessible lineup of programming MLS and our sport in the U.S. and Canada have ever seen – and by a significant margin.”
TelevisaUnivision and FOX Sports will be the linear broadcast home for select matches in the “Leagues Cup” — a new North American soccer tournament beginning in 2023. Leagues Cup will see MLS and LIGA MX pause their seasons each summer as 47 clubs compete in a World Cup-style tournament to crown a champion. The Leagues Cup Final will be available on Univision.
Most notably missing from this new broadcast deal is ESPN, which we previously reported would not make a play for MLS rights after the Apple signed a 10-year deal to broadcast every MLS game. Apple wants all games to feature its Apple TV+ branding and iconography — something ESPN wasn’t willing to do thanks to ESPN+’s streaming presence. Meanwhile, FOX doesn’t have a sports-themed streaming service on its books and so was more likely to play nice with Apple. In fact, the deal with FOX is said to “complement” the Apple deal in the official news release.
Another interesting media entity left out of this deal is Paramount Global. The company has done its part to amass as many soccer rights across the globe as possible for its linear networks and Paramount+, but didn’t jump into the fray for MLS. While their reasoning for not partaking was likely the same as ESPN’s, it’s still interesting to see what it takes for broadcast companies to pass on certain deals, whether they synergize with their existing corporate strategy or not.
Major League Soccer plans to announce the complete 2023 match schedule, including the matches that will air on broadcast networks, before the end of the year.
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.