MLS Season Pass looking into ways to attract more subscribers in 2025
MLS Season Pass looking into ways to attract more subscribers in 2025
The soccer streaming service could add points of entry in pay-TV interfaces going forward as it looks to bring in more viewers.
There hasn’t been an update on MLS Season Pass’s subscriber total in a while. That’s par for the course with Apple, which almost never provides public updates on subscribers for any of its subscription services, including Apple TV+. That changed in February, when company sources let slip that MLS Season Pass had 2 million subscribers. It’s a possibility that things have stalled out since then, as Sports Business Journal reports Apple is looking for ways to provide more points of entry for the streamer starting in 2025.
Key Details:
- MLS Season Pass could be integrated into electronic programming guides on pay-TV plans starting next year.
- The streamer could also begin scheduling more standalone games in unique timeslots.
- Free trials for the service for T-Mobile customers may potentially return at some point as well.
Apple is looking into multiple new strategies for MLS Season Pass in 2025, all of which seem designed to lure more customers to the service. To start with, the company could be looking to partner with pay-TV distributors, possibly with the goal of including MLS Season Pass in electronic programming guides to bring more eyes to the streamer.
MLS Season Pass could also begin scheduling more matches in standalone timeslots, in order to make them more marquee events. Normally, MLS plays the vast majority of its games on Saturday evenings at 7:30 p.m. local time, a move that caused attendance to soar in 2024, according to the league.
The streamer could also seek out more partnerships with wireless providers as another potential way to provide entry points. MLS Season Pass offered free subscriptions to T-Mobile customers in 2023, when the streamer first launched, but discontinued that deal in 2024. Perhaps it, or other promotions like it will return in 2025.
MLS commissioner Don Garber said at the annual State of the League press conference ahead of Dec. 7’s MLS Cup final that the league sees “over a million viewers” across its multi-game slates on Saturday nights in the regular season. Even with that in mind, the service and the league can be doing a much better job to attract audiences, according to Garber.
“What we have here really is a communication problem,” he said said. “We have six, 10, 12 free games every week [on Season Pass], and we’re not doing a good enough job letting people know that we have more free games available. All you need is an internet connection.”
MLS Season Pass is still getting its feet under it in a lot of ways, but it’s clear the league and Apple are both thinking of ways to enhance its profile. The streamer will need more viewership if it wants to be a success in the long term, so it’s good to see the two entities responsible for its success declining to sit on their laurels.
MLS Season Pass
MLS Season Pass is a video streaming service that offers every match—including Leagues Cup and the entire Audi MLS Cup Playoffs—with no blackouts. It offers both English and Spanish announcers. MLS Season Pass also offers pre-match coverage, post-match analysis, highlights, player profiles, interviews, club content, match replays, live MLS NEXT Pro and MLS NEXT matches, and more.