Apple TV’s MLS Season Pass Has 3 Most-Viewed Matches in Service’s History After Messi’s Arrival
It takes a fairly big success to get Apple to report any subscriber data or information about its customer base publicly. But that’s exactly what happened this week, as Apple spokesperson Tom Neumayr has revealed that MLS Season Pass saw its three most-viewed matches ever during the week of July 19-26.
The timing is far from coincidental, as former Barcelona star Lionel Messi made his MLS debut on July 21 for Inter Miami CF. Messi has played in two matches for Miami so far and has scored three goals and an assist in his short tenure. Miami has won both of its games with Messi on the roster, and clearly, interest is rising in the sport because of his presence.
Perhaps even better for Apple, MLS Season Pass was able to garner nearly 1 million subscribers before Messi signed with Miami. The numbers will be supercharged now, especially if Miami continues winning at the pace it’s on and begins to climb out of the basement in the current MLS standings.
This is the first year of Apple’s 10-year deal with MLS to stream all of the league’s matches over the next decade. The arrival of Messi was nothing short of a gift to Apple; his international superstardom is clearly enough to overcome the general ambiguity toward soccer that many American sports fans feel. The timing is also propitious; the U.S. Women’s National Team is pursuing its third-straight World Cup, which means interest in soccer is higher nationwide currently.
The more attention Messi brings to MLS Season Pass, the more he may be lining his own pockets. A report from the Athletic in June stated that while Messi’s contract with Miami was still being finalized, it may have included a provision which stipulated the star forward be paid a share of revenues garnered from MLS Season Pass subscriptions.
Apple likely won’t protest too strongly if it does end up having to send a portion of its MLS Season Pass profits into Messi’s bank account. The rising tide will lift all boats, and the fact that the company dropped the price of an MLS Season Pass subscription in June is also probably helping to boost its subscriber numbers. Non-Apple TV+ subscribers can watch Messi and Inter Miami for $49.99 for the rest of the season, or $14.99 per month.
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.