MLS Season Pass Hits 2 Million Subscribers; How Will Streamer Scale This Season?
The arrival of Lionel Messi in 2023 caused millions of new subscribers to sign up for MLS Season Pass, but is another global superstar coming this year?
No matter which way the data is examined, it’s clear that the addition of Lionel Messi to Inter Miami CF last season was a huge win not only for the club, but for Apple. That company owns MLS Season Pass, the streaming service created to stream every MLS match until 2033, and it’s notoriously secretive about the number of customers it has on various subscription services like MLS Season Pass and Apple TV+. But according to Sports Business Journal, sources with direct knowledge of MLS Season Pass’s subscriber total state that the service officially ended the 2023 MLS season with more than 2 million subscribers.
- The Streamable first reported a number of 2 million subscribers for MLS Season Pass in August, but no confirmation has been given until now.
- The data confirms that around half of MLS Season Pass subscribers signed up to see Lionel Messi play.
- While the number is good news, it points out the challenges Apple will face in attracting more subscribers to MLS Season Pass this year.
There were several indications over the course of the 2023 MLS season that Lionel Messi was having a profound effect on the subscriber base of MLS Season Pass. Reports began to circulate in late July that before Messi’s debut with Inter Miami, MLS Season pass had around 1 million subscribers.
That total jumped after Messi’s arrival, and Inter Miami owner Jorge Mas announced on social media in August that the Messi Effect had more than doubled the number of subscribers on MLS Season pass. Mas did not share an actual number, but using the number reported the previous month, The Streamable deduced that MLS Season Pass had accrued around 2 million subscribers at that time.
The new SBJ report offers the first confirmation of that total. It’s still not an official count, as Apple has not publicly confirmed this or any other number of subscribers assigned to MLS Season Pass by media reports. It also supports data released by Antenna which indicated around half of all MLS Season Pass customers had subscribed to the service to watch Messi.
Can MLS Season Pass Replicate 2023’s Success?
The data is obviously good news for MLS Season Pass from one perspective, in that 2 million subscribers is a good start for the service. SBJ reports that the total of 2 million includes paid customers, as well as MLS season ticket owners and other viewers who are watching the streamer free due to various promotions.
On the other hand, the number of customers who signed up to the streamer just to watch Leo is a bit of a red flag. It will be hard to draw as big an influx of new customers in 2024, as there are currently no international superstars waiting in the wings to join an MLS team. Forward Kylian Mbappe has informed Paris Saint-Germain he will leave that club when his contract expires this summer, but it appears highly unlikely he’ll join an American team as of now.
MLS Season Pass already offers a wide array of pre- and post-game shoulder programming, along with weekly whip-around style shows with highlights from around the league. An increase in this type of programming may attract more subscribers, but Apple would have to add something pretty special to the streamer’s lineup to attract another one million viewers.
In all likelihood, there is no single event that will allow MLS Season Pass to experience a flood of new subscribers like the arrival of Messi did last season. The streamer will simply have to buckle down and make as many improvements to its interface as possible, relying on new features and the strength of its existing product to attract new viewers.
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.