T-Mobile Not Offering Free Access to Apple’s MLS Season Pass to Subscribers; Is Change Due to Messi Effect?
Customers can still get a free subscriptions to Apple TV+ and other services through T-Mobile, but MLS Season Pass is conspicuously absent this year.
The Major League Soccer season is due to start in earnest on Saturday, Feb. 24, and for the second year in a row, a subscription to MLS Season Pass is the only way to watch every MLS game this year. In 2023, T-Mobile customers were able to watch MLS Season Pass for free as part of their mobile plan, but a new report from 9to5 Apple confirms that there will be no offer of free access to the soccer streamer in 2024.
- Apple TV+ subscribers can still get a discount on MLS Season Pass, but it won’t be available free with a T-Mobile account this year.
- T-Mobile still offers free access to Apple TV+, Hulu and other premium streaming services.
- Apple has likely decided the presence of Lionel Messi within MLS is enough to incentivize customers to sign up for MLS Season Pass.
Last year, MLS fans who were also T-Mobile subscribers saved $99 by not having to pay for an MLS Season Pass account. There will be no such savings for those fans this year, as 9to5 Mac and CNET have both confirmed with T-Mobile that it is not giving its customers a free MLS Season Pass subscription this year.
T-Mobile is still an excellent way for viewers of streaming services to save big money. The mobile provider has deals in place with several streaming providers, including Hulu and Apple TV+; Apple’s entertainment streamer has been in partnership with T-Mobile since 2022. T-Mobile customers are not totally stuck without live sports now, as the company still offers free MLB.TV subscriptions, and will continue to do so until 2028.
Why is T-Mobile No Longer Offering Free MLS Season Pass?
There has been no reporting to confirm what prompted the dropping of MLS Season Pass from T-Mobile’s free streaming offerings, but there’s a good chance the choice originated from Apple. Since the company is still offering Apple TV+ free with T-Mobile subscriptions, it’s apparent that no large-scale ruptures have emerged between the two companies that will keep them from doing business together.
It’s hard to ignore the Messi effect when discussing why MLS Season Pass is no longer available for free with a T-Mobile account. A recent report indicates that MLS Season Pass now has 2 million customers, and the owner of Inter Miami CF — the club which signed Lionel Messi last summer — indicated that his arrival had caused the streamer's subscriber base to double from around 1 million customers before his signing.
Given the popularity of Messi, it seems likely that Apple wanted to see if it could bring more paid customers to MLS Season Pass during the superstar forward’s first full season with Inter Miami. The subscriber count of 2 million included viewers who were getting MLS Season Pass free through promotions like T-Mobile’s, and Apple no doubt wants to try and convert as many of these viewers to paid subscribers as possible, particularly since they are now acquainted with MLS Season Pass and (presumably) enamored enough with it to pay for it.
T-Mobile customers can still get a discount on MLS Season Pass, however. That’s because Apple TV+ subscribers are eligible to get MLS Season Pass for $79.99 per year, $20 cheaper than viewers who opt for MLS Season Pass only. Since T-Mobile subscribers still get Apple TV+ for free, they’ll be able to take advantage of this discount on MLS Season Pass.
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.