MLS going all-digital with 10-year Apple deal

[John Price]

 

[BKIslandersFan]

This is Apple’s brilliant idea and they will be in for a rude awakening.

 

[zooperdooper]

This is Apple’s brilliant idea and they will be in for a rude awakening.

Does it really matter for Apple? Although they should have never signed the deal in the first place and there is no chance they get close to breaking even on this deal it is still small change to them.

MLS on the other hand. This won’t be good for the league.

 

[BKIslandersFan]

Does it really matter for Apple? Although they should have never signed the deal in the first place and there is no chance they get close to breaking even on this deal it is still small change to them.

MLS on the other hand. This won’t be good for the league.

Yes it matters, they are the ones giving out money to MLS. If this was their plan they are idiots.

 

[Voight]

This isn't a very good idea. Good luck roping in casual fans if they don't have AppleTV. Even if they do, most people go on streaming services to watch something specific or whatever movie/TV show they come across.

 

[varsaku]

Does it really matter for Apple? Although they should have never signed the deal in the first place and there is no chance they get close to breaking even on this deal it is still small change to them.

MLS on the other hand. This won’t be good for the league.

Most teams already struggled to get local TV deals due to low viewership count, so this is already massive step up. I think MLS feels most casual fans already don't watch MLS games on TV and feel the free games would be enough.

For Apple this is a small percentage of their income that they can test the waters on live sports outside of baseball and built the network infrastructure needed to support multiple sports.

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

The state of MLS on TV

An overview of where MLS stands on TV heading into its new partnership with Apple -- pricing, availability, scheduling and more.

www.sportsmediawatch.com

 

[OG6ix]

They probably got offers from tv companies but Apple's offer was probably significantly larger.

Right... which makes it telling that this was MLS's only real option and not something stretegic they have always wanted which is the "sexy" picture some fans are trying to paint.

 

[PCSPounder]

How many of you tracking this subject are tracking the flirtation between Amazon and the Pac-12?

Kind of like what I’m learning lately about news networks like CNN. They are doing what they’re doing right now because they have come to the realization that viewership under the age of 60 is practically nil for them. Their streaming service lasted what, one month? Cord cutting happens for specific reasons. The MLS target market may never have had a cord to cut.

It’s pretty clear by now that Amazon may have offered as much money to the Pac as at least the Big 12 is getting for their contracts, and you can guess what the hitch is. Exclusivity. But the issue bubbling up among conference fans is that they’re tired of not knowing kickoff times until 12 days before the game, and that ESPN (and the Big 12) really think that we out here should all enjoy 7:30 pm kickoff times. AND WE ARE EFFING SICK OF THAT! We have things to do at night, people outside LA sometimes travel a few hours for games, so the last few years (no matter how entertaining Pac-12 After Dark often is) has seen attendance drop because it becomes a logistical PITA.

So I’m coming to this realization; that what streaming does is to allow for more consistent kickoff times most of the time. Full stop. And maybe that’s better than a channel chase where the times are also inconsistent. And for MLS, the live product will always be more interesting than the broadcast. And for those who want to follow MLS, the younger crowd, they get out more often anyway.

And it may not be something that grows MLS. But maybe the problem will become how everyone else expects to grow in a media realignment.

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

If the rumors are true Apple could have struck gold by getting the MLS when Messi goes to Inter Miami

 

[Anisimovs AK]

If the rumors are true Apple could have struck gold by getting the MLS when Messi goes to Inter Miami

They really didnt. Something with that steep a price tag isnt going to draw any casual fans

 

[beowulf]

Didn't read the whole thread but what does this mean for French language broadcasts for Montreal?

As for the general english deal I can see Apple doing what Rogers ended up having to do in Canada when it bought all rights to the NHL here, they were not making money so started signing up TSN and others for "Regional" broadcasts.

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

They really didnt. Something with that steep a price tag isnt going to draw any casual fans

Apple deal in global if I'm not wrong so in the US maybe not but in the rest it would

 

[swiftwin]

GOOD!

About f***ing time a major league decides to join the 21st century. MLS is going to surpass the NHL if these boomers don't wake up soon.

 

[swiftwin]

They really didnt. Something with that steep a price tag isnt going to draw any casual fans

Steep price? It's $99 for the year. Meanwhile, the cheapest cable TV package I can find that includes sports is like $120 per month

 

[Rich Nixon]

If the rumors are true Apple could have struck gold by getting the MLS when Messi goes to Inter Miami

I don't think too many people are gonna care.

 

[varsaku]

Didn't read the whole thread but what does this mean for French language broadcasts for Montreal?

As for the general english deal I can see Apple doing what Rogers ended up having to do in Canada when it bought all rights to the NHL here, they were not making money so started signing up TSN and others for "Regional" broadcasts.

If I recall correctly, Apple has the right to all digital broadcasts but MLS can still sign deals for TV only. It may not be able to fetch much money without the digital option but networks might be interested in it to fill the summers with limited sports on the cheap.

GOOD!

About f***ing time a major league decides to join the 21st century. MLS is going to surpass the NHL if these boomers don't wake up soon.

This is inevitable. NFL is the only thing propping up cable which leaves money available for other leagues. Once the NFL leaves, I can see cable collapsing and various leagues switching to this model with cable money drying up.

Steep price? It's $99 for the year. Meanwhile, the cheapest cable TV package I can find that includes sports is like $120 per month

I am holding onto to cable only for NFL at this point. Which even that i am debating is it really worth it anymore.
ESPN+ gets me most NHL games and now Apple TV will get me all MLS games.

I don't think too many people are gonna care.

maybe not in US/Canada, but abroad there are alot of die hard Messi fans that will probably tune in if it is cheap or available for free internationally.

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

I don't think too many people are gonna care.

If one of the greatest players of all time does not move the needle the MLS is really f*cked then

 

[Rich Nixon]

maybe not in US/Canada, but abroad there are alot of die hard Messi fans that will probably tune in if it is cheap or available for free internationally.

Didn't consider this aspect--fair. Outside of the Americas, though, not sure how many people are gonna stay up real damn late to watch a single player on a single team in a lower-tier league on a subscription service. No matter how great Messi is.

If one of the greatest players of all time does not move the needle the MLS is really f*cked then

Not to compare players at all, because they're of dramatically different quality (though similar starpower to Americans--for different reasons). But a lot of people thought the addition of Beckham 15 years ago was gonna be a huge boon for the MLS and it...wasn't.

Now, the MLS is a much better league than it was then, and Messi is a much better player known for prolific scoring rather than just sexy set pieces. So maybe he comes to the MLS and scores a hat trick every game and a lot of people tune in to see that, but again...one player on one team, and if he comes in and just shreds everyone it might reflect poorly on the league a bit.

Who knows, but Americans don't like watching this sport very much. They've had every opportunity, they tune in for USA in the World Cup out of collective nationalism, but it's much more like an Olympic sport at that point. Sure, people watched Michael Phelps dominate the world and set records, but it's not like everyone became a competitive swimming fan after the Games end. Messi would be a cool addition, but I just don't see it being more than a curiosity.

 

[PCSPounder]

They really didnt. Something with that steep a price tag isnt going to draw any casual fans

How about a general rule for the future?

There are no casual fans. And it does leagues no good to rely on the myth of them.

The Timbers specifically, and other supporters groups nationwide, grew on word of mouth, certainly not TV presence. It’s a different animal.

 

[PCSPounder]

maybe not in US/Canada, but abroad there are alot of die hard Messi fans that will probably tune in if it is cheap or available for free internationally.

Traditionally, MLS doubles it’s media take with foreign broadcasts. Spice Boy sold a crap ton of shirts and also happened to be big in Japan for being English. This does the job… for two years. Messi doesn’t have many miles left. There’s still some magic, but not as dynamic. But the league could already afford it, and Apple knows the reach isn’t contained by borders when they bought in.

 

[Anisimovs AK]

Lol Typical responses from the usual crowd.

Leagues are "forward thinking" for completely shutting out casual fans these days.

 

[Reaser]

Leagues are "forward thinking" for completely shutting out casual fans these days.

It's getting a bit crazy with the praise for being "the first" league to sell their rights to a streaming service. As if they invented some new concept. Small college conferences that weren't on TV were doing this in 2007! -- I paid ridiculous prices to stream games of my friend who was playing in the Big Sky Conference which I had to buy the entire conference set of games, and paid even more ridiculous prices to watch my other friend who was playing D3 football -- Or like when the entire Major League Lacrosse regular season was exclusively streaming and only the ASG and playoffs were on TV. Tons of niche sports, and leagues/conferences have done this before and some were doing it over a decade and a half ago. MLS didn't invent having their games available via streaming.

Plus, if this was the genius idea as it's portrayed by some, leagues that are much better run (business wise) would have already been doing it. Obviously. Actual "major leagues" (MLS isn't in the Big 4 and isn't really even close to the Big 4, the bottom being the NHL which MLS isn't half of if we're being honest) ... There's a reason why the NFL and NBA weren't the so-called 'leaders' on this type of deal and there's a reason why MLS "had to" do this type of deal -- essentially forced as opposed to doing the deal as some sort of "forward thinking" stroke of genius that was also done out of the goodness of their hearts for their cord-cutter fans. That doesn't even make sense.

Also, casual fans matter. I was going to Sounders games when they were in the A-League with 1,000 people in attendance. That didn't jump to 30k because of "word of mouth" or even just because of the jump up to MLS. The move up was 'new' and the Sounders became the hipster thing to do. Portland isn't too different there, hipster culture more than grassroots supporters of an independent club. It's a single-entity league after all and soccer in both markets existed well before MLS came along.

And it has always mattered for the Sounders popularity that all their non-National broadcast games were OTA here. I know tons of people who didn't start watching the Sounders because it was some underground thing that only the cool kids knew about and they were invited by the secret society members to join the club. No, they started watching because the Sounders were on Channel 5 & Ch. 16 and then Channel 13 & Ch. 22. OTA, free. Then they eventually started going to matches. Bought merchandise, jersey's, etc.

We won't know until it starts to play out how it'll all work out, but I do know it's not the greatest sports business decision in World history, so we should at least discuss it with that in mind.

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

Univision out of MLS regular-season and playoff TV broadcasts amid new Apple deal

The Spanish-language network had carried MLS games since 2007, and was the league’s first Spanish TV home from 1996-99.

www.inquirer.com

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

Linear Network Partnership Details (2023 - 2026)​

FOX Sports

• 34 regular season games annually and eight Audi MLS Cup playoff matches each season on FOX/FS1/FOX Deportes (Including 15 regular season matches each year on FOX)
• MLS Cup every year on FOX and FOX Deportes
• Leagues Cup: 10 Group Stage, four Round of 32, and two Round of 16 matches each tournament on FS1

Bell Media (TSN & RDS)

• Extensive schedule of regular season matches, eight MLS Cup playoff matches, and MLS Cup each season
• One match per week featuring a Canadian club
• Leagues Cup: 12 Group Stage and four Round of 32 matches each tournament on TSN; Three Group Stage and four Round of 32 matches on RDS

TelevisaUnivision

• Leagues Cup: 21 matches each tournament on Univision/UNIMÁS/TUDN, which includes:
  • 12 Group Stage matches
  • 8 Knockout Round matches
  • Leagues Cup Final