Apple reportedly paid $2.5 billion for a 10-year deal with Major League Soccer. This gives Apple global media rights and makes Apple TV+ the home of MLS starting in 2023. So today, we’re going to go over what that means, how you can watch MLS this year, and much more. Here’s everything you need to know about the MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
What is Apple TV+?
Apple TV+ is the company’s streaming service. It launched back in 2019 as a hub for Apple’s own original content, with series like Ted Lasso, The Morning Show, and much more. It originally was $4.99 per month, but it has since seen a price increase to $6.99 per month. Still one of the cheaper options for streaming out there, though keep in mind that Apple’s library is a lot smaller since Apple is only putting on its own original content and not licensing anything.
What is MLS Season Pass?
The MLS Season Pass is, well, a season pass that you can use to watch every MLS game this season. It’s not limited to the US either since Apple did pay for the global media rights for MLS. So you’ll be able to watch on Apple TV+ in over 100 countries and regions. You’ll be able to watch every game from the beginning of the season in February through to the MLS Cup Playoffs in November. Fox still has the rights to the MLS Cup in December.
The games are broadcast on Apple TV by Apple, but you’ll find that they do have a lot of the same announcers as you’d find on Fox and other networks.
How much is the MLS Season Pass?
Can I get it for free?
If you are a T-Mobile customer , you can get the MLS Season Pass for free (as well as Apple TV+), which is a pretty good deal since they also give you MLB.TV for free each season, too. Definitely a good wireless carrier for the summer sports.
What’s included on the MLS Season Pass?
So, what is included in the MLS Season Pass? Obviously, every regular-season match is included. But there are some extras here, too.
Here’s what’s included in the MLS Season Pass:
- Every live MLS regular-season match
- MLS Cup Playoffs
- MLS All-Star Game
- Leagues Cup
- Campeones Cup
- Hundreds of MLS NEXT Pro and MLS NEXT matches
It’s also worth mentioning that the Leagues Cup and Campeones Cup are not available in Mexico, due to the rights being owned by another company in that country.
Just open the Apple TV app on any device.
Now tap on Watch Now .
Next, scroll down to Channels .
Now, you’ll want to find the MLS Season Pass and open it.
Then, sign into your Apple account and make your purchase.
And now you’ll have the MLS Season Pass for the season.
How do I access MLS content?
You can access the MLS Season Pass content from the Apple TV app on any device. Apple TV is available on the Apple TV, iPad, iPhone, and Mac, as well as on Android, Fire TV, Android TV, Chromecast, and many other platforms.
Just open the Apple TV app, and you can hop over to the “Sports” section and see MLS as well as MLB Friday Night Baseball when that gets started in April. Or you can just hop over to Channels and then select the MLS Season Pass. Then, find a game to watch.
Is the MLS being streamed in 4K?
Nope, unfortunately, Apple will not stream the MLS in 4K this year. Instead, it’ll top out at 1080p. But after the first weekend of MLS games, their 1080p stream seems to be very clear and actually very well done. Apple is really showing other streamers how streaming sports should be done. However, it does help that the MLS is one of the less-popular sports leagues in the US, so there are likely a lot fewer people streaming it versus, say, the NFL or NBA.
On the other side, when it comes to audio, Apple is streaming MLS games in 5.1 surround sound. So you will need a speaker set up that supports it, but that is a nice bonus here.
