Wednesday, November 16, 2022 1:11 pm2 Comments

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Apple and Major League Soccer today announced MLS Season Pass will launch February 1, 2023 — introducing an unprecedented subscription service to fans in over 100 countries and regions that features every live MLS regular-season match, the entire playoffs, and the Leagues Cup, all with no blackouts. MLS Season Pass will bring MLS to its biggest worldwide audience ever, in a more simple and streamlined way: All matches will be available on billions of devices through the Apple TV app on Apple devices, smart TVs, streaming devices, set-top boxes, and game consoles, and the web at tv.apple.com. The launch of MLS Season Pass marks the official kickoff of the 10-year partnership between MLS and Apple, a historic first for a major professional sports league.

In addition, 2023 expansion club St. Louis CITY SC today unveiled its jerseys for the inaugural season of the club and provided the first look of the Apple TV sleeve patch. All 29 clubs will have the Apple TV patch in a different color, with the rest of the clubs’ jerseys to be shared in the weeks leading up to the start of the 2023 regular season.

“There isn’t a more perfect time to introduce MLS Season Pass, coming off the heels of the most dramatic MLS Cup in history and with MLS as the fastest-growing soccer league in the world,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Services, in a statement. “We’re counting down the days to February 2023 when fans everywhere can enjoy MLS Season Pass on billions of devices — all with no blackouts.”

“We could not be more excited to bring our fans MLS Season Pass, a new home for all MLS matches and a wide variety of league and club content they can’t get anywhere else,” said Don Garber, MLS’s commissioner, in a statement. “We have the most engaged and passionate fans in sports, and now they’ll have every match everywhere with MLS Season Pass.”

MLS Season Pass will be home to the most expansive and accessible programming lineup ever for MLS fans, including all MLS and Leagues Cup matches, as well as hundreds of MLS NEXT Pro and MLS NEXT games during the season. During match days, MLS Season Pass will feature an exclusive live match whip-around show so fans never miss an exciting goal or save, as well as game replays, highlights, and analysis. Starting February 1, fans can subscribe to MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app for $14.99 per month during the season or $99 per season, and Apple TV+ subscribers can sign up at a special price of $12.99 per month and $79 per season.

As previously announced, the MLS 2023 regular season will kick off on February 25. The first home opener to be revealed so far is the 2022 MLS Cup champions Los Angeles FC against the LA Galaxy in a historic match showcasing Los Angeles’ marquee soccer rivalry at the Rose Bowl Stadium — the first MLS regular-season match to be played there since 2002. All matches during the “MLS is Back” opening weekend will be available to watch for free on the Apple TV app.

Fans will be able to watch MLS matches featuring English and Spanish broadcast crews, and they can easily listen to a club’s home radio broadcast on the Apple TV app. All matches involving Canadian teams will be available in French. Matches will take place primarily on Saturdays and Wednesdays, with a few matches held on Sundays. For most matches, the start time will be 7:30 p.m. local time, with pregame coverage beginning at 7 p.m. ET. A few matches each week may air at other times.

Major League Soccer’s complete 2023 schedule will be announced in mid-December.

MLS Season Pass will provide fans with in-depth coverage of their favorite clubs every week throughout the season, starting with previews of each upcoming match. On match day, fans will have the ability to watch any match from the start, no matter when they tune in. After the final whistle, fans can watch match replays, highlight packages, and more so they can catch up on anything they missed on and off the pitch.

A subscription to MLS Season Pass will be included as part of full-season ticket packages with MLS clubs. A selection of MLS and Leagues Cup matches, including some of the biggest playoff matchups, will also be available at no additional cost to Apple TV+ subscribers, with a number of matches available for free on the Apple TV app.
Additional details about the MLS Season Pass broadcast teams, production enhancements, as well as all the ways fans can enjoy MLS content across the Apple ecosystem, will be announced in the coming weeks.

Starting today, fans can visit apple.com/apple-tv-app to sign up for updates about MLS Season Pass.

Follow MLS on Apple News

With iOS 16, Apple News introduced a new My Sports section for users to easily follow their favorite clubs, teams, and leagues; receive stories from hundreds of top publishers; access scores, schedules, and standings for the top professional and college leagues; and watch highlights right in the News app. Fans can visit apple.news/mysports to follow Major League Soccer and their favorite clubs in News to keep up on all the happenings around the league, and seamlessly sync their teams with the Apple TV app.

MacDailyNews Take: This is an excellent, no-brainer price for this revolutionary offering! Congrats, Major League Soccer fans!

Literally, for the first time ever, fans of a major world sport will be able to access everything from a major pro league in one place: the Apple TV app.

This whole thing is a great idea, obviously:

Cook should consider bidding for and winning NFL Sunday Ticket away from DirecTV, buying rights to Premiere League and La Liga games, etc. and making them Apple TV exclusives. Go directly to the sports leagues with boatloads of cash. — MacDailyNews, May 6, 2014

In year five, let alone year ten, this MLS deal will be looked on as a tremendous value for Apple. Hopefully, there are more live sports deals for Apple to come! – MacDailyNews, June 17, 2022

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