MLS: Out of Sight, Out of Mind
The Apple Gamble Doesn't Seem to Be Working
I love watching soccer. I’ve already taken a deep dive into soccer history when I discussed the Disgrace of Gijon, and I’ve been a fan of the beautiful game since the United States hosted the World Cup in 1994.
I follow multiple European sides, including Union Berlin, Bristol Rovers and KTP. That last one is so obscure that when you search KTP, it doesn’t even make it on to the first page of Google. My friend Ben Doody has a saying that nobody goes to page 2 on a Google search, yet if you’re looking for KTP’s website, it’s a requirement. They’re currently at the bottom of the Finnish Veikkausliiga, which is Finland’s top soccer league. Hey, at least they’re in the top league.
The point of that dive into my obscure teams is that I’m a genuine soccer fan. Here in the United States, I’ve been a supporter of the Seattle Sounders since their MLS debut in 2009. My love for the Sounders was visible enough that my cat started to recognize when they would score and immediately start meowing for a celebratory pet once the ball crossed the line. I’m dead serious, that happened during a match between the Sounders and Sporting Kansas City.
And here’s a secret of mine: I haven’t watched an MLS match in three years.
The last time I watched the Sounders play was the 2022 season, when the matches were still on ESPN+. Starting with the 2023 season, MLS moved to Apple TV and placed its matches behind a paywall on that platform. And I refused to follow them. The league is three years into its deal with Apple, and I have not watched one second of MLS action on the service.
And it appears I’m far from the only one.
MLS commissioner Don Garber said last week that viewership sits at just 120,000 per game. That’s a third of what it was getting on ESPN. Per Casino.org, a recent survey of American sports fans found that 72% of the survey found MLS Season Pass too expensive, and 66% of people said they wouldn’t continue to follow MLS next year.
And here’s what should really scare the league: The survey said that 69% of its respondents watched the 2022 World Cup, and of those, a third said that the price of MLS Season Pass is the reason they do not follow MLS.
When you’re not getting the hardcore soccer fans, like myself or some of my friends and colleagues, the casual fans aren’t even giving you a chance. Here’s a look at why this isn’t working.
The Price Point is Too High
Casino.org’s survey hit on this well: the price point really is too high. On the surface, $99 a year isn’t that bad for a sports league. NFL Sunday Ticket, for example, costs $276 for the season. MLB.TV is $150. So it’s cheaper overall.
But as Taylor Twellman said in his memorable rants, that’s different because the best athletes in the world in football, baseball, basketball and hockey are all in our country (or Canada). When you pay for MLB.TV, you’re paying $150 to watch the best baseball league in the world. When you pay for NFL Sunday Ticket, you’re watching the best football players in the world. (I’ve watched the European League of Football this summer; there’s definitely a difference.)
When you pay to watch MLS, you’re paying for good but not great soccer. The league cannot come close to the quality of the Premier League, the Bundesliga, LaLiga or Serie A. It’s having a hard time matching up to Liga MX. The Mexican teams routinely win the CONCACAF Champions League, so MLS isn’t even the best league in North America. And yet, it’s asking for $99 for the season. That’s not good enough, especially for a stand-alone sports league.
The Value Isn’t There
If MLS Season Pass had come as part of Apple TV, I could have gotten behind that. Throwing on MLS coverage with access to Ted Lasso, Silo, The Morning Show and The Last Thing He Told Me would have represented solid value. On that note, I will never understand why Season 3 of Ted Lasso didn’t end with Ted becoming the coach of Sporting Kansas City. It could have been a perfect tie-in to Apple’s MLS coverage and would have made complete sense. After three years of experience in England, Ted would be a prime get for an MLS side, and bringing in Richmond for an American tour would have wrapped things up beautifully. But that’s beyond the point.
The point is that with other soccer leagues, you get other content. Consider:
Premier League: $11/month on Peacock, and comes with NFL, college football, college basketball and NBC Universal’s library of shows.
LaLiga/Bundesliga: $12/month on ESPN+ and comes with college football, college basketball, the NHL and ESPN’s library of shows.
Serie A: $8/month on Paramount Plus and comes with the NWSL, Scotland’s Premier League, CONCACAF Nations League, the NFL and CBS’s library of shows.
MLS: $13/month if you subscribe to Apple TV, $15/month if you don’t. And that’s all you get.
So for a lesser league, you’re being asked to pay more. Plus, you’re not even getting access to all of Apple TV’s library. That doesn’t make any sense, and it’s likely a big reason why MLS Season Pass is flopping.
Most people have to make hard decisions about how many streaming services we want. My wife and I regularly discuss which streaming services are giving us value, and which ones we should let go for a while. If one of us uses it all the time, or we both use it regularly, it stays. If one is using it sporadically and the other gets no use out of it, it’s probably getting cut.
A stand-alone sports service doesn’t offer enough value unless it’s the best league around. And that’s not happening with MLS at all. From a value standpoint, why would I pay $13 for MLS when I can get the NWSL, which is the best women’s league in the world, plus one of the best four men’s leagues in the world, for cheaper? And that’s before I get all of CBS’s library. It makes no sense.
MLS Is Missing Viewers
Again, the biggest part of Casino.org’s research is that one-third of American soccer fans say that MLS Season Pass is too expensive. The league is straight-up fumbling its best chance to increase viewership at a time when it should be striking.
And it’s not like MLS has no competition. The USL offers good soccer, and it’s introducing promotion and relegation after the World Cup. Plus, it’s on ESPN+. The average sports fan might pay for ESPN+ for college baseball or for the NHL, see a USL match is happening and give it a try. On Apple TV, that isn’t possible for MLS.
When you price out the dedicated fans and don’t give the casual fans a way to find you, you lock yourself out of a lot of your audience. And that’s why this deal isn’t working for anyone who cares about American men’s soccer.