Apple Announces New Way to Watch MLS Sunday Night Soccer For Free

[MacRumors]

Starting this weekend, Xfinity customers can watch Apple's weekly Sunday Night Soccer production at no additional cost.

Sunday Night Soccer consists of a weekly Major League Soccer match every Sunday evening during the 2025 season, with enhanced production and studio programming from Apple. Sunday Night Soccer was already available to Apple TV+ subscribers at no extra cost, and now that perk has been extended to Xfinity X1 and Xfinity Stream customers.

Xfinity customers can find Sunday Night Soccer matches for free via the channel guide, with no Apple TV+ or MLS Season Pass subscriptions required.

2025 marks the third year of a 10-year partnership between Apple and Major League Soccer.

For customers who prefer to watch Sunday Night Soccer via Apple TV+, the streaming service is available through the Apple TV app on a wide variety of devices, and on the web at tv.apple.com. A free seven-day trial is available.

Article Link: Apple Announces New Way to Watch MLS Sunday Night Soccer For Free

 

[Amazing Iceman]

I would watch it on my AVP if watching alone. Will it stream in immersive/3-D format?

 

[cocky jeremy]

Well, I know what I won't be doing on Sundays now!

 

[ipedro]

This news gives some insight into why Apple is pushing MLS so hard with no way to hide the side menu or the promotion tiles in the TV app. Comments from a Major League Soccer executive have come out that they're not getting the viewers they'd get from a linear network. This is clearly in response to that. I hope it works and they get off our backs, I don't like soccer, I just want to hide all sports from the TV app entirely. I'm sick of looking at Messi's face.

 

[Corefile]

They should pay me to watch this rubbish.

 

[ericinboston]

Soccer has been so unpopular for at least the past 50 years in the USA as a sport people want to watch on tv. I (and my kids) like PLAYING soccer, but watching it on tv? Nope.

Part of the reason is that the US folks already have enough sports on tv that are hugely popular within our culture that there simply not enough time to watch another sport. We already watch (at a professional level and college) basketball, football, baseball, and hockey. TV has tried pushing tennis, golf, soccer, and over the past 10 years have really been trying to push women's sports. Too many sports and you gotta prioritize.

Another reason is that there simply aren't any/enough clubs after high school. Most States have professional sports teams. Where are the soccer teams? I don't know but my guess is simply not enough interest. No professional sports teams = no weekly tv broadcasts.

Out of all the people I know at work, friends, neighbors as well as my kids' friends/families, I know 1...yes 1...family who watches soccer on tv. And she's our kids' Gym Teacher and the family is from Europe.

Sorry, but televised soccer just isn't going to catch on in the USA.

 

[ericinboston]

They should pay me to watch this rubbish.

Honestly, even if they paid me $100 to watch any soccer game from start to finish I would still turn it down. I don't hate soccer but I have absolutely zero interest in watching it on tv.

 

[Corefile]

Soccer has been so unpopular for at least the past 50 years in the USA as a sport people want to watch on tv. I (and my kids) like PLAYING soccer, but watching it on tv? Nope.

Part of the reason is that the US folks already have enough sports on tv that are hugely popular within our culture that there simply not enough time to watch another sport. We already watch (at a professional level and college) basketball, football, baseball, and hockey. TV has tried pushing tennis, golf, soccer, and over the past 10 years have really been trying to push women's sports. Too many sports and you gotta prioritize.

Another reason is that there simply aren't any/enough clubs after high school. Most States have professional sports teams. Where are the soccer teams? I don't know but my guess is simply not enough interest. No professional sports teams = no weekly tv broadcasts.

Out of all the people I know at work, friends, neighbors as well as my kids' friends/families, I know 1...yes 1...family who watches soccer on tv. And she's our kids' Gym Teacher and the family is from Europe.

Sorry, but televised soccer just isn't going to catch on in the USA.

Soccer is the biggest and most important sport in the world. Nearest I can equate to is think of the World Cup being a Super Bowl in every match, but bigger. But MLS is not where it's at. When I say "World Cup", I mean The World Cup. Every other sport's world competition has a prefix except the World Cup. Everybody knows what you are talking about when you say the World Cup.

One of the problems a lot of Americans have with soccer is that the score isn't 37-26 as that's something that the audience expects. Most folk watching really don't grasp the fundamentals nor understand the skills involved. They know less about what makes a soccer match gripping as they can't relate. The US audience for soccer is in the Spanish speaking community or recent immigrants. The USA also expects to be the best of the best which is not how it will ever be. Women's soccer isn't it either as the quality is poor and few are interested.

 

[AdamHarbour]

Did someone say football 🇬🇧

 

[lyunmac]

Soccer has been so unpopular for at least the past 50 years in the USA as a sport people want to watch on tv. I (and my kids) like PLAYING soccer, but watching it on tv? Nope.

Part of the reason is that the US folks already have enough sports on tv that are hugely popular within our culture that there simply not enough time to watch another sport. We already watch (at a professional level and college) basketball, football, baseball, and hockey. TV has tried pushing tennis, golf, soccer, and over the past 10 years have really been trying to push women's sports. Too many sports and you gotta prioritize.

Another reason is that there simply aren't any/enough clubs after high school. Most States have professional sports teams. Where are the soccer teams? I don't know but my guess is simply not enough interest. No professional sports teams = no weekly tv broadcasts.

Out of all the people I know at work, friends, neighbors as well as my kids' friends/families, I know 1...yes 1...family who watches soccer on tv. And she's our kids' Gym Teacher and the family is from Europe.

Sorry, but televised soccer just isn't going to catch on in the USA.

There are plenty of professional teams in the US. There's already 30 MLS teams (same as MLB) and there's the USL and other leagues across the country where there aren't MLS teams that have a decent fanbase. The issue is the perception of the league level here. Obviously the level here is lower than some European leagues that have existed for over 100 years whereas MLS has existed for 30 years. This then leads to lower tv ratings because people prefer to watch European or South American leagues as opposed to the home league. The home league will always have low ratings unfortunately but international championships like the Champions League and World Cup do well ratings wise in the US.

 

[jayb3]

Soccer is the biggest and most important sport in the world. Nearest I can equate to is think of the World Cup being a Super Bowl in every match, but bigger. But MLS is not where it's at. When I say "World Cup", I mean The World Cup. Every other sport's world competition has a prefix except the World Cup. Everybody knows what you are talking about when you say the World Cup.

One of the problems a lot of Americans have with soccer is that the score isn't 37-26 as that's something that the audience expects. Most folk watching really don't grasp the fundamentals nor understand the skills involved. They know less about what makes a soccer match gripping as they can't relate. The US audience for soccer is in the Spanish speaking community or recent immigrants. The USA also expects to be the best of the best which is not how it will ever be. Women's soccer isn't it either as the quality is poor and few are interested.

I think a lot of what you stated is perception and stereotypes. There is a growing culture in the US that has played, or coached and watches MLS on tv believe it or not. I'm one of them. I just watched a great game last night between Miami and San Jose. I'm absolutely grateful that Apple has come in and standardized the TV schedule. Apple created a great show called MLS 360 that targets my demographic and allows me to watch multiple games at the same time. We don't need to be stereotyped as if all Americans have no clue what soccer is.

I agree that there is a lot of sports here that competes with your time to consume it. But I watch MLS, NFL, NBA and enjoy all of them. Soccer doesn't need a high score to be a great game for "Americans". The game is great the way it is on its own merit. The people who don't understand soccer are not watching it and that's just fine.

 

[sos47]

Soccer is the biggest and most important sport in the world. Nearest I can equate to is think of the World Cup being a Super Bowl in every match, but bigger. But MLS is not where it's at. When I say "World Cup", I mean The World Cup. Every other sport's world competition has a prefix except the World Cup. Everybody knows what you are talking about when you say the World Cup.

One of the problems a lot of Americans have with soccer is that the score isn't 37-26 as that's something that the audience expects. Most folk watching really don't grasp the fundamentals nor understand the skills involved. They know less about what makes a soccer match gripping as they can't relate. The US audience for soccer is in the Spanish speaking community or recent immigrants. The USA also expects to be the best of the best which is not how it will ever be. Women's soccer isn't it either as the quality is poor and few are interested.

no.
its tour de france

 

[bigchrisfgb]

Soccer has been so unpopular for at least the past 50 years in the USA as a sport people want to watch on tv. I (and my kids) like PLAYING soccer, but watching it on tv? Nope.

Part of the reason is that the US folks already have enough sports on tv that are hugely popular within our culture that there simply not enough time to watch another sport. We already watch (at a professional level and college) basketball, football, baseball, and hockey. TV has tried pushing tennis, golf, soccer, and over the past 10 years have really been trying to push women's sports. Too many sports and you gotta prioritize.

Another reason is that there simply aren't any/enough clubs after high school. Most States have professional sports teams. Where are the soccer teams? I don't know but my guess is simply not enough interest. No professional sports teams = no weekly tv broadcasts.

Out of all the people I know at work, friends, neighbors as well as my kids' friends/families, I know 1...yes 1...family who watches soccer on tv. And she's our kids' Gym Teacher and the family is from Europe.

Sorry, but televised soccer just isn't going to catch on in the USA.

That’s simply not true though.

The sport is growing in the USA, both in terms of attendance, and in terms of TV viewings. The MLS is constantly expanding, and it’s becoming more expensive to create an MLS team.
In 2007 Toronto FC paid about $10m for a franchise fee.
The latest club to join the MLS, San Diego paid $500m.
Unlike the rest of the World, the USA has a lot of fans who support teams outside of their country, particularly in Europe, and in Mexico.

 

[Leon Nash]

Firstly, for all those commenting how soccer sucks and they will never watch it, thank you for that valuable information.

I watch at least two games of MLS every week. I live in Europe so I watch the games usually on Sunday mornings and afternoons. The MLS UI is still kind of a minefield of spoilers and I don’t understand why the games are full of “MLS on AppleTV will be right back” screens. How difficult can be it be to remove those from full recaps.

For me the level MLS is good enough and I thank Apple for having it available in my country. The streaming quality is really good and the price is definitely right.

 

[bigchrisfgb]

Firstly, for all those commenting how soccer sucks and they will never watch it, thank you for that valuable information.

I watch at least two games of MLS every week. I live in Europe so I watch the games usually on Sunday mornings and afternoons. The MLS UI is still kind of a minefield of spoilers and I don’t understand why the games are full of “MLS on AppleTV will be right back” screens. How difficult can be it be to remove those from full recaps.

For me the level MLS is good enough and I thank Apple for having it available in my country. The streaming quality is really good and the price is definitely right.

This is a big part.
There is no analysis of the games. No build up, no half time report, no post match analysis.
Even in Canada with One Soccer they have that.
That time they have when the ‘MLS on Apple TV’ screen is playing is infuriating.

Also in both the USA and Canada, no match ever KO’s on time. Say you get a 3pm KO time, it’s at least 10 past 3 when they kick off, sometimes as late as 20 past.

 

[Corefile]

Firstly, for all those commenting how soccer sucks and they will never watch it, thank you for that valuable information.

It does suck though as it's filled with aging superstars whose best days are behind them and journeymen non-entities who can't make it in the European or SA leagues. It's a retirement home.

 

[Corefile]

This is a big part.
There is no analysis of the games. No build up, no half time report, no post match analysis.
Even in Canada with One Soccer they have that.
That time they have when the ‘MLS on Apple TV’ screen is playing is infuriating.

Also in both the USA and Canada, no match ever KO’s on time. Say you get a 3pm KO time, it’s at least 10 past 3 when they kick off, sometimes as late as 20 past.

I agree with you about KO time but that is a classically American thing. Personally, I don't need some unemployed coach telling me about the game as I have eyes in my head and understand the game. They waffle the usual rubbish and interrupt me. This is especially bad in the EPL. If they would supply the crowd audio without any commentators then you can actually enjoy the game for real. Otherwise I turn the sound down to not listen to them drone on incessantly with their blethering nonsense.

 

[bigchrisfgb]

It does suck though as it's filled with aging superstars whose best days are behind them and journeymen non-entities who can't make it in the European or SA leagues. It's a retirement home.

That’s probably and MLS issue, not an issue with the sport though.
As it happens the MLS are buying a lot of up and coming stars from South America now and selling them onto clubs in Europe. It’s just the whole Messi circus has been a massive distraction designed to get casual fans on board ahead of the World Cup.

 

[Corefile]

That’s probably and MLS issue, not an issue with the sport though.

I agree totally. I was European football weekly as I am European and was born and bred playing/watching the game. MLS is just so sanitized that it's just too fake. The few matches I've been to recently still has the crowds not focused on the game. It's a tragedy.