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Major League Soccer Shares 2023 Schedule of Matches Streaming in Apple TV App

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Major League Soccer today announced its 2023 regular season schedule, with every match to air live in the Apple TV app in over 100 countries, as part of a new 10-year partnership between the league and Apple. A subscription to MLS Season Pass is required for most matches, but Apple TV+ subscribers will be able to watch some matches for free.

Apple-MLS-partnership-June-2022.jpeg

MLS Season Pass will be available starting February 1 for $14.99 per month or $99 per season, and Apple TV+ subscribers will be able to subscribe at a discounted price of $12.99 per month and $79 per season, according to Apple. MLS season ticket holders will receive a complimentary subscription to MLS Season Pass as a perk.

Apple says the majority of matches in the 2023 season will be played on Saturdays and select Wednesdays, with 7:30 p.m. local start times. Select matches will also be available on Fox networks in the United States, and on TSN and RDS in Canada.

Apple's press release lists highlights of the 2023 season schedule, including "MLS is Back" opening weekend matches on Saturday, February 25.

The Apple TV app is available on the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV box, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, Roku and Amazon Fire TV streaming sticks, Roku TVs, and select smart TVs from LG, Samsung, Sony, and Vizio. Earlier today, it was rumored that the app will also be launching on Android smartphones soon.

Article Link: Major League Soccer Shares 2023 Schedule of Matches Streaming in Apple TV App
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2022/12/20/mls-2023-schedule-apple-tv-app/
macduke said:
We don't want soccer. We want football. The real kind, where you rarely use a foot. Come on, Apple!
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Agreed and too bad the sunday ticket deal seems to have fallen through. I’m surprised they even considered it having just launched NFL+

You do have to stay on your feet, but for some reason they didn’t call it feetball. Who knows why it’s called football?
 
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CarAnalogy said:
Agreed and too bad the sunday ticket deal seems to have fallen through. I’m surprised they even considered it having just launched NFL+

You do have to stay on your feet, but for some reason they didn’t call it feetball. Who knows why it’s called football?
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Because it has origins and rules based on rugby football. As informal games started developing a set of rules, it became gridiron football which morphed into football as we know it in today. That's the TL;DR version.
 
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MacRumors said:
Select matches will also be available on Fox networks in the United States, and on TSN and RDS in Canada.
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Do note that these matches, Apple and MLS is doing the production (with Apple doing most of the work) not FOX or TSN or RDS. This is a radical departure from other streaming only sports media deal (Friday Night Baseball is produced by MLB Network with Apple’s tvOS interface/Thursday Night Baseball, is jointly produced by Amazon and NBC Sports) and its a massive gamble by Apple to basically go all in on in house sports production.

MacRumors said:
MLS Season Pass will be available starting February 1 for $14.99 per month or $99 per season, and Apple TV+ subscribers will be able to subscribe at a discounted price of $12.99 per month and $79 per season, according to Apple. MLS season ticket holders will receive a complimentary subscription to MLS Season Pass as a perk.
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And this part, Apple is not happy with it still but they had no choice. Initially Apple wanted ALL of MLS at no extra charge to Apple TV+ customers, but when MLS said no, they suggested all of matches free to Apple One Premier customers, League still said no, so this deal is in place. (And Steve Jobs is rolling in his grave for Apple to cave in on charging customers paid add on for existing paid service)

NFL wanted something similar for Sunday Ticket, Apple said no to that and abruptly walked away from negotiation for that last weekend, mainly to preserve Steve Job’s legacy for not charging add ons to paid services.
 
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Did I read the article correctly with Apple only airing Saturday and Wednesday matches? What about the other days?
 
I understand that it would be VERY difficult for Apple to be able to acquire broadcasting rights for the major European leagues, because this is a business that handles billions and trillions of money, and no some dude can't just come in and revolutionize everything.

BUT, that would be the thing to do if Apple wants to be relevant in the football world. Transmitting the North American "Soccer" league is... beh. Not sure it would attract that much people.
 
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steve09090 said:
As a person who grew up with the BEST version of Football, Aussie Rules (shoulder pads and helmets…pffft) I have to admit that Soccer is the original football (before Australia and USA were even invented). It’s about time we called sports what they really are.
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American football used to not have helmets and pads either when it was closer to rugby style football.

Changing the names make sense until you start looking at the origins of them. They all root in the same place. "Soccer" is a British slang adaptation meaning association football as opposed to "rugger" for rugby football. The Brits decided in the 1970s that soccer was "Americanized" and changed it back to "football" in common use to differentiate themselves.
 
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