Soccer fans who haven’t signed up for Apple’s streaming service might find it a bit harder to resist, as Apple TV+ has cut the price of its MLS Season Pass in half for the remainder of the 2024 season.
The company is now charging Apple TV customers $49 for access to the rest of the games, while those who have an Apple TV+ subscription will pay just $39.
That will let fans watch Lionel Messi and other stars in regular season games as well as the upcoming All-Star tournament, where the top players in MLS will take on the best in Liga MX, which gets underway later this month.
MLS Season Pass subscribers do not have to worry about blackout games and can watch on a variety of Apple devices, as well as most modern TVs and game consoles.
Apple secured a 10-year worldwide deal for MLS games in 2023, paying the league $2.5 billion. The company also brokered an unprecedented revenue-sharing agreement with soccer superstar Messi, spurring him to join Inter Miami CF.
For the company, it’s an opportunity to lock-in Gen Z males, who are the biggest watchers of MLS games. The league has the youngest audience among all legacy leagues.
Soccer has become an increasingly strong draw for networks and streaming services. In 2022, the FIFA World Cup final attracted 26 million U.S. viewers on linear TV—more than the NBA Finals (13 million), the World Series (12 million), PGA Finals (10 million), Stanley Cup (5 million), and even the Winter Olympics (12 million).
Apple could be on the verge of doubling down on the sport, as negotiations are reportedly underway with soccer governing body FIFA to carry worldwide television rights for a new tournament.