Apple and Major League Soccer has announced that the MLS Season Pass will launch on 1 February 2023, labelled by the former as an “unprecedented subscription service to fans in over 100 countries and regions”. The Season Pass will feature every live MLS regular-season match, the entire playoff and the Leagues Cup (excluding Leagues Cup and Campeones Cup for viewers in Mexico).
In case you’re unfamiliar with what it is, Major League Soccer features 29 clubs across the U.S. and Canada. Next year, St. Louis CITY SC will be the newest expansion team. 2023 also marks the 28th season of MLS.
The season pass being offered by Apple brings MLS to its biggest global audience ever in a more efficient way. Soccer lovers can watch all matches that are made available on billions of devices through the Apple TV app on all Apple devices, smart TVs, streaming devices, set-top boxes and even game consoles. The matches will also be available on Apple TV’s website.
As mentioned, the MLS Season Pass launches on 1 February 2023, which will mark the official kick-off of a 10-year partnership between MLS and Apple. The partnership is a historic first for a major professional sports league, according to Apple.
Part of the partnership will see all 29 clubs sporting an Apple TV patch in a different colour. St. Louis CITY SC unveiled its jersey with the patch on Thursday. The other clubs’ jerseys will be shared in the lead-up to the start of the 2023 regular season.
If you’re wondering why Apple TV is partnering with Major League Soccer, Apple’s senior vice president of services, Eddy Cue, reckons MLS is “the fastest growing soccer league in the world”, and that there “isn’t a more perfect time to introduce MLS Season Pass, coming off the heels of the most dramatic MLS Cup in history.”
The drama that Cue is referencing is the penalty shootout final that saw Los Angeles F.C. win their first title. The final game was between Los Angeles F.C. and Philadelphia Union where the match ended its 90 minutes in a 3-3 tie. After two overtime periods and 10 extra minutes of injury time, there was still no winner. It was only then that L.A.F.C. clinched the win with 3-0 in penalty goals.
Subscriptions to Apple’s MLS Season Pass are included in full-season ticket packages with MLS clubs. A selection of matches will also be available at no additional cost to Apple TV+ subscribers. There will also be a number of matches available for free on the Apple TV app.
Apple said Australian pricing will be “announced at a later date”.
The MLS 2023 regular season kicks off on 25 February 2023 and all matches during the ‘MLS is Back’ opening weekend will be freely available on the Apple TV app.