MLS games are coming to Apple TV in 2026 when the Season Pass ends

Inter Miami CF forward Lionel Messi (10) scores a goal during the first half against the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium.

Paul Rutherford | Imagn images via Reuters Connect

Major League Soccer is heading to a bigger stage next year when all games find a new home on Apple TV.

Starting with the 2026 season, MLS games will be available on Apple’s flagship streaming platform, which currently includes Major League Baseball games as well as scripted series like Severance.

The move represents a major shift for both the league and Apple’s media strategy, as the tech giant will discontinue Season Pass – Apple’s separate subscription service for MLS games.

Apple and MLS signed a 10-year media rights deal in 2022, making Apple the exclusive global home of the US professional soccer league. However, instead of offering games on the fledgling streaming service, Apple instead introduced the Season Pass for an additional subscription exclusively for MLS games.

“This idea of ​​being able to watch all of our games in one place around the world at the touch of a button was unprecedented. We really, really liked the concept of the season pass and it worked because people responded really well to the product,” MLS deputy commissioner Gary Stevenson said in an interview.

The Season Pass – which costs $14.99 per month, compared to $12.99 for the separate monthly Apple TV subscription – launched in 2023. Apple does not provide subscriber metrics for its streaming services.

Stevenson said talks about moving the league to Apple TV began as Apple’s main streaming platform grew.

“They came to us and said, ‘Let’s put it on Apple TV,’ and we said, ‘We’re all in,'” Stevenson said. “So that was good news for us.”

While Stevenson didn’t go into specifics, some contract terms changed as part of the move to Apple TV.

“But it’s not like it was a big renegotiation because we were focused on distribution and how we could make it a better and more accessible experience for fans,” Stevenson said.

Since entering the streaming business, Apple has systematically added sports to its platform and secured exclusive rights in an increasingly fragmented sports ecosystem.

Most recently Apple and formula 1 has signed a five-year exclusive media rights deal, meaning all races will be streamed on Apple TV in the US from next year. Apple pays around $140 million annually for the F1 rights, CNBC previously reported.

Apple has tried to change the current sports experience. While live sports broadcasts on pay-TV packages reach large audiences, the rise of streaming has led to a fragmented market where consumers often require multiple subscriptions to watch a sport.

At a recent event, Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of services, said the market has “gone backwards” when it comes to sports viewership.

“It used to be that you bought a subscription, the cable subscription, and you pretty much got everything they had. Now there are so many different subscriptions, so I think that needs to be fixed,” Cue said during a panel in October.

Since MLS finalized its media rights deal with Apple, there has been little information about the Season Pass’s performance — and some skepticism about its success.

However, MLS commissioner Don Garber said in an interview with CNBC Sport last year that Apple Season Pass subscriptions exceeded expectations, but declined to provide specific numbers.

“We have more subscribers than we and Apple expected,” Garber told CNBC at the time, adding that there would be more transparency at a later date.

Apple also doesn’t release numbers for Apple TV, but Cue reportedly said the platform has “well over 45 million” viewers.

The league’s broader reach will come after MLS completes its 30th season. The company is working to capitalize on the growing popularity of soccer in the United States, particularly in anticipation of the World Cup that will be held in North America next year.

The league, which pales in comparison to the popularity of the NFL, NBA and other U.S. professional sports that existed decades before MLS, has also seen a surge in fan base in recent years after global star Lionel Messi began playing for Inter Miami CF.

Changing the clocks

On Thursday, MLS made another big change when it announced it would move its calendar to align with the schedule of global soccer leagues.

The fall MLS postseason coincided with one of the busiest times in the U.S. – the start of the NFL, NBA and NHL seasons and the centerpiece of the MLB postseason, which recently saw high viewership.

The move will also allow MLS teams to more seamlessly participate in the global player transfer window over the summer.

“Participating in the most active transfer window will now strengthen, rather than disrupt, a team’s ambitions for the season,” said a press release.

Currently, the MLS regular season schedule runs from February to October, followed by the playoffs and championship game in December. From summer 2027, the MLS will adopt the new calendar.