Apple TV has seen a boon emerge for its Major League Soccer coverage, and it’s no surprise why. International sensation Lionel Messi recently touched down in the United States with Inter Miami CF of MLS. As it turns out, Messi is quite the driving force. The Wall Street Journal reported massive numbers for both Apple TV subscriptions and subscriptions to MLS Season Pass.
The WSJ reported 110,000+ sign-ups in the United States when Messi debuted for Inter Miami CF. Additionally, the publication said that number was tremendous from the day prior when they had a reported figure of 6,143. That humongous trend-up is a clear sign that things are working and that there might still be even more increases.
MLS has increased in attention since Messi arrived in the U.S. It’s helped substantially that Messi is playing up to his mega billing. So as he continues to excel, the league gets more eyes, and everyone likely benefits from that. It might take some time to truly dig the cleats in and see if the Messi effect is that profound. But already, such a sizable gain has you feeling like it is legit.
And to that end, that’s great for the sport. Soccer has surged massively in terms of access and popularity in America. The English Premier League, La Liga, and Bundesliga are all not only widely available now but sometimes on over-the-air ABC and NBC. That’s to say nothing of the Champions League on CBS either.
It’s a pretty great time to be a soccer fan in America, and Messi is providing an ample boost.
About Chris Novak
Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022