One of the rubs on Major League Soccer’s broadcast deal with Apple TV is the lack of transparency around how many people are actually watching.
Neither the league nor the streamer has released any figures regarding the amount of people subscribed to MLS Season Pass, or how many viewers tune into matches. Last year, Sports Business Journal reported that the service was nearing one million subscribers, though that number included season ticket holders who receive a complimentary subscription.
In an interview with CNBC’s Alex Sherman, MLS commissioner Don Garber actually expressed a mild amount of frustration about the lack of transparency, placing the blame directly on Apple for not releasing subscriber figures.
“We have more subscribers than we and Apple thought we would have. We have more people watching our games,” Garber said when prompted on the issues of transparency. “At some point there will be more transparency. Apple and other streaming services aren’t distributing subscriber numbers. But we’ll see how that looks in the future.”
“Are you advocating for more transparency?” Sherman asked.
“We always are,” Garber replied.
“So you want the number out there?” Sherman posed.
“I think the number will get out there,” Garber said.
“Here’s our chance,” Sherman shot back. “Just tell us.”
“That’s true, I think that all of us would like to see more transparency,” Garber deflected.
“They will have to say the number is what you’re saying. This is not an MLS issue, this is an Apple issue,” Sherman suggested.
“Right, correct,” said Garber.
It’s interesting to hear the MLS commissioner publicly advocate for the release of subscriber data, though if he wanted it out there so bad he could reveal the numbers himself. For now, his admission seems like nothing more than a tactic to absolve the league from any accountability about the lack of transparency.
Though to take Garber at his word would indicate that MLS and Apple are beating expectations. Which again begs the question, why not release the numbers? Were expectations considerably lower than what the public would think? Or is the talk of exceeding expectations just lip service.
Sooner or later we’ll find out. But it doesn’t seem like it will be from Garber.
[CNBC]
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.