Ahead of the Feb. 25 kickoff of the MLS season, Apple has been rolling out plenty of announcements about what to expect on their broadcasts. They’re now the league’s primary global broadcaster under a 10-year, $2.5 billion deal. There will still be some linear broadcasts (no local ones, though), but those will be simulcasts of the Apple feed, and all broadcasts will be available through the Apple TV app’s (not Apple TV+, an additional level of the Apple TV app) MLS Season Pass for $14.99 a month or $99 for a year. And now we know what those broadcasts will look like in terms of production plans and announcer pairings, thanks to a MLS/Apple release Wednesday:
Apple and Major League Soccer unveil live event production plan and talent pairings for MLS Season Passhttps://t.co/jq5lCEl07g
— MLS Communications (@MLS_PR) February 15, 2023
As per that release, the production plans will see all MLS and Leagues Cup live matches “produced at MLS stadiums, including on-site talent, using a fleet of production units to produce simultaneous coverage of up to 14 matches each game night.” The match feeds will include “more camera angles, 1080p video, Dolby 5.1 audio, and enhanced data and graphics in live match coverage all season long.” Studio programming (including pre-match show MLS Countdown before each match, post-match show MLS Wrap-Up, and whiparound show MLS 360) will originate from a three-studio facility in New York City. The match and studio programming is produced by NEP Group and IMG. But perhaps the really key thing her for many viewers will be the announcer pairings. Here are the English ones (all matches will be available in English and Spanish, with matches involving Canadian teams available in French as well; click through to the release for details on the non-English broadcasts):
- Jake Zivin and Taylor Twellman
- Keith Costigan and Maurice Edu
- Kevin Egan and Kyndra de St. Aubin
- Steve Cangialosi and Danny Higginbotham
- Eric Krakauer and Lloyd Sam
- Jenn Hildreth/Chris Wittyngham and Lori Lindsey
- Blake Price and Paul Dolan
- Max Bretos and Brian Dunseth
- Mark Followill/Chris Wittyngham and Danielle Slaton
- Andres Cordero and Jamie Watson
- Callum Williams and Calen Carr
- Tyler Terens and Devon Kerr
- Tony Husband and Ross Smith
- Mark Rogondino and Heath Pearce
- Ed Cohen and Greg Sutton
- Adrian Healey and Cobi Jones
As per the release, play-by-play voice announcer Nate Bukaty and analysts Tony Meola and Warren Barton are also “regular members of the team.” We’ll see how these broadcasts go when the season kicks off on Feb. 25, and just what the reception is from the public to this radically different broadcasting strategy from what MLS has done in the past.
[MLS]
About Andrew Bucholtz
Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.