Major League Soccer kicks off its landmark 30th season this weekend in what is a huge milestone for the American soccer league. But while Don Garber and MLS celebrate a lot of positive growth over the last several years, there are a lot of questions about the league’s rights deal with Apple and just how much it might stunt any further growth.
MLS can point to its expansion, its investments, and the presence of Lionel Messi as a few of its current feathers in the cap. But how much of that is actually seen or appreciated nationally or by casual sports fans is another question altogether.
Don Garber appeared with Dan Roberts of Front Office Sports for a sit down interview that touched on the overall health of the league and the sports media industry at large. However, his most interesting comment came when he was pressed once again on the numbers behind Major League Soccer’s exclusive streaming deal with Apple. He once again deferred to Apple regarding subscriber transparency.
“I would, Apple doesn’t. Get Eddy Cue from Apple on!” Garber exclaimed.
There has been a lot of speculation and rumors about how well MLS is performing with Apple TV+, but neither the league nor the streaming giant has been willing to actually share any numbers. It’s a new paradigm in the streaming era that these numbers aren’t readily available, unlike linear television when Nielsen ratings are the standard for everybody. With these numbers in house at Apple, it’s up to the streamer or the league to produce them. They could be fantastic, they could be dismal, we just don’t know at this point.
But traditionally in the sports media world, a lack of transparency around viewership and subscriber numbers is not an encouraging thing. If MLS Season Pass was really a success wouldn’t Apple AND the league be quick to shout it from the rooftops to show that their gamble on an innovative rights contract worked? Especially from Apple’s perspective, it’s not a great sign to other sports leagues they may want to do business with in the future.
Don Garber did talk up the linear components of domestic deals with Fox and Univision while hyping up the global nature of the Apple deal.
“I do believe that the megaphone that you have with linear still is valuable. We still have a deal with Fox, we have a deal with Univision, those are domestic deals where Apple is a global deal. And that’s important to us. We have players from 79 different countries. If we’re signing a Korean player or an Argentinian player, a Colombian player, a Japanese player, it allows us to touch very directly fans of MLS who can very easily access a relationship,” Garber said.
But again, the reality is a lot more hazy than what the MLS commissioner implies. Fox is limited in what they can air in regards to Messi and domestic ratings for last season’s MLS Cup on Fox were down massively. Fox’s investment in MLS matches screams that they are winding down the clock on the deal more than anything else.
And with all of this in mind, there was a point in the interview where Don Garber may have said the quiet part out loud with regards to the issues fans are having with so many sports they want to watch split amongst so many platforms.
“I do think the market is changing and evolving. I do think there’s got to be some consolidation. People were complaining about cable was too expensive. Now many people still have cable or a mini-bundle and they have multiple streaming subscriptions. And at some point that’s going to have to come together in a way that makes sense for the fan,” he added.
As Dan Roberts smartly pointed out, Garber’s point runs against the current MLS strategy and shows the current risk of aligning with Apple TV. Not only are they on an exclusive streaming platform at Apple, but one that’s not exactly second nature for sports fans. It’s not like fans signing up for Peacock or Amazon Prime where they can also find NFL action, the Premier League, or what have you as part of their subscription.
When you look at the big picture, MLS Season Pass has been a tough sell so far. And maybe that’s why we still don’t know just how tough it has been.
