With iOS 16.1 just around the corner and Live Activities as the protagonist of this great update of version 16 of the iPhone operating system, Apple announces that the MLS (Major Soccer League, or professional soccer league in the United States) coming to Apple TV in 2023. And why do we talk about Live Activities? Because this announcement is directly related to Apple’s commitment to the Dynamic Island and for the future of sports on Apple TV. We tell you.
Apple and the MLS organization announced this week via Twitter that next season the MLS will come to the Apple TV app. We can see the spectacular video of the announcement in the Apple’s own tweet where the following sentence stands out. Every Match. For Every Fan. MLS x Apple TV. Coming 2023. What would be translated: All the games. For all the fans. MLS on Apple TV. As of 2023.
In June, Apple and the Major Soccer League announced that they had signed a $2.5 billion settlement (eye, always billions Americans) to exclusively bring the American Football League to Apple TV for the next 10 years. In exclusive. And not just for fans in the United States, but for the whole world.
Apple and Major League Soccer (MLS) today announced that the Apple TV app will have the exclusivity to watch all MLS games live beginning in 2023. This partnership is a historic first for a major professional sports league, and will allow fans around the world to watch all MLS games, Leagues Cup1 and select MLS NEXT Pro and MLS NEXT games in one place, without local blackouts or the need for a pay-TV package traditional.
Eddy Cue, senior vice president of Apple Services commented that It would be the first time in history that fans will be able to access all the content of a major professional sports league in one place..
For the first time in sports history, fans will be able to access all of the content from a major professional sports league in one place. It’s a dream come true for MLS fans, soccer fans, and anyone who loves sports. No fragmentation, no frustration – just the flexibility to sign up for one convenient service that gives you everything from MLS, anywhere, anytime you want to watch. We can’t wait to make it easier for even more people to fall in love with MLS and cheer on their favorite club.
As we all expected, being able to watch MLS through the Apple TV app will require a subscription that the Major Soccer League will offer fans.
This agreement is great news for the Dynamic Island and the use of it during sporting events with Live Activities (as we told you a few days ago in this post). Apple incorporates new licenses and events to its Apple TV app and this will be directly integrated with the functionality to be able to see live (or rather follow it) the result of the matches or the remarkable moments in the Dynamic Island. A clear sign of commitment to this great novelty of the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max.
On the other hand also It is good news that companies like Apple are beginning to enter the broadcast of sports leagues or events. Being companies with much more negotiating power than the telephone operators themselves to offer these services in their internet + TV packages. Will this be the beginning of a price reduction to be able to watch global football? We speak, above all, of Spain where the basic package to watch the football league is around €120 per month, but What will happen if Netflix, Apple, HBO, Youtube and other platforms decide to enter the fight to broadcast it? Hopefully it’s the beginning of something that got out of hand many years ago and we can recover the beautiful game (in addition to having it integrated into the Dynamic Island).