The times, they are a-changin’ for Major League Soccer. After two days of colossal changes, the top football league in the United States has added a third.
According to Sportico, MLS will be ending its controversial streaming deal with Apple four years earlier than expected.
Reports indicate the league will be bought out early from its current deal – which was set to last until 2033. Now, the league’s deal will end at the conclusion of the 2028-29 season.
This announcement comes one day after MLS announced a massive overhaul of its current league calendar – moving toward a more traditional fall-to-spring calendar to align more closely with the European football schedule.
It also comes a day after Apple revealed it would be ending the ‘MLS Season Pass’ add-on to its Apple TV+ streaming service – a move that now removes the secondary paywall to watch all league matches.
To explain today’s news, it’s important to understand what happened the last two days.
MLS and Apple will reportedly end their streaming deal four years early after the league made major changes to its calendar in recent days by moving to a more traditional calendar
This comes after MLS commissioner Don Garber announced the league would be altering its schedule to follow a more traditional football calendar of mid-July through May
Previously, in order to watch games on Apple, MLS fans would require both an Apple TV+ subscription in addition to an MLS Season Pass subscription.
While the Apple TV+ subscription ran you $12.99 a month, the Season Pass cost an additional $14.99 per month – or came at an $80 per year price tag.
But as of yesterday, the league and the streamer are set to remove the secondary paywall. Starting next year, all that will be required is an Apple TV+ subscription to access every match the league plays.
Subscription numbers to the Season Pass were more locked down than Fort Knox – with neither MLS commissioner Don Garber or Apple CEO Tim Cook ever revealing the figures.
But with today’s report, it seems that MLS and Apple will be ending their relationship entirely. The initial ten-year deal began in 2023 and was set to run through the 2032 season.
Late on Thursday afternoon, MLS announced it would move to a calendar running from mid-July until May – a move that comes after years of pressure from governing bodies, including FIFA, to make the switch.
By doing so, this allows MLS to align itself with the European transfer market. This year, the MLS primary transfer window ran from January 31 to April 23. The secondary window ran from July 24 to August 21.
Now, MLS clubs will be better positioned in the transfer market to buy and sell players.
Moving the league playoffs to May avoids conflicts with the NFL and college football in the Fall
Additionally, this move has the benefit of moving the championship for the league – the MLS Cup Playoffs – to a part of the American sporting calendar that is not dominated by the NFL and college football.
There are downsides, however. Most significantly is the impact to clubs in cold-weather climates.
18 of the 30 clubs in the league experience harsh winters – including five in the American northeast, six in the Great Plains and Midwest, and three in Canada.
To offset this, the league will be imposing a schedule with a significantly long break.
For 2027-28, play begins in mid-to-late July and runs until mid-December before pausing. Play resumes in mid-February and continues until the end of April before MLS Cup Playoffs take up the month of May.
With 2026 being the final full season of the ‘original’ calendar, 2027 will begin with a short ‘transition season’ between February and May to determine qualification for the domestic US Open Cup and Canadian Championship, the LigaMX-MLS collaborative Leagues Cup, and the continental CONCACAF Champions Cup.
The schedule change has drawn controversy, especially from the 18 teams who play in cold-weather climates. The league plans to take a significant break from mid-December to February.
According to the Sportico report, MLS will be paid $200m for the 2026 season. Apple will then pay the league $107.5m to broadcast the ‘transition season’ before paying $275m each season in 2027-28 and 2028-29 before ending the deal.
When initially announced, the Apple deal was both unexpected and controversial – with plenty of criticism for the choice to fully place itself behind a paywall.
However, it’s widely believed that the agreement was a major reason why the league could afford to bring Lionel Messi to Inter Miami.
Previously, the rights were split between Fox and ESPN. After the Apple deal was reached, Fox Sports sub-licensed 34 regular season matches, eight playoff matches, and each MLS Cup until 2026.
After Fox’s deal expires, Sportico says the ability to sub-license will remain in place under the re-worked deal.
Earlier this year, Apple won the rights to broadcast Formula One in the United States starting with the 2026 season on a five-year deal.
