Major League Soccer provided its first significant update on the performance of its media rights deal with Apple. During a review of the 2025 season’s first half, MLS Commissioner Don Garber shared specific viewership data for MLS Season Pass games on Apple TV on Wednesday: An average of 120,000 unique viewers per match.
“The Apple deal has grown. We’re averaging 120,000 unique viewers per match,” Garber said. “That’s an increase of almost 50% compared to last year. Distribution has helped drive a lot of that.”
MLS has largely sidestepped all audience-related inquiries on the Apple deal’s performance since the league struck the 10-year, $2.5 billion agreement in 2022.
Garber, however, said that MLS and Apple agree that a heightened level of transparency is required to help bring the pact to the next level. “We and Apple have been trying to figure it all out,” he said. “I know it’s frustrating for those who are looking for more information. We and Apple believe we need to start sharing some more information so you can start looking at what does it really mean. It’s the beginning, not the end.”
So what does Garber’s disclosure mean? … Even Garber himself acknowledged that the league is wrestling with the proper means to evaluate the streaming audiences, particularly given the subscription-based economic model of Apple TV.
“What we’re struggling with, and I think what the industry is struggling with, is there has been no system to be able to evaluate how people are in a subscription service, how they’re viewing and consuming games, and what is the metric that matters most,” he said. “Is it average-minute audience? Unique viewers? Remember, we’re on a subscription service, which is very different than having your games available on a linear network.”
“Other leagues have a game of the night, game of the week, Friday Night Baseball on Apple TV,” Garber said. “All of our games, for the most part, are on Saturday, all up against each other. So when you have 120,000 unique viewers [per game] across that, that’s a lot of people. Aggregate all that. Depending on what week it is, you have over a million people that are unique viewers.”
MacDailyNews Take: The 2025 MLS season includes 30 teams, each playing 34 regular-season games (17 home, 17 away), totaling 510 games across the season from February 22 to October 18. On specific Saturdays, such as the opening weekend (February 22), 13 games are scheduled, while Decision Day (October 18) features a full slate of matches, with Eastern Conference games at 6 p.m. ET and Western Conference games at 9 p.m. ET, plus one interconference match.
The exact number of games fluctuates depending on the week, with some Saturdays featuring fewer games due to international breaks (e.g., June 15–24 for the FIFA Club World Cup and CONCACAF Gold Cup) or other competitions like the Leagues Cup (July 29–August 31).
So, for example, on a 13-game Saturday, an average of 120,000 unique viewers per match equals 1.56 million unique viewers of MLS games on Apple TV.
As the season progresses, the MLS Season Pass subscription drops in price. It’s currently 50% off, or $14.99/month or $49/season; for Apple TV+ subscribers, it’s $12.99/month or $39/season. More info here.
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