Messi’s Inter Miami in Leagues Cup quarterfinals as Apple TV+ viewership surges
The Leagues Cup 2025 has reached its quarter-final stage, with Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami leading the charge among top MLS and Liga MX contenders, showcasing a revamped tournament format that has sparked a surge in goals and viewership.
MLS Season Pass on Apple TV is the only place where fans in over 100 countries and regions can watch every match of the Leagues Cup 2025 tournament.
The Leagues Cup 2025 has reached its quarter-final stage, with Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami leading the charge among top MLS and Liga MX contenders, showcasing a revamped tournament format that has sparked a surge in goals and viewership. The new structure, featuring penalty shootouts to replace draws, has driven a 62% increase in average match viewership to 1.43 million and boosted corporate sponsor revenue by 13%. With thrilling matchups, the tournament continues to captivate fans and heighten commercial interest across North America.
Through Phase One of the tournament, average match viewership reached 1.43 million, up 62% from 2024, across MLS Season Pass, Apple TV+, linear broadcasters in North America, and third-party platforms, organisers told Reuters on Wednesday.
Corporate sponsor revenue is up 13% year-on-year, with Walmart and Ocean Spray added as new partners. Digital and social media consumption has also risen sharply, organizers said.
On the pitch, the absence of draws and penalty shootouts following 90 minutes has led to an average of 3.37 goals per game. This figure surpasses regular-season scoring rates in MLS, Liga MX and several leading European leagues, according to organizers.
This year’s tournament features all 18 Liga MX teams and 18 qualifying MLS teams and the four quarter-finals will pit MLS clubs against Liga MX opponents, reinforcing the cross-border rivalry at the heart of the competition’s redesign.
The tournament’s stakes are high, with automatic qualification for the Concacaf Champions Cup guaranteed for the winner of the third-place match and both finalists. The champion will secure direct entry into the Champions Cup Round of 16.
MacDailyNews Take: The Leagues Cup, launched in 2019, is an annual soccer tournament featuring teams from Major League Soccer (MLS) and Liga MX, North America’s top leagues. Initiated to foster competition and collaboration between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, it aims to strengthen regional soccer. The inaugural edition saw Cruz Azul defeat Tigres UANL. Paused in 2020 due to COVID-19, it resumed in 2021 with an expanded format. By 2023, all MLS and Liga MX teams participated — it now functions as a regional cup for CONCACAF between the top division leagues in Mexico and United States and includes MLS teams that are based in Canada — with Inter Miami, led by Lionel Messi, winning the title that year. In 2024, MLS’s Columbus Crew won the cup. Clearly, the tournament continues to grow!
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