Major League Soccer and Apple are making a major push to reach more viewers in 2025.
Soccer fans with Comcast Xfinity and DirecTV can subscribe and watch MLS Season Pass through the TV providers, while T-Mobile users will be able to access MLS Season Pass for free, the league announced Wednesday.
MLS also will debut “Sunday Night Soccer” — a showcase to engage and retain soccer fans with the league’s most compelling game of the week.
MLS also has high hopes for “Onside: Major League Soccer” — an eight-part documentary series produced by Box 2 Box Films, the company behind Netflix’s popular “Formula 1: Drive to Survive” series. The new docuseries premiers Feb. 21.
The new initiatives increase opportunities for fans to watch MLS games during a pivotal push for the sport in the United States, which will co-host World Cup 2026 with Canada and Mexico.
“We’re always going to look for different ways to make this content more accessible to people,” Apple executive producer of live sports Royce Dickerson said during a press briefing on Wednesday.
“We just want to hit as many people as we possibly can, get it across as many devices and platforms as humanly possible. All we want to continue to do is push out the product as much as we can to as many people at any given moment.”
Lionel Messi and Inter Miami will play New York City FC in the first match of the 2025 MLS season on Feb. 22 at 2:30 p.m. ET.
MLS Cup champions LA Galaxy will host the league’s newest team, San Diego FC, in the first “Sunday Night Soccer” game on Feb. 23 at 7 p.m. ET. This match will also be broadcast live at Times Square in New York City.
‘Sunday Night Soccer’ will include dedicated pre- and postgame shows, and be available for Apple TV+ subscribers. Jake Zivin, Taylor Twellman and Andrew Wiebe will call the Sunday games in English, while Sammy Sadovnik and Diego Valeri will lead the Spanish broadcasts.
Select preseason games also are available for free on MLS Season Pass and Apple TV+ before the season, including LAFC facing LIGA MX champions Club America on Feb. 11, and Inter Miami’s preseason finale against Orlando City on Feb. 14.
Xfinity customers can sign up for MLS Season Pass and access MLS games within the channel guide on X1, the Xfinity Stream app, the X1 Sports app and the Apple TV app. Xfinity subscribers will also have free access to “MLS 360” — the league’s version of NFL RedZone — throughout the season without a Season Pass subscription. Xfinity customers will get a free preview from Feb. 22 to March 2.
DirecTV customers will be able to subscribe to MLS Season Pass with matches available on channels 480-495, ensuring a similar experience to other sports leagues’ packages, with a free preview from Feb. 22 to March 1. The satellite provider will also continue to provide MLS Season Pass to over 300,000 commercial establishments, like bars and restaurants.
T-Mobile and Metro by T-Mobile customers can receive complimentary access to MLS Season Pass for the season, through the T-Mobile Tuesdays app starting Feb. 18.
The league also previously announced the ability to watch MLS games on Apple TV+ via Amazon Prime Video last October.
MLS Productions — the media and broadcast production arm of the league — is coming from its new space at WWE Studios in Stamford, Connecticut. The league also recently announced a renewed broadcast production relationship with IMG this week.
“We’ve seen growth in our audiences and growth in our subscriptions. We’re bullish on what we’re building,” MLS executive vice president of media Seth Bacon said.
“It’s how do you take something that’s performing really well, and make it perform even better. That’s what these new partnerships are all about.”
Customers can subscribe to MLS Season Pass for $14.99 per month during the season, or $99 for the full season, and Apple TV+ subscribers can sign up at a special price of $12.99 per month, or $79 per season. A subscription to MLS Season Pass for this season will be included with each full-season MLS club ticket account. Through Family Sharing, up to six family members can share the subscription using their own Apple ID and password.
(This story was updated to add new information.)