Apple’s premium MLS ads ‘to cost $4m per season’
TECHNOLOGY giant Apple is moving away from convention in the selling of commercials around its Major League Soccer coverage and is asking sponsors to buy season-long package spots rather than individual adverts on a per-game basis.
According to Bloomberg, Apple has been offering three MLS sponsorship packages, with the most expensive, “Gold”, costing about $4m (€3.7m) per season and including the playoffs and integrations such as ‘Man of the Match’ entitlement.
The “Silver” and “Bronze” packages cost about $3m and $1.5m per season, respectively.
It has been reported that Apple will allow ads from categories such as credit cards, alcohol and car rentals but not sports betting, at least initially.
Apple will notably not guarantee advertisers that matches will reach a certain number of viewers, which is a standard practice in the industry. It is unclear at this stage how many fans will tune into MLS games on Apple’s new subscription streaming service.
Apple’s landmark, 10-year global rights deal, which runs from 2023 to 2032 and is worth least $2.5bn over the course of the agreement, or $250m a year, begins on February 25.
As part of the agreement, more than 900 MLS matches will be made available on a streaming service to be housed within the Apple TV+ app throughout the United States and Canada, as well as around the world, without any local domestic broadcast restrictions.
Also included is every match in the Leagues Cup - the soon-to-be-expanded tournament between MLS and Mexico’s Liga MX - and selected games in the third-tier MLS Next Pro and youth program MLS Next.
This subscription streaming service is officially known as MLS Season Pass and will debut on February 1. It will cost fans $14.99 per month during the season or $99 per season, while current Apple TV+ subscribers can sign up for $12.99 per month and $79 per season.
It is more expensive than previous streaming home ESPN+, which costs $9.99 per month, but contains far more content, including every game and expansive shoulder programming such as an exclusive live match whiparound show.
During the opening weekend of the 2023 season, all matches will be available to watch free of charge on the Apple TV app. A subscription to MLS Season Pass will be included as part of full-season ticket packages with MLS clubs.
To further reach domestically, MLS recently announced a four-year, English- and Spanish-language domestic rights deal with Fox Sports, ending a long-standing partnership with ESPN which had carried matches since the league launched in 1996.
As part of the new agreement, Fox Sports will air 34 regular season games annually, 15 of which are on the Fox broadcast network, with eight MLS Cup playoff games on Fox, FS1 and Fox Deportes along with MLS Cup every year on Fox and Fox Deportes..