Landon Donovan: MLS Needs Linear TV Exposure Despite Apple Streaming Deal
Former USMNT star Landon Donovan suggests that Major League Soccer (MLS) is not yet mature enough to fully abandon broadcast television, despite its 10-year, $2.5 billion streaming deal with Apple TV+. The original Apple deal was reportedly re-negotiated to end three years early, indicating challenges with a streaming-exclusive approach for sports leagues.
Key Takeaways
- MLS's initial 10-year, $2.5 billion Apple TV+ streaming deal, launched in 2023, was reportedly renegotiated to conclude three years earlier.
- Donovan believes MLS still requires exposure on broadcast networks like NBC, Fox, and ABC, similar to the NFL's strategy.
- The original deal positioned MLS as the first major North American league to place nearly all games behind a streaming paywall, lacking a primary broadcast network partner.
Why It Matters
The renegotiation of the MLS-Apple TV+ deal and Donovan's comments highlight the ongoing tension between exclusive streaming and broad linear TV exposure for sports leagues. This decision signals that a pure direct-to-consumer strategy may still be premature for properties without a fully established, loyal audience. The broader streaming ecosystem will continue to balance subscriber growth with wider audience reach, and how MLS adapts its distribution strategy in the coming years will be a key indicator for similar league-partner agreements.
Additional Context
The challenges with the MLS-Apple TV+ streaming deal have led to significant adjustments. MLS Commissioner Don Garber acknowledged the league was "way early" on its move to an exclusive streaming model, specifically noting that requiring a separate MLS Season Pass subscription on top of Apple TV was a misstep (Awful Announcing, February 2026). As a result, the standalone MLS Season Pass was shuttered, and all matches are now included as part of Apple TV+'s main content offering, making games available to any Apple TV+ subscriber at no extra cost (Sports Business Journal, February 2026). This shift aims to increase accessibility and integrate MLS into Apple's broader content ecosystem, which also includes F1 and MLB rights (Sportico, February 2026). The revised agreement also means the deal will now end after the 2028-29 season, rather than 2032, positioning MLS to re-enter the media rights market earlier (Sportico, February 2025). The league believes this change has already led to positive results, reporting a 62% increase in viewership through the first three months of the 2026 season compared to the previous year (Sportico, May 2026). Despite this, experts like media rights consultant Ed Desser noted in Sports Business Journal (February 2026) that MLS faces a 'traffic jam' in upcoming negotiations, as it will compete with major leagues like the NFL, NHL, and MLB, which are also nearing their contract renegotiation periods. This could further impact the availability of broadcast partners and revenue for MLS.
Read full article at barrettmedia.com
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