MLS's Ambitious Media Rights Push
Major League Soccer is targeting an annual media‑rights valuation of $400 million to $500 million when its current agreement with Apple expires after the 2029 season, a figure that would more than double the $250 million it currently receives from the tech giant.
The league’s financial outlook is set against a crowded landscape of soccer broadcasting in the United States. The Premier League, La Liga, Liga MX and the UEFA Champions League already command higher viewership and more valuable deals, with the Premier League’s NBC contract hovering around $450 million per season and its global rights generating roughly $5 billion in revenue.
Domestic fan behavior underscores the challenge: 68 percent of American soccer supporters follow more than one team, and a recent Ampere Analysis survey found that 53 percent of Premier League fans do not watch MLS or Liga MX at all. Match‑day numbers illustrate the gap as well, with Fox’s Friday night broadcast of Atlanta United versus Nashville drawing 587,000 viewers, while a comparable MLS clash on the same night attracted 504,000.
Apple TV, which streams many MLS matches, does not disclose granular viewership metrics, leaving the league with an incomplete picture of its audience. Recent games aired on Fox before the World Cup showed modest figures — Inter Miami versus Philadelphia Union pulled 571,000 viewers, whereas LAFC versus Seattle reached only 331,000 — highlighting the need for a stronger narrative to justify a richer rights package.
Beyond domestic competition, the United Soccer League has announced plans to launch a top‑flight league in 2028 that would feature promotion and relegation, potentially adding another layer of pressure on MLS to differentiate its product. At the same time, the excitement generated by the recent World Cup may provide the momentum MLS believes is necessary to secure a higher‑value deal.
Don Garber, MLS’s long‑standing commissioner, remains confident that the league can prove its worth, but acknowledges that significant on‑field and off‑field achievements are still required before the $400 million to $500 million annual target becomes realistic.