As We Approach the MLS Season, what can we expect from the Apple TV deal?

MLS moving to AppleTV feels oddly poetic for me. Between two seasons working as a stand in on the Emmy nominated series Severance as well as a fair amount of work on the upcoming series Hello Tomorrow (I plan to write on my experiences in the near future) my family’s SAG health insurance has basically come from AppleTV. Writing for NYCFC for going on a third season it seems weirdly right that the two would combine for me. For those outside the New York area who may not know this NYCFC has been a club that has never received the appreciation it deserved for being a 2021 champion. Routinely in the shadow of minority owners the New York Yankees, the Boys in Blue would often have to work around the Yankees, playing their games in the Bronx, Queens at Citi Field or even out of state, either Harrison NJ (where their arch-rivals the Red Bulls play) or Connecticut last season. It’s a shame.

But it’s in viewing the games on TV or streaming services that I want to focus on. Up until this Apple TV deal games were viewed on the Yes Network or, if scheduled at the same time as the Yankees, games were broadcast on the brutally poor YES App, which, between streaming lag to literal blackouts inside NYC infuriated fans who were unable to watch their team and was ripe for mockery across the rest of the league, almost as much as having a championship bath towel displayed at Yankee Stadium.

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With the MLS/Apple deal for the next decade this removes that issue, but at a cost both figurative and literal. Costing fans upwards of $99/year if paid annually hasn’t sat well with some, not to mention the loss of fan favorites Joe Tolleson and Ian Joy in favor or generic broadcasters instead of home favs. Being able to watch matches throughout the country is a nice win, plus Apple has the means to launch MLS in popularity to what I’ve always believed it could be (right or wrong I always believed by 2030 soccer will be a bigger sport in the U.S. than Baseball). Overall I think this is a good deal for both the league, but more so for NYCFC than much of the rest of the league. With the new stadium coming in 2027 in Queens and a chance for the fans to actually WATCH their team this is a chance for the club in one of the biggest sports cities in the world to finally garner some attention. We’ll see if I’m right, but considering how it’s been for the Boys in Blue, anything can be viewed as an improvement. Time will tell.