The MLS Season Pass era is ending sooner than expected.
Beginning with the 2026 season, Apple and Major League Soccer will fold all MLS content into the standard Apple TV subscription, eliminating the need for a separate Season Pass and bringing every league match out from behind an extra paywall. It’s a major pivot in the 10-year, $2.5 billion partnership that began in 2023—and it could reshape how fans discover the league.
From add-on to built-in
Since 2023, MLS has lived inside Apple’s ecosystem as a standalone product called MLS Season Pass. Fans either paid $14.99 a month or $99 for the season (with discounts for Apple TV subscribers and free access for MLS season-ticket holders) to unlock every match. That was on top of the monthly Apple TV subscription fee.
In 2026, that model goes away. Apple is retiring MLS Season Pass as a separate subscription after the 2025 season and rolling all MLS programming—regular-season games, Audi MLS Cup Playoffs, Leagues Cup, the Campeones Cup and the MLS All-Star Game—into the core Apple TV service at no extra cost to subscribers.
Practically speaking, if you pay for Apple TV starting in 2026, you get everything MLS offers. Existing Apple TV subscribers won’t have to do anything beyond opening the app on game night.
What exactly is included?
The 2026 shift is comprehensive. According to Apple, MLS and league communications:
- Every regular-season match, home and away.
- All Audi MLS Cup Playoff games.
- The Leagues Cup, co-run with Liga MX.
- The Campeones Cup between MLS and Liga MX champions.
- The MLS All-Star Game and related festivities.
In addition to live matches, Apple TV will continue to host shoulder programming—pregame and postgame shows, studio coverage, highlights, original features and on-demand replays. Apple and MLS have also leaned into behind-the-scenes documentary content, and that library is expected to keep growing as they try to build club personalities and storylines year-round.
As part of the transition, full-season ticket packages with MLS clubs in 2026 will include an Apple TV subscription, effectively turning the service into the league’s universal digital season ticket—no separate redemption for Season Pass required.
Why Apple and MLS are making this move
On the MLS side, the logic is pretty clear: reach more eyeballs.
While the Apple deal has been praised for its production value, simplicity and global access, the additional subscription layer created friction. Many casual fans—and even some dedicated ones—balked at paying for Apple TV, then paying again for MLS Season Pass. With average league attendance down about 5.4% in 2025 (from 23,234 in 2024 to 21,988 in 2025, roughly 240,000 fewer fans over the season), there’s internal pressure to grow the TV audience and re-energize interest.
Moving MLS into the core Apple TV subscription turns every Apple TV customer into a potential MLS viewer. Fans who originally came for prestige dramas, comedies or MLB’s Friday Night Baseball doubleheaders will now have league matches sitting one tile away. With Formula 1 also arriving on Apple’s platform in 2026, Apple is clearly betting big on becoming a go-to destination for premium sports content, not just original series.
For Apple, the play is about making its subscription more valuable and sticky. Sports—especially a full, global-rights package like MLS—are a strong reason not to churn out of a service. Eliminating Season Pass as an upcharge simplifies the message: “Pay for Apple TV; get everything we’ve got.”
What this means for fans’ wallets
For fans already paying for both Apple TV and MLS Season Pass, the math is straightforward: in 2026 you get the same (or more) soccer for less money.
Instead of paying Apple TV plus Season Pass, you’ll only pay the Apple TV subscription fee, and you’ll retain access to all matches. For 2025 and earlier seasons, those combined costs meant some fans were laying out over $25 a month during the season to watch MLS. That double charge disappears.
Season-ticket holders may see the least change—they already had Season Pass included in their packages—but they’ll now receive a full Apple TV subscription instead, which extends value beyond MLS to the rest of Apple’s catalog.
There are still trade-offs, of course:
- The product remains streaming-only. Fans without solid internet or who prefer traditional cable won’t see MLS magically reappear on regional sports networks.
- Local linear windows aren’t returning, which may continue to frustrate some legacy viewers.
But overall, the barrier to entry for someone who already subscribes to Apple TV—or is on the fence about it—gets a lot lower.
The bigger picture: timing the TV shift with the calendar revolution
This move doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It lands just one year before MLS flips its calendar in 2027 to align with the global game. The combination is powerful:
- In 2026, you bring every match out from behind an extra paywall and let the audience grow.
- In 2027, you debut a new, globally aligned schedule and competitive format, hoping that a larger, more engaged base is watching as the league’s structure changes.
If MLS can pair a more accessible broadcast model with a calendar that makes it easier to sign, sell and showcase talent, the league’s visibility and credibility could get a meaningful bump—especially with the afterglow of the 2026 World Cup still hanging over North America.
For now, the immediate win for fans is simple: starting in 2026, if you pay for Apple TV, you no longer have to make a second decision about whether MLS is “worth it.” It just… comes with the package.
And that’s exactly what the league is betting on—that when you remove the extra step, a lot more people will decide MLS is worth their time.
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