MLS and Apple Broadcasting Deal

[FredMertz]

I really like what Amazon Prime is doing with their national baseball games -- 3-person booth with a single play-by-play man doing every game and 1 color guy from each of the teams playing.

I don't normally love 3-person booths, but this was great.

 

[CCMore]

I really like what Amazon Prime is doing with their national baseball games -- 3-person booth with a single play-by-play man doing every game and 1 color guy from each of the teams playing.

I don't normally love 3-person booths, but this was great.

Can someone please send this idea to garner stat?

 

[Shawn Ryu]

Your worry is attracting casual fans. Like I said in my other post, there will still be simulcast games. Only difference is local free broadcasts are gone.

Surely apple will promote MLS heavily as well. A 10 year commitment is no joke. They will want more subscribers too. And last I checked... There's a lot of apple users.

Also this deal will allow for global viewers which will be huge.

Where are they going to promote it that has access to people that like sports? You think ESPN or Fox or NBC is going to help them?

 

[moogoo]

Where are they going to promote it that has access to people that like sports? You think ESPN or Fox or NBC is going to help them?

everywhere they currently promote apple TV... which is a lot of places? I wouldn't be surprised to see a giant billboard in times square next year either.

they would promote it just like they promote their exclusive shows. apple being able to promote things is not a problem. it's what they are good at.

 

[413Blue]

I've never seen a commercial for Ted Lasso before.

 

[moogoo]

I've never seen a commercial for Ted Lasso before.

i've seen them while watching whatever on youtubeTV. same with other shows. in any case, even without seeing a commercial, you are well aware of it. that's all that matters.

 

[413Blue]

i've seen them while watching whatever on youtubeTV. same with other shows. in any case, even without seeing a commercial, you are well aware of it. that's all that matters.

Exactly my point. You don't need traditional commercials between innings to promote things these days.

 

[Fantazma]

everywhere they currently promote apple TV... which is a lot of places? I wouldn't be surprised to see a giant billboard in times square next year either.

they would promote it just like they promote their exclusive shows. apple being able to promote things is not a problem. it's what they are good at.

i turn on my Amazon Fire TV and right away in the home screen i get the whole "sign up for Apple TV". im sure MLS will have ads similar to that. The marketing is not the concern, is more if its enough to get people to buy in.

 

[ZYanksRule]

i turn on my Amazon Fire TV and right away in the home screen i get the whole "sign up for Apple TV". im sure MLS will have ads similar to that. The marketing is not the concern, is more if its enough to get people to buy in.

People will know about this -- the question is whether people will be willing to spend money to watch MLS games.

 

[Fantazma]

People will know about this -- the question is whether people will be willing to spend money to watch MLS games.

yea, like others mentioned, its a Niche product, as much as people dont want to hear that. but we will see, being in ESPN/ FS1/Univision did not help increase its popularity either.

 

[ZYanksRule]

yea, like others mentioned, its a Niche product, as much as people dont want to hear that. but we will see, being in ESPN/ FS1/Univision did not help increase its popularity either.

People didn't watch when it was free. Now people are going to pay for it? Color me skeptical.

 

[Fantazma]

People didn't watch when it was free. Now people are going to pay for it? Color me skeptical.

eh you still have to be subscribed to certain cable packages ( I don't have YES, and was not going to go another tier to get it), "cord cutters" were not really watching as much. the MLS thought it can get a better deal, it didnt, got desperate and Apple wanted to get more into the live sports area so they made a deal.

 

[Sabo]

The more I think about this deal the more I think its structured so that a large chunk of the $250M/year has to be spent on production/content/promotion and that the quality of what we see when we watch MLS is going to be way better than ever before. A true quality production every time will help build fan base -- particularly post WC when new fans are looking for soccer,

 

[g3pwood]

Very informative breakdown of the deal.

 

[Shawn Ryu]

everywhere they currently promote apple TV... which is a lot of places? I wouldn't be surprised to see a giant billboard in times square next year either.

they would promote it just like they promote their exclusive shows. apple being able to promote things is not a problem. it's what they are good at.

And people still won't subscribe to watch MLS because they can't see the actual product.

 

[Alex Da Silva]

I know everyone is focused on the 2026 world cup, but isn't the 2022 world cup going to be the perfect launch for this service, right off the hype of the cup to see many of the usmnt plus other internationals in mls, I think that is a point that is being overlooked. Soccer grows in the us in world cup even if it isn't at home. If apple puts out good preseason content it could draw a lot of people in!

 

[SoupInNYC]

I know everyone is focused on the 2026 world cup, but isn't the 2022 world cup going to be the perfect launch for this service, right off the hype of the cup to see many of the usmnt plus other internationals in mls, I think that is a point that is being overlooked. Soccer grows in the us in world cup even if it isn't at home. If apple puts out good preseason content it could draw a lot of people in!

The calendar with the World Cup being in November actually works in that favor as well

 

[mgarbowski]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1538532323427221504

I did not know baseball was also splitting games off to Peacock. So if you're a baseball fan and want to be able to see every game for your local team, I think you need (1) a cable or satellite subscription with high monthly cost for access to your RSN and ESPN and maybe the MLB network (does that carry games?), (2) a sub to AppleTV+, (3) a sub to Amazon Prime, and (4) a sub to Peacock.

No matter how much they charge for MLS on Apple, it's a better situation than that craziness.

 

[sbrylski]

I gave it some time for thought, and I still don't understand the detractors from this deal.

1. Cable and network TV is *not* free. Both cable and streaming services are paywalled. The price to watch is not up from zero, just slightly different depending on each individual viewer.
2. Streaming platforms *are* national TV. They are local TV. In this case, also global TV. Access to games is up, not down. Just slightly different depending on each individual viewer.
3. There are dozens of avenues to visibility other than "free" "national" TV. The visibility of the league will just be delivered slightly differently.

These are all standard, reactionary, "change is bad" arguments. This media deal is fantastic *so long as* they execute on the opportunity. Shitty production values, underinvestment in marketing, failure to leverage new visibility streams, and/or churning too many ideas on short leashes could all easily squander the opportunity.

 

[mgarbowski]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1548075861269553152

Ian would never say anything else, though.