No, you're totally right. I just more generally feel the antiquated sports media deal situation has been absurd for a long time.
MLS and Apple Broadcasting Deal
- Thread starter Fantazma
- Start date
I’d be surprised if they didn’t keep most of the local broadcast teams together. It’s just now it’ll be MLS/Apple producing it, and not YES
Whoops I misread this. I thought it was included with Apple TV+
This was my first thought. My follow-on thoughts are:
- If they offer every current broadcaster a half menu of only home games for half-salary, they will lose a lot of talent.
- Maybe they don't care.
- Or maybe they just never pay for travel and have 2 announcing teams for every game so fans can always have a local soundtrack, because with just the salary for the announcers and a handful of studio techs, it doesn't cost that much more and a lot of announcers haven't been traveling anyway.
- On the other hand, cheap is cheap.
Having every game on a pay TV service is literally the exact opposite of being on free TV.
if you are a STH, then it is totally free as it is included in your STH price. at least for 2023, the price of a season ticket membership most likely didn't account for this deal. but 2024, it probably will.
Yea. I think $60/year is probably where it will land. It's not just the games you are paying for, but all the extra content that MLS has traditionally thrown on youtube and their website. Personally, I think the perfect price would be $50/year. But we'll see what happens. While I like this deal, it sucks I'll have to pay for yet another subscription since I used to watch every game on ESPN+.
Sam Stejskal in The Athletic:
"The sources said that there is a chance that the league will only staff one set of commentators for Apple TV+ matches, which would be a departure from each club having their own commentary team for all locally-televised matches in the current deal."
theathletic.com
Even if the sources are right, they are hedging. We'll have to wait and see.
"The sources said that there is a chance that the league will only staff one set of commentators for Apple TV+ matches, which would be a departure from each club having their own commentary team for all locally-televised matches in the current deal."
MLS, Apple strike 10-year TV deal worth 2.5 billion
Major League Soccer has agreed to a new broadcast agreement with Apple that multiple industry sources pegged at 10 years, $2.5 billion. The sources were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the financial terms of the deal. Apple TV will broadcast every single MLS and...
theathletic.com
Even if the sources are right, they are hedging. We'll have to wait and see.
Twitterverse suggesting there will be a rotating stable of announcers like the NFL has.
People here don’t have Apple TV+? It’s fantastic value and great content.
I'm already on it myself, and I only have ESPN+ for the MLS games. So, it's a wash for me even if they want to ping me an extra $5/mo. for the full MLS package. Plus no more blackouts. Happy happy.
...As long as apple Tv's replay is going to be as good as espn. ESPN has a very good replay ability that other platforms I've used don't have. For example fubo has a recording feature and you ahve a limit on recordings.
I can’t imagine this affects our broadcasting team. Someone has to do it. They likely bring them in on similar deals
Good point. I just checked and the full replays of all the MLB Friday Night games so far are on the AppleTV+ site, so it's a good guess they'll do the same thing for MLS. By all accounts they're all-in. Very cool.
Looks like this will be the last season that Ian Joy calls an NYCFC match.
With the universalization of the league by MLS/Apple, you lose the local charms.
With the universalization of the league by MLS/Apple, you lose the local charms.
It will be interesting to see what they do in 2024, I know the Giants give STH access to NFL Game Pass and the Red Zone (mobile only). They didn't increase the prices, but that might have been due to the team being bad, they had to eat the price. The Giants use to blackout the RedZone streaming at Metlife stadium. I can't recall if I check the last two season if they removed that practice, but it would be interesting if MLS black out the Apple TV games you are at a match.
It might be his last season, but that's not what he says here. I think it's an open issue. This Tweet is an advance goodbye to YES from Ian.
I feel the same. They have to bring on teams to call the games and it makes most sense to have current personalities remain on the job. If you’re Apple and making a large investment you’re not going to just hire some guys off the street for every club.
A big observation, at least for me.
Reports indicate that most games will be placed on Wednesday nights and Saturday nights, with the exceptions being games broadcast on conventional channels and where there are stadium conflicts.
This is bad news for people who like to go to games with their kids. It is going to substantially decrease the number of games I can attend. It will also reduce the degree to which young ones grow up identifying with their local club, since they now won't be able to go to many games. I've been taking my kids to NYCFC games from the beginning, and it has been a great experience for us with lots of good memories. It's something the league should be trying to emphasize, not ignore.
Reports indicate that most games will be placed on Wednesday nights and Saturday nights, with the exceptions being games broadcast on conventional channels and where there are stadium conflicts.
This is bad news for people who like to go to games with their kids. It is going to substantially decrease the number of games I can attend. It will also reduce the degree to which young ones grow up identifying with their local club, since they now won't be able to go to many games. I've been taking my kids to NYCFC games from the beginning, and it has been a great experience for us with lots of good memories. It's something the league should be trying to emphasize, not ignore.
I saw the reports about Wednesday and Saturday, but I have not seen any indication they are completely getting rid of weekend afternoon games. They already reduced afternoon games a few years ago during the hottest months. I'm not sure why they would limit them further. If they do I agree it is a mistake. Besides what you said, there are only so many hours in a Saturday night to squeeze in 14 games without a lot of overlap that would limit the benefit of the package. You can't really do something like the NFL Red Zone channel with soccer, either. It's too fluid. Also, who wans t go to a night game in March in cold climates?
