Nearly US$2.5 billion over 10 years. An international influence. Broadcast quality worthy of the big screen on a platform accessible from anywhere. The Major League Soccer (MLS) season that begins Saturday night is historic for more than one reason. Above all, it propels the league to the forefront of North American professional sports.
No other North American professional league has so far relied so heavily on digital to ensure its influence. The agreement concluded by the MLS with the technological giant Apple makes all its matches accessible live, deferred and in catch-up, without geographical restriction, on the Apple TV+ platform. In English, Spanish and French (for Canadian teams). The cost in Canada: $20 per month or $129 for the season. Apple TV+ subscribers pay a little less: $17 or $99.
Games will be presented for free during the season. A wealth of content has been created about each team and their current and past star players. You can take a guided video tour of each of the stadiums. There are archives and historical matches.
The deal costs Apple the equivalent of 11 hours of iPhone sales each year. Peanuts. And yet, we feel that Apple takes it seriously. Its logo is embedded in the image at all times and embroidered on the shirts. Cupertino is actively involved in the league’s promotional events, to which it willingly “lends” certain actors from its football-flavored series Ted Lasso.
Lucrative international showcase
In Los Angeles, Saturday night was to be historic. The first game of the season was to pit LA FC, the 2022 champions, against their closest rival, the prestigious LA Galaxy. This duel, dubbed ” traffic is a classic. It was to break the record for the largest number of spectators, with some 90,000 tickets sold.
The thunderstorm and torrential rain, by California standards, forced the cancellation oftraffic.
The league is obviously hoping that its ratings on Apple TV will bring it better news. Nothing is less sure. Major league baseball and National Football League (NFL) football — both leagues have somewhat more limited deals than MLS with digital broadcasters, which include Amazon and Apple — have seen their TV ratings decline. order of 20 to 25% in digital.
“In any case, the eyes of all the other leagues are on MLS,” said uOttawa professor and media strategy expert Luc Dupont. The risk is that it only interests the fans current in the league. Others think that the Apple machine will help increase the audience, especially the Spanish-speaking market in the United States and the international French-speaking market, in Africa and Europe. »
“It will either be a total revolution in sports broadcasting or a complete failure. »
It is certainly ambitious. With its broadcast in three languages, MLS dreams of Latin America, Africa and Europe. Its most prominent teams – which live in Los Angeles, Miami and New York – will want to seduce and attract international football stars. Teams with more modest ambitions — like the one in Montreal — get a hell of a showcase to showcase local talent to the world and sell it to the highest bidder.
Towards a superleague?
Apple’s US$250 million a year allows MLS to dislodge the National Hockey League (NHL) from the four richest North American leagues. According to the Sportico website, the NFL currently garners US$1.9 billion annually in sponsorships. The National Basketball Association (NBA) pockets US$1.6 billion. Major League Baseball, US$1.2 billion. The NHL raised US$753 million last year. MLS was at US$677 million.
With this 10-year broadcasting contract and the FIFA World Cup which will be on its continent in 2026, MLS can ensure its sustainability, believes the specialist in production strategies and professor at the UQAM Media School. Suzanne Lottie.
“This agreement enhances the league’s image. It’s going to help improve the quality of the game. All the teams benefit from it, I’m sure, even those who have a role as a breeding ground for talent, like CF Montreal. It’s a “perfect storm” for it to work. A good storm, a clearing. »
Don’t confuse MLS with the Bundesliga! But for a sport that has still not been able to establish itself professionally in North America, the step that is being taken today is unprecedented.
Web Zone Exit
Digital broadcast soccer is not new. In fact, Apple contributes to the explosion of platforms that offer it. Specialized services FuboTV and DAZN are snapping up European soccer. Amazon broadcasts French soccer. In the United States, ESPN, Hulu, Peacock and others offer it.
Each subscription costs between $10 and $25 per month. It is a buffet that is starting to be expensive for the average amateur. The bill rises even more if we widen the base to other televised sports, such as tennis and car racing.
Three years ago, it was thought that sport and major live events were a preserve that would ensure the survival of local TV channels. This is no longer the case. What traditional broadcasters now hope for is that the digital bubble will eventually burst and that good old TV will at least partially regain its place.
“Just because you buy the rights doesn’t mean you’re going to be successful,” specifies the CEO of Quebecor, Pierre Karl Péladeau. Quebecor owns the TVA Group and the TVA Sports channel, which lost the broadcast of CF Montreal games to Apple and Bell Media. The rivalry with Bell Media is already well known. The digital giants are the second jaw of the vice that is closing these days on the Montreal sports broadcaster.
“Digital broadcasters have a lot of money, but they’re also losing a lot of money, and they can’t continue to lose hundreds of millions of dollars each year,” Mr. Péladeau hopefully argues. TVA Sports has been loss-making since its creation. It will still be even if Bell and Quebecor settle the dispute between them on the royalties of the specialty channels, he says. But it will be much less.
If the American digital giants were to win the bet to consolidate live sports – the NBA is said to be interested in Apple TV – local broadcasters like TVA Sports could be out of the game for good.