Apple’s MLS Season Pass: New season kicks at 2pm today - a template for global sports streaming

Lionel Messi (pictured) will line up with Sergio Busquets, Luis Suárez and Jordi Alba for Inter Miami.

Major League Soccer kicks off its 2024 season today as Inter Miami (co-owner: David Beckham) takes on Real Salt Lake at 2pm today NZT on Apple’s MLS Season Pass (see access details below).

The competition is notable to football fans because this year’s competition has a boost in star power this season, thanks in part to MLS’s 10-year streaming deal with Apple, inked last year for a reported US$2.5b ($4b) minimum.

Lionel Messi will play his first full season at Inter, where he’ll take the field with new signing Luis Suárez, plus Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, who came onboard mid-way through last season. It could be called Barcelona Re-United. All are toward the senior end of their careers, of course, but Messi still provided plenty of thrills in the second half of 2023.

Other high-profile signings include former Tottenham Hotspur and France captain Hugo Lloris at LA Galaxy.

A number of Kiwis are sprinkled through the MLS, too, incluidng Bill Tuiloma for Charlotte FC, Tyler Boyd (Nashville SC) and Michael Boxall (Minnesota United).

Apple MLS Season Pass lets you watch four games at once, at high resolution.

There are also new features that make it easier to follow your favourite club (or clubs’) games, plus thousands of pieces of extra content, and more options for stats-monkeys. And the simple interface and advanced features continue to set the pace - including a split screen review at HD or 4K (multiview if often delivered with degraded video on other apps). One of the service’s most popular shows also returns: a live whip-around providing live look-ins from every match alongside expert analysis and discussion.

But the most interesting thing about Apple’s MLS Season Pass remains the rights setup. It’s a global app that you can watch practically anywhere that people follow football. It’s a template for other competitions looking to go global, or seeking the power of a single platform (there have been rumours of talks between Apple and England’s Premier League, but no official word from either party at a time when many territories are early or mid-contract).

Former Wellington Phoenix and All White Michael Boxall (centre, during an October 2023 MLS clash with Sporting Kansas City) is now turning out for Minnesota United. Photo / Getty Images

Combined with Google and Amazon’s multi-billion deals to stream a limited number of NFL games, and Netflix’s recent move into live sport - or, at least “sports entertainment” - with its US$5b WWE deal (that one distinctly non-global, with NZ among blacked-out countries), it also marks renewed interest from the streamers in live events, with all that implies for more traditional broadcasters when compete for future rights deals.

MLS Season Pass is on the Apple TV app for $27.99 per month or $179 per season.

If you subscribe to Apple TV+ (worth a look for the spectacular Masters of the Air), you can sign up for $24.99 per month or $149 per season.

Through Family Sharing, up to six family members can share the subscription using their own Apple ID and password.

MLS Season Pass can be accessed via Apple TV, or any smart device or smart TV that supports Apple TV app or via the website tv.apple.com/nz.

Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald’s business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.