Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber is once again doubling down on the league’s 10-year, $2.5 billion partnership with Apple. In a recent wide-ranging interview with Marchand Sports Media, Garber reflected on MLS’s media evolution and made it clear that the league’s partnership with Apple is part of a much bigger strategy.
The commissioner framed the Apple partnership as a long-term effort to reshape how MLS is built, distributed, and consumed. He emphasized how difficult it still is to grow a domestic league in a global sport.
“When I took this job, it was hard,” Garber said. “And I will say after 27 years, it’s probably as hard today as it was back then.”
Domestically, that challenge is unique to soccer. Unlike other U.S. leagues, MLS is competing directly with global giants like the Premier League for attention. Garber acknowledged that today’s media environment makes that even tougher. Fans now have access to more soccer than ever before, across multiple platforms and leagues.
“There’s more soccer on broadcast media than any other sport by a lot,” he said. “That’s not necessarily good for those who are trying to build value.”
From ESPN to Apple: How MLS Rebuilt Its Media Strategy
Reflecting on his nearly 30-year tenure, Garber highlighted how the media landscape has shifted from the days when MLS had to “buy” its way onto cable TV.
“ESPN legitimized us,” Garber said, noting that the network helped MLS attract stars like David Beckham.
Today, he views the Apple deal as a way to “raise the water level” for the sport by targeting a younger, more diverse, and mobile-first demographic. Instead of fragmented coverage, MLS now delivers every game in one place with consistent production. He made it clear that the goal is about making MLS essential viewing.
“What we needed to do is to raise the water level for the sport,” he said. “And then where we are now, try to deliver a product that is a must-have.”
A key feat of the strategy includes building shared viewing experiences. Garber pointed to the need for fans to watch marquee moments live, not just attend games in person. He referenced the importance of moments like Lionel Messi playing in MLS markets. The league’s goal is to turn those events into national and global viewing experiences on Apple TV.
“The direct-to-consumer, primarily exclusive subscription, which I believe is the future of sport, I don’t know when. I think we were way early on it,” Garber said.
Addressing Fan Discontent and “Sticker Shock”
To help address a growing disconnect between the league’s vision and the average fan’s reality, Apple and MLS have made major changes for the 2026. For the first time, all Apple TV subscribers will have access to every single MLS game without an additional paywall.
Previously, the league’s games were behind the MLS Season Pass but that was folded into the base subscription after last season. A 2025 study by Casino.org revealed that 72% of sports fans found the $99-per-season price tag of MLS Season Pass too expensive. This “sticker shock” contributed to a sharp drop in average viewership, plunging from 343,000 per match during the ESPN era in 2022 to roughly 120,000 on Apple TV.
The disconnect wasn’t just felt by fans, as it was reported some MLS executives had pushed for the league to reconsider its streaming-only focus. They were in favor of returning to traditional cable networks to regain the casual audience that “out of sight, out of mind” streaming can lose.
In late 2025, Sportico reported that the MLS-Apple deal will end in 2029 after the two sides revised their payment structure. Originally, the deal was set to expire in 2032, but under the new terms, 2026 is the last year of the current $200 million payment structure. The top domestic league gets $107.5 million for the 2027 shortened season. For the 2027-28 and 2028-29 seasons, MLS will recieve $275 million each.
The Workarounds: Tape Delay and Linear Experiments
To combat the loss of local visibility, some clubs began taking matters into their own hands. Teams like FC Dallas and Charlotte FC pioneered a “tape-delay” model. By airing full match replays on local linear channels 48 hours after the final whistle, these clubs found workaround to Apple’s exclusivity, bringing soccer back to traditional TV for fans who aren’t ready to jump behind a paywall.
The league’s flagship Sunday Night Soccer has returned to a more traditional format in international markets. Viewers in Australia, Germany, Malta, the Middle East, Israel, southeast Asia, and South Korea can watch the best MLS matches each Sunday on traditional TV. This also helps boost discovery ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
In an interview with the U.S. Soccer Podcast, Garber also tied his league’s future to the upcoming international soccer tournament. He said the 1994 World Cup helped launch the modern U.S. soccer ecosystem. He believes 2026 can do the same thing for the next generation of fans.
“From all the research we’ve done, every time there’s been a World Cup in the modern era domestic leagues have grown by 15 to 20% in overall interest,” he said. “But how do we get somebody who’s engaging with a national team celebration to now be a fan of one of our clubs? And that’s just work. We’ve got to do the work.”
While the 30th MLS season is underway, Garber is stressing that the league remains a work in progress. Apple TV is not the end of the story but the next step toward making MLS more valuable, watchable, and globally relevant in a competivie soccer environment.