Major League Soccer banking on new Apple deal to boost popularity

NEW YORK: Major League Soccer is hoping its ground-breaking new global streaming deal with Apple TV will launch a new era of growth when their season gets under way on Saturday.

Under a new 10-year deal, worth a reported $2.5 billion, MLS becomes the first league to offer all their games available to stream, via Apple TV, domestically and internationally.

Previously MLS clubs broadcast their games via regional and local television networks with select games shown nationally on various cable sports channels.

The league often seemed low on the list of priorities of those channels, well below NFL, NBA and college football, but is hoping that by becoming a major investment for Apple, their profile will be transformed.

“We’re going to be putting (games) on a device for any fan anywhere in the world, anytime, anywhere without any blackouts. It’s unprecedented,” MLS Commissioner Don Garber told reporters on Wednesday at the league’s new purpose built studios in Harlem.

“No other league really can offer that type of opportunity for consumer and fan engagement. So I couldn’t be more excited,” he said.

MLS games were shown outside of North America on a variety of channels but now all will be available on Apple TV, phones, tablets and browsers with no geographic restrictions on the content.

The league which began in 1996 with 10 teams and mostly American players, now has 29 clubs in the US and Canada with players drawn from over 80 nations and Garber hopes the Apple deal will also draw in fans from some of those markets.

“I can’t tell you what it’s like to have our clubs talk to a player from Argentina or from Brazil or from, you know, Croatia or from England and know that you’ll be able to deliver a game directly to one