MLS Clubs Finding Local TV Lifeline Around Apple Limitations

In the United States, you’d be forgiven for not really knowing what’s going on in Major League Soccer over the last few years.

The league’s exclusive Apple TV+ deal removes nearly all live games from linear TV, Apple TV+ doesn’t have a large subscriber base relative to other streaming services, and MLS still sits behind a long line of other leagues in terms of importance to U.S. sports fans.

While the Apple deal ($2.5 billion over 10 years) provided MLS with a bigger payday than it may have received from traditional media partners, the additional revenues have come at a cost. Most notably: Appearing to be gated off from local fans that aren’t season ticket holders (who get free access), or can’t/won’t subscribe to MLS Season Pass separately via Apple.

MLS clubs seem to get that dynamic, however, and have recently started to reach out to local TV affiliates as a lifeline — and a way to re-engage with these fans the Apple deal may have unintentionally left behind.

Apple is wise to this as well, as Season Pass was offered as an add-on for DirecTV and Comcast subscribers this year.

But clubs themselves have gotten more creative by working around those subscription hurdles, and delivering delayed game broadcasts on local TV at least 48 hours after the game goes final. MLS squads like Charlotte FC, FC Dallas and LAFC all air delayed matches on local broadcast, as do some of the league’s Canadian clubs. The New York Red Bulls and New York City FC both air delayed matches on regional sports networks. Sounder at Heart’s Jeremiah Oshan said this week that the Seattle Sounders would be making a local announcement soon as well.

The draw for clubs is obvious, in that they expand possible viewers of matches, and thus, the pool of possible fans. And for networks, there’s a draw as well.

Looking at iSpot data, for instance, you can see there’s still significant ad revenues to be had from re-aired sports content. In Q1 2025, advertisers spent well over $60 million on re-air programming alone on NFL Network. Other sports-focused cable networks like ESPN, Golf Channel, NBATV, Fox Sports 1 and more raked in millions as well from advertising during re-aired games.

The audiences for local re-airs may be smaller, but it’s also a more targeted group than you’ll find on a national cable network. And that makes it potentially more valuable for local TV networks, too, with those games (even on delay) becoming intriguing options for brands/businesses with a larger emphasis on local consumers.

Based on the flurry of local TV arrangements that have already sparked up this season, you can assume most teams aren’t too far behind. But how much of an impact will it really have?

I’d argue it’s limited in the short-term, but there’s a long-term payoff on fan engagement and local outreach here that potentially makes MLS a more valuable commodity again when media rights are back on the market in seven years’ time. And really, that time is even sooner, since negotiations will start before the Apple deal runs out.

Being able to showcase interest and audiences from local TV, MVPDs like DirecTV and Comcast, and the numbers they’ll have from a decade of Apple matches is a boost for MLS when it comes to its long-term positioning. And at least means MLS won’t just be negotiating with Apple in a box, where the tech giant is the only one that knows the true ratings, and thus, becomes the only entity that can really bid for the rights.

That doesn’t mean it’s going to be able to make another monumental leap on TV rights. To be honest, there’s a chance the rights fail to climb much at all from where they’re at right now, even across some combination of streaming, cable and local broadcast the next time around.

The main thing is that MLS clubs gets to claw back some distribution control — and arguably get more control than they’ve ever had before, even if just for re-airs. In a league that strives for maximum parity at times, it’s a way to reward clubs that figure out how to maximize both local relevance and local revenues. That’s ultimately a win for everyone involved.