MLS Season Pass: Can you sign up for just one team?
MLS Season Pass is a major shift in sports league broadcasting deals. The service gives you live access, in multiple languages, to each and every Major League Soccer game. No blackouts, no geographical restrictions. That’s great. But can you get a version of MLS Season Pass for one team?
The short answer is no.
Maybe you’re a hardcore supporter and only care about your team. Or perhaps you’re a Messi fanatic and only want to watch games involving his Inter Miami side. Either way, you’re getting the entire slate of MLS regular season, Leagues Cup, and playoff games whether you want the other content or not.
A cheaper, single-team plan is unlikely to be something made available in the future. So, for now, you get the whole thing.
Why would the league not offer a one team MLS Season Pass plan?
At $12.99/month for the cheapest plan for Apple TV+ subscribers, MLS Season Pass is a steep price compared to other streaming services that show soccer. Paramount+, ESPN+, and Peacock Premium can all be had cheaper than MLS Season Pass. And they all show more, higher profile, soccer competitions. MLS Season Pass only shows MLS-related competitions.
As we’ve noted in the past, MLS has succeeded in many of its markets at becoming a relevant and important part of the local sports landscape and discussion. However, they’ve struggled in gaining the national relevance like the NFL, NBA, NHL and NBA enjoy.
Including all of MLS within MLS Season Pass, and not offering a single-team option, is a strategy to help on that front.
The most dedicated MLS fans, season ticket holders, get a MLS Season Pass subscription for free. Die-hard club supporters that may not have season tickets are the next biggest likely subscriber base.
But getting these fans to tune in to games not involving their team has proven difficult over the years. But now, if you want to watch your team’s games, you have to get MLS Season Pass. If you have MLS Season Pass, you also have access to every other game in the league. In theory, it’s now easier for fans of any one team to watch games from around the league. Or worst case, at least maybe check out the MLS 360 whip-around show.
Simultaneous 7:30 PM local kickoff times do throw a wrench into this somewhat. But usually with at least a few games immediately before, or following, carry over viewing is possible. With everything in one place, it’s convenient and you know where to find games. That’s opposed to the old way of only select games airing nationally, and not always on the same channel.
If you want MLS Season Pass, here’s how to sign up:
- Go ahead and activate the link for MLS Season Pass
- Sign in or create an account. You do not need to subscribe to Apple TV+.
- Register with payment information.
- Watch Major League Soccer.
Will we ever see à la carte Season Pass?
The MLS deal with Apple TV runs for ten years, and this is year one. So there’s plenty of time to make tweaks and adjustments.
Kickoff times and scheduling returning to a more varied, spread out format might be a move that is considered.
When it comes to a one team MLS Season Pass, when might we see such a slimmed-down offering made available?
That likely depends on how many people subscribe to the current setup. If the number of subscribers and revenue don’t meet expectations, changes to the offerings may be in order.
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They could simply lower the price for the current all-in plan. But it would definitely make more sense to offer single-team plans in addition to the existing full package. On a similar note, specific mini plans that just include Leagues Cup or the MLS Cup Playoffs wouldn’t be terrible ideas, either.
With lower entry points, catering to different types of fans, they can broaden the appeal, and likely bring in more money overall.