ESPN Won’t Be Part Of Major League Soccer’s Newest TV Deal

Major League Soccer is no longer broadcasted by Disney.

The sports network won't be part of the league's new TV deal after MLS agreed to multiple four-year deals with media companies. The agreements will last through the year 26.

The terms of the agreements were not made public.

Fox will broadcast 34 regular season games this year. The MLS Cup and Leagues Cup tournament will be shown by Fox, as well as receiving "extensive highlight rights" to increase its brand exposure. MLS commissioner Don Garber said in a statement that the linear agreements with Apple increase MLS programming by a significant margin.

Apple has a ten-year streaming agreement that is worth $250 million a year. Costs associated with the production of the games will be taken care of by MLS. The MLS could make less than $250 million if expenses are taken into account. The league is betting that it will make money from a subscription package. Soccer fans will be able to pay more for MLS content if they have an Apple TV+ subscription.

The contract to show MLS games is set to expire. MLS received a combined $75 million a year in payments from Fox and Disney. The U.S. Soccer Federation received $25 million for national team TV rights.

According to Forbes, MLS was offered a four-year deal by Fox Sports that was worth about 40 million dollars.

According to people with knowledge of the matter, MLS didn't give networks enough premium soccer games in popular markets like Los Angeles, Portland and Seattle. The MLS linear rights were less valuable because the league no longer offered exclusive rights.

The MLS regular season games averaged 343,000 viewers, according to the report. That was up from the previous year. MLS games were watched by 233,000 people in 2020. Fox Sports didn't reply to a request for ratings for the World Cup.

The National Football League's NFL+ service and the National Basketball Association's newly revised package will face stiff competition from MLS.