I just signed up for the Apple Season Pass. They have some "best of" videos from the 2022 season: skill moves, free kick goals, saves, etc. I've only watched a few, but so far there is one team that is noticeably absent from the highlights...
yesterday's email from the team re: Appletv ACCESS GRANTED! Coming February 1, MLS Season Pass will be the ONLY place to watch every D.C. United regular season, playoff, and Leagues Cup match this season* A complimentary subscription to MLS Season Pass is included with your 2023 Full Season Ticket Membership account**. We will be sending you a unique link and redemption instructions, on behalf of MLS and Apple, via email on February 1. Please note: you must be up-to-date on your current payment plan in order to receive redemption instructions. MLS Season Pass is available on Apple TV app on your Apple devices ( available on iOS 16.2 or later, iPadOS 16.2 or later, Apple TV 4K or Apple TV HD with tvOS 16.2 or later, macOS Ventura 13.1 or later), eligible smart TVs and streaming devices, or at tv.apple.com Click below for more information and view FAQs about MLS Season Pass on MLSSoccer.com. MLS SEASON PASS FAQs D.C. United Club Room – Be prepared to get closer to the club than ever before with the D.C. United Club Room that will be introduced within the new MLS Season Pass. Hear from players and coaches, witness what it’s like to be inside a training session, relive historic club moments, and more. Additional information to follow on the D.C. United Club Room will follow shortly.
How does Apple work with multiple devices? I haven't had problems with Amazon, Paramount, ESPN running at some point on any one of 3 TVs, 3 phones, an iPad and a Macbook. FYI, Apple TV+ is $6.99/mo, not the $12.99 that MLS pimped us out at to Apple, if you just got their regular website.
That's because Apple TV+ is a different subscription from the MLS package. Apple TV+ is $6.99 a month. MLS is an extra $12.99 a month on top of it if you're an Apple TV+ subscriber, or $14.99 if you're not (or $79/$99 for the season).
FAQs on MLS Season Pass: MLS Season Pass FAQ (mlssoccer.com) One pass per ticket account (number of seats on the account does not matter). The pass may be shared up to 5 devices through Family Sharing. If you do not have an Apple device then the package is accessed through a webpage and requires obtaining an Apple ID.
How is this even possible? Most highlights from the league I've seen in the last two seasons feature DC United as the one being beaten, flummoxed, or otherwise exposed to create said highlight for the other team...
To me some of the best features of "broadcast" matches are the ability to record matches to watch at my convenience and rewind/replay any questionable offside/goal/foul as many times as I want, even freeze frame at will, and then pick up the match from that point. I just can't imagine the ability to custom-watch with streaming. Am I wrong?
Did you mean to type "I just can't imagine the ability to NOT custom-watch with streaming"? I ask because to me that that is certainly required – pause, rewind, and fast forward (for action that has already occurred, obviously), and to begin on one device in once location and pick it up from that spot on a different device and/or in a different location. I was really disappointed when I tried Paramount+ for EPL games and I could not do those things (I believe they have now added it). I use YouTube TV as a cable replacement and one of the primary values I get from it is the ability to do just this with sports (and if I start late but while the game is still going I love the option to use their "catch-up-through-key-plays feature). I have read that MLS on Apple TV+ will have it, too (pause, rewind, fast forward; haven't anything about "key plays"). Anything less from a tech company of that stature in 2023 would be pretty shocking. I will definitely be checking out this offering. The reality is that (possibly to my detriment) I still follow DCU more closely than any other sports team, and I'm actually looking forward to being able to check out other MLS games on a whim, not just what might be on offer in some random nationally televised game. Like others, though, I am concerned about MLS attracting new fans. I know they are saying that 40% of the total number of games will be in front of the paywall, and that's great, but that still requires people to download the app and set up an account. I really hope they have some games on linear TV, too (I think that is the plan but I've heard no details on it).
Concur about YouTubeTV -- the best general streaming service out there. Good quality video, no buffering and the features you mentioned. Just activated my MLS package and watched the 15 minute or so video about the 2004 EC final at RFK. If Apple does this consistently, it will be light years ahead of anything done before on ESPN or Fox for MLS.
Interesting. My experience with YouTubeTV during the World Cup was flippin’ awful. Constant buffering issues, couldn’t get 4k to run at all, and barely managed to get it to settle down in 1080. I won’t ever go back. In fact, I really don’t miss it. I only had it for the sports coverage plus one or two channels that had maybe one show I liked. I get Caps games through espn+, and I already have AppleTV. So if I do want to watch the occasional United game, I can. No way I’m paying extra for this team — I’m not that much of a glutton for punishment.
After reading you post, I do remember a few issues during the WC. However, I have had no issues with anything else, so I chalked up those problems to either Fox or the international feed Fox was using coming from Qatar. I learned from painful experience that if you "like" bufffering and fuzzy video, you really should subscribe to Fubo TV -- great lineup of sports but just awful technical execution.
Streaming over the Fox website was pretty good. I only had one or two times when it wasn't perfect. It took maybe 30 seconds to get up to full resolution and it was only a couple of seconds behind the action. I'd typically get the ESPN app telling me the game was over and the final whistle on the feed was rarely more than 3-4 seconds behind. That obviously didn't give me some features like pause, but hey it was free.
I'm coming in from the cold to prep for another season of the self flagellation know as following DC United. Any tech advice on the following issue? Over the years the three people I go to games with have left the DC area, and I'm now down to one season ticket. I have a single season ticket pass, and 4-5 times a year I bundle up 4 tickets and we all go. I'd like to share my TV access with the other three. I have an android phone, and one of the other three has an iphone. Online I've gotten instructions for how an apple device user can initiate family sharing with android users. I'd like to make the base user our iphone person so he can then initiate family sharing with the rest of us. So I haven't yet accepted the package. Should I first change my DC United email address to that of the iphone user before accepting the package? Other ideas?
Interesting, for sure. I've been been a YouTubeTV customer for four years and with the exception of a rare glitch here or there the service and picture have been excellent. And when I have had issues almost every time I've been able to conclude that the problem was on my end or with my internet service provider. Restarting my Roku TV (in Settings) generally makes things fine. If that didn't work restarting the wifi router almost always did.
And Fubo keeps cutting channels and raising prices. I ditched them for YTTV after the WC. I like the way YTTV integrates with the GoogleTV platform. I think I've become convinced by the argument that MLS has essentially given up trying to attract casuals - at least for now. After 25+ years the ratings are still near zero. So cash in on the few non-STH fans that exist and collect Apple's money. And I suppose they're banking on the idea that Gen Z is so used to streaming at this point. Plus it's not like they really had much choice since ESPN wasn't bidding and I'd guess that the club's don't make much from the local broadcasts. If anything some were probably still paying for airtime. The way soccer viewing is getting more fractured is interesting. Now that the national teams have moved to HBO or whatever it's one more final straw. Thank goodness there are still only a couple of Spanish language outlets to watch the matches there. I guess it's nice that we have the option to watch all of these leagues if we want to. I barely have time to keep up with a couple of them. So we just have to prioritize.
I agree about the previous attempts to "attract" the "casual fan." I think Apple (or for that matter any quality service) will work because the one immediate effect of the Apple deal is that games (and telecasts) follow a regular schedule throughout the season. That is what made the NFL back in the day, games were 1:00 PM and 4:00 PM Eastern on Sunday - easy to remember and easy to plan for. (Of course now that the NFL has made it, you can find an NFL game on everyday but Tuesday and Wednesday.) Also, unlike the early NFL, the MLS games will be available to watch later for those who miss the match live. In that business eyeballs are eyeballs no matter when they watch so long as they are paying.
This is the bane of my existence right now. So close to cutting the cord and we prolly will in another year or two as our youngest grows out of some IPs and as more of my wife's trash TV gets more timely with its streaming option. Some of her shit lags by a couple of days still. Its insane what I have to pay for today to get what used to be free with a top end FIOS plan a couple of years ago which has only gone up in price. You need Peacock's EPL subscription, ESPN+, AppleTV, Paramount+, HBO+, and fortunately, BeIn is still included and covers PSG really well. And its not like the price of those cable packages have stayed static or replaced the content that has moved to paywall networks with comparable quality programming. At some point ESPN, FS1, NBCSN, etc will be relegated to covering Red Bull cliff diving and corn hole tournaments. I wonder if Apple will take a distinctly different approach in who and how they market MLS and combine that with a secondary approach that more mirrors the traditional marketing of MLS. Think about the data has on its users. They know all your demographic information in a first party way. That's rich data compared to what most advertisers have, which relies on device matching and known individual site user accounts to group people into their advertising segments. They can pretty specific in how they market this service within their user base.