News 6/14/22

So starting next year I have to subscribe to another streaming service?
https://www.mlssoccer.com/apple/

 

I had heard a week or so ago Apple dropped out but I honestly didn’t even know they were in the running. I have no insight into this stuff.

 

For some reason I get the Minnesota press releases. To sum it up, MLS will have a subscription streaming service through the Apple TV App that will show all MLS games. You will have to pay for this subscription service unless you are a STH for an MLS franchise. They will show a select number of games for free on Apple+ throughout the season. There will be no more local broadcasts starting in 2023 as all games will be through the MLS streaming service.

 

Excellent way to kill building up the fanbase!

 

pretty helpful explanation of the streaming situation here: https://allchgo.com/2022/06/14/mls-goes-all-in-with-a-10-year-apple-tv-streaming-deal-will-it-work/

 

Awaiting the details, but my inclination is to not subscribe. I've no doubt that Apple's production will be good. But I don't give a damn about any club save the Fire. I've no interest in MLS immersion. This one size fits all solution rubs me the wrong way. The Fire are in a radically different position than a lot of clubs. That the deal takes away local broadcasts is flippin' brutal for the fans.

 

This looks a lot like the Adidas deal to *me. Extremely helpful to the stabilize the league now. Five years from now there will be quirks that either annoy or help.

it’s good money for the league. I’m still biased from a decade without top level pro soccer between NASL and MLS.

 

...not to mention the past decade without top level MLS soccer in Chicago!

 

Cable, Disney plus, hbo plus, Hulu, netflix, peacock. Now Apple TV!?!I’m done. $40 parking, one hour to get out of the lot, $20tickets, HORRIBle team. I can’t do this anymore,

 

Milwaukee is supposed to get a USL team real soon. Heck even with gas, it’ll be cheaper to see them. Milwaukees a great town too. Jesus I’m pissed.

 

And this new streaming deal is netting MLS $250 million a year.

 

At a minimum. Like the Adidas deal, it’s great to stabilize the league. I do not have this service and previously did not want it but the consistency of ten years is good. I can finally help my mom get access to all the games.

 

I do get the stability argument but I still think it isn't the greatest idea. For what its worth I never liked the Adidas deals but that's a conversation over a few beers some time.

 

free for STHs is a nice touch

personally, I'm more likely to watch more non-Fire MLS games this way -- especially in the summer between NBA season end and the start of college football and, later, the NBA

 

Grossing. MLS is responsible for all production costs. There's a good article in The Athletic that lays out the details. By their reckoning, clubs will reap ~$7.5M annually from the deal (a considerable leap from current broadcast revenues). Which is the primary driver for MLS.

 

So...with a Roku TV and no apple anything I know of, I wonder what I will do? I also only watch Fire games and enjoy following Ajax and Championship on ESPN+. I'm not enthusiastic about more moving targets.

 

I always get excited in the beginning of the year for the fire, but as the season goes on I slowly lose interest, and tune in to fewer games. Is Apple TV worth it for me watching half the fire games? Probably not, but depends on the price.

 

It won't depend on the price for me, I'm just not going to get it because it will feature only MLS. At first I thought the ESPN+ deal was awful but then I got it and now I watch it every day because there is so much content for the price. I'll watch USL, USL One, Open Cup, Bundesliga, Bundesliga 2, La Liga, La Liga 2, Eredivisie, Championship, League One, League 2, FA Cup, Allsvenskan, Danish Superliga and some non soccer content like cricket. To me that's worth the money.

 

Apple puts its viewing app on many devices including Roku I believe. It comes embedded on some TVs as well. So their hardware shouldn’t be required.

 

ESPN+ is great. I just wish there were even a paid option to remove MMA.

I’ve been enjoying lower level US leagues more and more the past couple years. MLS Next & Pro (?) are apparently included but nothing comparable to the quantity on ESPN+. I do hope the two lower level MLS leagues grow into something interesting and watchable though.

I hope they have replays and/or recording. The lack of it in ESPN+ is a bummer.

 

I used to like mma a bit, but now it’s just a very strange subculture. Lots of bros and joe Rogan fans, it’s very very strange. I don’t want to stereotype but mma fans are a peculiar bunch. That said ESPN+ does have some very cool, less viewed leagues.

 

I liked it when you'd see a jiu-jitsu guy fight a muy thai guy. That had some interesting subtext. Now everyone fights the same, so it's just 2 guys wailing on each other.

 

As an MMA fan, I disagree, but I would same thing about all of the damned college baseball games.

I stay far away from MMA fans.
There is one site that I link onto every so often during the PPV (as I won't drop $60.00-70.00 to watch a UFC PPV), but that's it.

 

i never noticed the no local broadcasts thing.

well, i guess this will be my last year of watching mls of any kind. i have seen no reason to get apple+ so far and have no desire to pay for it just to get fire games. did the league learn nothing from the fire going with a streaming only deal a few years ago?