Apple TV buys all MLS broadcast rights for 10 years

Well, of course it is a huge difference. You aren’t handing an old newspaper to the next guy. You are putting the article in the public domain where 1 billion more people can read it, and with no benefit to the original creators. That’s not fair to them, and it’s illegal.

 

Sportico has an interesting writeup on the Apple deal.

• They are moving up the date of the end of the deal. In 2022, it was supposed to be a 10-year deal, but it turns out Apple could have opted out at 5 years. So now, the new deal goes until Jun-2029.

https://www.sportico.com/leagues/soccer/2025/apple-mls-streaming-contract-change-1234876902/

 

Welp, I guess that's confirmation that it's not going as well as they had hoped.

I think that it's possible that the change in the calendar is in response to Apple bowing out of the deal early. The league / owners may feel like they may start to need to take some more chances to try get to the next level and be taken as seriously as the euro leagues.

 

Well, Apple decided not to throw in the towel at 5 years. So that means they still have some hope for MLS. But, they are terminating the deal when Messi leaves, right? So maybe their hope really lies in Messi, not MLS.

 

A billion people read the Quakes board on Big Soccer?

 

Are you a copyright lawyer speaking from experience, or just stating an opinion as fact?

 

Yeah, I didn't pay close attention. So sounds like they could have ended it in 2027, but extended to 2029. So not the original 10 years, not a bail at 5, but a bail at 7. Kinda in-between.

 

So Apple is lifting MLS from a paywall to put behind another paywall. Pretty much stays the same for for season ticket holders. <yawn>

 

If the deal ends early (6.5 years instead of 10 years) and MLS is getting $50 million more, does that really suggest "it's not going as well as they had hoped"?

The original deal was finalized before MLS added players like Messi, Son, Mueller, Busquets, Alba, Suarez, Giroud (lol)... one of those being the best player in the history of the sport... did they really expect it to go better than it has, and if so based on what?

One paywall is much lower than the other? Also the vast vast majority of people out there are NOT season ticket holders?

 

Why is Apple ending the deal early if they're happy with how it's going? :thinkingemoji One would have expected a big push when all those players joined. If they saw promising results I don't see the incentive to end early.

As for MLS, I see the change in calendar as a kind of admission that they need to take a bit of a risk and try to ratchet up and raise the level of the league at a faster rate.

 

Your own terms of service say third party content is allowed as long as credit is next/adjacent to said content.

And how does copyright impact video links and the like?

 

Now do AI.

 

https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/a...s-for-10-years.2121318/page-113#post-43336036



Have the providers of generative AI received permission for the use of the content? :thinkingemoji

I'm arguing in favor of (original) content creators BTW.

 

I'm mostly playing devil's advocate here, but that "original content" presented in "robotic fashion" is the result of the scanning of millions of documents of original content. Did the content creators give their approval for that?

 

When posting content originating from any third party, you agree to conspicuously post the name of said third party adjacent to said posted content.

 

Yes, by my last count.
anyway, it’s > 1-2 people in a barber shop.

 

TSS pointed out that with MLS Season Pass, you had to go thru 2 logins — one for Apple TV and one for MLS. So with new deal, it’s one less login…
I dunno, made sense to me.

 

With 12” black and white TV you turned a knob to the desired station.

 

But what do you do if you don't have a young child laying on the floor to do that for you?