Why Apple TV has become the exclusive streaming home for Major League Soccer

Major League Soccer has awarded the exclusive global streaming rights to its games to Apple in a 10 year-deal,further cementing the tech giant’s foray into live sports.

The package announced Tuesday is the second major sports league to enter a media rights agreement with the Cupertino-based company. Apple landed an exclusive package of Friday night Major League Baseball contests that began this season on its Apple TV streaming platform.

The deal, the terms of which were not disclosed but is reportedly in the range of $2.5 billion over the entire contract, is also another significant migration of live sports from TV to a streaming platform. Amazon has the NFL’s Thursday night football package starting in the upcoming season and exclusive local rights to 20 New York Yankees games.

Soccer has been seen as a prime target for streaming services. The sport lacks the same broad appeal in the U.S. as other major professional leagues, but it does have a passionate fan base that is younger than those for other events.

For its MLS deal, Apple is creating a new subscription service to present the matches and related content such as highlight shows, replays and whip-arounds to live action throughout the league.

“For the first time in the history of sports, fans will be able to access everything from a major professional sports league in one place,” Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of services, said in a statement. “It’s a dream come true for MLS fans, soccer fans, and anyone who loves sports. No fragmentation, no frustration — just the flexibility to sign up for one convenient service that gives you everything MLS, anywhere and anytime you want to watch.”

The deal with Apple will end Major League Soccer’s relationship with regional sports TV networks around the country, which will no longer have local rights to the games.

The impact on how much MLS will be available on national TV networks is expected to be significant. The deals with the league’s current partners — Walt Disney Co’s ESPN, Fox Corporation’s Fox Sports and Univision — are up at the end of this season. They are expected to have a limited number of games in the next contract if they renew.

The MLS streaming service will be available through the Apple TV app at no additional costs to those who already subscribe to Apple TV+. Pricing for new subscribers will be announced in the coming months, the company said.

ESPN walked away from the package that went to Apple and will lose the rights to matches carried on ESPN+, its streaming service.

“We continue to have a great relationship with MLS and are proud of the role we’ve played in helping grow the league and the sport in the U.S.,” a representative ESPN said in a statement, noting that the company will still have more than 2,500 soccer games per year across its platforms.

Major League Soccer was founded in 1994 and currently has 29 teams throughout the U.S. and Canada, including two in Los Angeles, the Galaxy and the Los Angeles Football Club.