Apple Drops The MLS Paywall — And Its Streaming Strategy Suddenly Makes A Lot More Sense

Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) is one of the smaller players in the streaming sector, but recent bets on live sports could be paying off for subscriber and advertising growth. A new change to its MLS soccer rights could help boost things even more.

Apple Changes Soccer Rights Paywall

Apple gained rights to Major League Soccer games as part of a 10-year $2.5 billion deal back in 2022. The company currently offers some games to Apple TV subscribers, while the rest are behind an additional paywall called MLS Season Pass.

MLS Season Pass comes with a $14.99 per month subscription price, or $12.99 per month for Apple TV members. At $12.99 per month for Apple TV subscriptions, that means $25.98 to subscribe to Apple TV and MLS Season Pass.

Going forward, Apple will offer all MLS games on its Apple TV platform without the additional paywall. The revised agreement could provide a huge boost to subscribers for the platform.

“We’re thrilled to bring MLS to more fans around the world next season on Apple TV,” Apple senior vice president of services Eddy Cue said, as shared by The Hollywood Reporter. “Every match, all in one place, alongside incredible Apple Originals – it’s a win for fans everywhere.”

Next year could be a big one for Apple and soccer in the United States with the country one of three host countries for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. MLS has typically seen a rise in interest during World Cup years and the change to the rights deal could come at a perfect time.

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Apple Bets on Live Sports, Live Ads

The change to the MLS rights comes shortly after Apple won the rights to Formula One (NASDAQ:FWONA)(NASDAQ:FWONK) rights in the U.S. starting with the 2026 season.

The five-year deal saw Apple beat out several bidders, including current rights holder ESPN.

Apple will now air Formula 1 and soccer matches live, along with its original movies and shows.

With only an ad-free plan, Apple TV makes money only from subscriptions, except for the live sports it shows.

While there have been reports of Apple launching an ad-supported plan, Cue downplayed a launch in an interview with Screen International.

“Nothing at this time. Again, I don’t want to say no forever, but there are no plans. If we can stay aggressive with our pricing, it’s better for consumers not to get interrupted with ads,” Cue said, as reported by 9to5Mac.

While Apple won’t launch an ad-supported plan soon, the change to the MLS games could mean more ads during the live matches and Formula 1 races could also see ads.

Cue wouldn’t share information on the number of subscribers Apple TV had during the interview, but did share that records had fallen.

“I can tell you we’re growing faster, we have more viewers and they have more viewing hours in the past year than we’ve had at any time.”

Apple recently increased the price of its streaming platform for the first time since 2023, raising the monthly cost from $9.99 to $12.99.

Deepwater Asset Management Managing Partner Gene Munster highlighted the price increase being a “small example of a big opportunity” for the tech giant, in a blog post.

Munster estimated that the price increase could add $430 million in “high margin revenue” for Apple’s streaming segment.

Apple loses an estimated $1 billion annually on Apple TV, as big-budget movies it bets on don’t pay off at the box office.

Price increases and lowering content costs could help boost efforts for profitability.

“I believe Apple’s intent is to gradually close the gap between Apple TV+ expenses and revenue, turning what has been a negative-margin venture into a profitable one over time.”  

AAPL Price Action

Apple stock is up 0.5% to $274.32 on Friday versus a 52-week trading range of $169.21 to $277.32. Apple stock is up 12.5% year-to-date in 2025.

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