The base Apple TV service will be getting more live sports as standard from year. MLS Season Pass, currently a $79 per year additional charge for Apple TV members, will cease to exist as a separate service. Instead, all the content will be rolled into the base Apple TV subscription, starting next season.
That increases value for the Apple TV subscription (currently $12.99 per month in the US, or part of Apple One) and should help boost viewership for Major League Soccer.
Until now, a select handful of games each season were available in front of the MLS Season Pass paywall. (Most recently, all of the 2025 playoff matches were also aired this way.) But the majority of the schedule required the Season Pass subscription.
Although Apple has been wary to release firm viewership figures, many analysts assume that the additional paywall structure is impairing the growth and exposure of MLS in America, especially to younger audiences. Moving behind the add-on package should help improve the situation. Analysts estimate Season Pass had about 1-2 million subscribers worldwide, compared to more than 50 million who have Apple TV.
Assuming this change is officially announced, the standard Apple TV subscription is dramatically expanding its live sports offering in 2026. Apple TV in the US will offer MLS, MLB Friday Night Baseball, and Formula 1 next year — all part of the base service.
Apple will forgo some incremental subscriber revenue by ditching the Season Pass model, but it increases the appeal of Apple TV, and the company can recoup some of the money by selling advertising — shown during the live broadcasts — at higher rates now that there are more eyeballs to see it.
If you are a MLS club season ticket holder, you used to get MLS Season Pass thrown as a free perk. You will now get a free Apple TV subscription, instead, one per season ticket account.