How to watch Messi without MLS Season Pass

Are you a soccer fan wanting to legally watch MLS, but not ready to throw down upwards of $14.99 per month to do it? Considering the hoopla and promotion that’s gone into how revolutionary the service is, you’d be forgiven if you thought you can’t watch MLS without MLS Season Pass. But you’d be wrong.

Indeed, with the debut of MLS Season Pass it’s not as easy as it used to be to watch MLS games on TV. But it’s still possible to catch some domestic top division action without needing to subscribe to MLS’s dedicated streaming service.

There are a few ways you can find games without having to pay anything extra:

1. MLS is still on TV!

Every regular season, Leagues Cup, and playoff game is available on MLS Season Pass. And local, regional broadcasts are a thing of the past.

However, the league did sign two traditional national TV deals earlier this year.

You can find select MLS games on FOX or FS1 throughout the season. It’s not many, and your favorite team may not be featured often, if at all. But usually each week one game is highlighted on national TV, in English, on FOX Sports.

The Leagues Cup competition, which isn’t specifically MLS but does feature all the teams, has select games televised on Univision, UniMás, and TUDN.

You can find all of these networks on most cable and satellite providers, some over the air, and also with streaming services Fubo, DirectTV Stream, and Sling Blue.

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2. The Apple TV App

Select games throughout the MLS regular season are available on the Apple TV app – completely free! You’ll need the app (available on iOS, Macs, smart TVs and streaming devices, and game consoles), or visit the Apple TV website, and an Apple ID (also free).

One or two matches most weeks are usually available in this manner for free. Check our MLS schedule page for the most up to date listings (games marked as “Apple TV” are the free games).

3. Apple TV+ Subscribers

If you’re a subscriber to Apple TV+ for shows like Ted Lasso, the league also makes certain games available to you at no extra charge. You’ll find these games promoted while you’re browsing the Apple TV+ interface. Again, it’s not every game, but it’s enough for you to catch up with the league from time to time.

4. The U.S. Open Cup

Like Leagues Cup, this criminally under-promoted competition isn’t MLS per se, but it does feature every MLS team. In 2023, the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup through the quarterfinals was presented by the USSF completely free of charge in one of three places: the Bleacher Report Football App and YouTube channel, the US Soccer YouTube Channel, or the CBS Sports Golazo Network – which streams for free on Pluto and on the CBS Sports website (and is also built right in if you’re a subscriber to Paramount+).

So there you have it. Every game may be out of reach, but between these different avenues you can keep your finger on the pulse of MLS throughout the season.

After all of that, if the Messi game isn’t on traditional television, here’s how to watch it on MLS Season Pass:

1. Go ahead and activate the link for MLS Season Pass
2. Sign in or create an account. You do not need to subscribe to Apple TV+.
3. Register with payment information.
4. Watch Messi, League Cup and Major League Soccer.

Photo: Imago