How MLS Season Pass pricing compares

MLS Season Pass has a load of potential for Major League Soccer fans, but some of the less hardcore supporters may balk at the price.

MLS Season Pass has a base price of $14.99 per month. There is also an annual option that users can subscribe to for $99 a season. Then, Apple TV+ subscribers get slight discounts of their own. A monthly subscription becomes $12.99, and the season-long subscription is $79.

MLS Season Pass does allot over 900 games. It has every MLS, MLS NEXT, MLS NEXT Pro and Leagues Cup game. In addition to that, the platform has extensive video content both produced by the leagues and teams. Features on players, legends of the club and fan involvement are all possible on MLS Season Pass.

Compared to other soccer streaming services, MLS Season Pass has steep pricing. The competitors, though, are not as in depth. They do offer more options, including different leagues and often different sports.

Stacking up MLS Season Pass pricing

First off, MLS Season Pass may not be as expensive as some believe. For one, there are a number of potential discounts. The biggest of those goes to season ticket holders. MLS season ticket holders have a season-long subscription to MLS Season Pass included for free in their ticket. That way, they can watch all of their club’s away games, plus every other MLS game this season.

Then, just the annual options take off a significant chunk of the monthly price. The risk on that is Apple TV being new to the soccer scene. Despite amassing a vast and qualified array of talent, it is bound to lead to some kinks early on.

Still, let’s look at MLS Season Pass pricing against some of the others in the same category.

American teams vs English teams

One of the biggest draws for MLS Season Pass if the fact that it has every team, every game from different competitions. It has MLS, MLS NEXT, MLS NEXT Pro and Leagues Cup all included. However, MLS fans often only follow their club. In other words, there is less national impetus on the league, it features more so very strong followings locally. The National Hockey League is in a very similar position.

Now, for comparison, consider an English club such as Burnley. The Championship side is not always available on ESPN+, and of course it is not on NBC’s networks or Peacock, as it is not in the Premier League. Fans can subscribe to watch all of Burnley’s games, but that is a whopping $169 per season. Again, that is just Burnley, and some of those games are blacked out because they may be on ESPN+.

In that regard, Burnley supporters would love to have the same deal as MLS fans for $99/year. Not only would they be paying less to see all of Burnley’s games, but they get the rest of the league and all the bonus content included in MLS Season Pass. On top of that MLS Season Pass is an international deal, so there are no blackouts for anyone in the world that subscribes to MLS Season Pass.

Quantity vs. Quality

There are debates over how many international fans actually watch MLS. While the league itself is somewhat mute over its international audience, Sky Sports reported viewership around 30,000 eight years ago. That was some time ago, but shows that the league is not necessarily popping across the pond.

Regardless, MLS Season Pass is available across the world where there is an internet connection. Looking at the United States, though, would a casual fan be inclined to subscribe to MLS Season Pass knowing that it only has Major League Soccer? There is surely a large contingent of fans that only watch MLS when they are scrolling along and see it on FOX and previously ESPN or Univision, before those two backed out of MLS TV rights.

These people are soccer fans. They may already have ESPN+ to watch LaLiga, Bundesliga, Championship, FA Cup and more leagues. They could also have Paramount+ and Peacock to check off the Premier League, Serie A, UEFA Champions League and more. Each of those competing streaming subscriptions is individually cheaper than MLS.

MLS Season Pass may base its pricing off the quality of its broadcasts. There are multilingual options, pregame and postgame coverage for every game and the aforementioned video content. Again, this is just MLS. ESPN+’s soccer schedule has popular leagues and niche leagues such as the Eredivisie or Belgian Pro League. Likewise, Paramount+ has those headline grabbers such as the Champions League and Serie A. It also has you covered with the Argentina Primera, English Women’s Super League and international competitions.

Casual fans tend to like more breadth than they do depth. They want options.

Debut for MLS Season Pass

Even though the subscription service launched in early February, it will not be under the microscope until the season starts on Feb. 25. Then, this major experiment between Major League Soccer and Apple will bear results. The ultimate fans may rejoice with the seamless ability to watch as much MLS as possible. The easygoing fan may not be along for the ride with the MLS Season Pass pricing. We shall see.

PHOTO: IMAGO / ZUMA Wire