The most highly-anticipated MLS game of the entire 2024 season thus far delivered dismal ratings across US television. The October 2nd game between Columbus Crew and Inter Miami featured two teams fighting for the Supporters’ Shield. It also featured the two best coaches in MLS (Wilfried Nancy and Tata Martino) as well as the biggest stars of the league in action (Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Cucho Hernandez).

If any MLS game could have delivered impressive TV viewership, this was it. The game lived up to its promise on the field as the entertaining spectacle ended in a 3-2 win for Inter Miami. Columbus Crew missed a late penalty that could have tied the game.

MLS game generates poor TV ratings across FOX Sports

On television, the viewership was poor. Only 76,000 people watched the game on FS1. On FOX Deportes, the audience averaged 81,000. Combined, the total viewership was 157,000, according to TV Media Blog.

Of course, the viewership number didn’t include MLS Season Pass. More on that later.

In contrast, a recent game between Ipswich Town and Aston VIlla on September 29 averaged 381,000 viewers. Likewise, Brighton against Nottingham Forest on September 22 averaged 370,000 viewers.

For the 2024 season thus far, Premier League games are averaging 426,000 viewers on the USA Network. That’s an increase of 20% compared to what the Premier League was getting on USA Network as recently as 2021. Of course, that’s just the USA Network. Viewership for the bigger games more recently has broken records. For example, Chelsea against Manchester City on opening weekend averaged 2.218 million viewers. It nearly eclipsed the 2.6 million who watched Manchester City vs Arsenal last season.

The MLS Season Pass mystery

So, what about MLS Season Pass? Apple TV’s streaming service is a mystery. MLS hasn’t leaked any subscription numbers recently. The last reported number was 2 million subscribers as of December 2023. Since then, MLS dropped the free subscription offer through T-Mobile, which certainly would have resulted in a massive dent in the overall numbers for 2024.

More worryingly, MLS failed to make a single mention of any numbers, not even in percentages, about MLS Season Pass in its Key Business Metrics report it published in July 2024.

If MLS ever wanted to know how many people are interested in watching its league, it now knows that number after almost two full seasons of the league on Apple TV. Prior to Apple TV, MLS could rely on casual fans who tuned in to watch the league across FOX, ESPN, and Univision. Now though, with all games behind a paywall except for the small number that FOX shows, the league knows exactly how many are willing to pay to watch MLS.

What we do know about MLS Season Pass is that the league has still not reached the minimum guarantee. That’s the number agreed by MLS and Apple where the league can significantly increase the amount of media rights revenue it generates. Currently, Apple pays MLS $250 million a year for global rights, which works out to be around $8 million a year per team. MLS Commissioner Don Garber explained more details last year about the revenue share incentive, saying “It’s a partnership, and that’s the most different aspect of it. After we hit the minimum guarantee from Apple, we make 50 cents of every dollar. That’s the risk in this deal. I’m highly, highly confident we’ll get into that revenue share.”

Until MLS reaches that goal, the league is stuck in a 10-year agreement that runs through 2032. The $250 million-per-year deal with Apple is less than what the bottom two relegated teams get in the Premier League. That metric is worth repeating. The bottom two relegated Premier League clubs earn more TV revenue than all 29 teams in MLS.

By 2032, that gulf will be even greater unless the league can hit the minimum guarantee of subscribers. If the league can’t hit that number with the world’s greatest player featured on MLS Season Pass, what will it take to get there? With Messi in the league until the end of 2025, it’s disappointing to see an MLS game with poor TV ratings.

Photos: Imago