Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Yep, Messi has made MLS Season Pass even more popular

A Lionel Messi promo for MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
Phil Nickinson / Digital Trends

If for some reason you had any doubt as to whether Lionel Messi joining Inter Miami has helped Major League Soccer overall, and Apple’s MLS Season Pass streaming service in particular, the answer is a resounding yes.

Recommended Videos

Apple today announced that the three most-viewed matches on MLS Season Pass came between July 19 and July 26. While it didn’t give any better fidelity than that (and hasn’t all season), it did say that the broadcasts were “roughly split” between the English and Spanish options.

Messi joined MLS in the midst of the Leagues Cup, which pits clubs from MLS against clubs from Mexico’s Liga MX. And he immediately had an impact, scoring the winning goal on a free kick in the final minutes of a 2-1 win over Cruz Azul on July 21. Just four days later, he scored twice in a 4-0 shellacking of Atlanta United. Up next is a knockout-round match against an opponent still to be determined on August 1.

MLS Season Pass is the subscription service you’ll need if you want to watch any and all MLS games the second half of the season (yes, a few are on Fox). Matches are available in the Apple TV app on all platforms, including non-Apple hardware. It also doesn’t require a subscription to Apple TV+, which is Apple’s own original content streaming service. If you do have Apple TV+, though, you can get the rest of the 2023 MLS season for $13 a month, or $39 total (non-Apple TV+ folks will pay $15 a month or $50 for the rest of the season).

MLS Season Pass on Apple TV has been a big deal for a few reasons. First is that soccer (futbol!) is the biggest sport in the world, and it continues to grow in popularity in the U.S. Second is that live sports is hard (just ask Netflix), and it was a huge question mark as to whether Apple would be able to do as good a job as ESPN and ESPN+ had done before losing the broadcast rights. And third, because MLS Season Pass launched in a year that will see an even bigger switch when NFL Sunday Ticket makes the leap from DirecTV to YouTube TV in the fall.

Apple’s done good so far, and that was before Messi entered the picture. Expect great things in the back half of the season.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Phil Nickinson
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Phil spent the 2000s making newspapers with the Pensacola (Fla.) News Journal, the 2010s with Android Central and then the…
Gugu Mbatha-Raw searches for the truth in Surface season 2 trailer
One woman looks stunned as another stands next to her in Surface.

Gugu Mbatha-Raw's Sophie embarks on a quest for answers in the trailer for Surface season 2.

In season 1, Sophie survives an alleged suicide attempt with little memory of her past. By the end of the season, Sophie accepts her previous identity as Tess Caldwell and decides to return to the U.K. to find Eliza (Millie Brady), a woman from her past.

Read more
Severance creator knows how the series ends, hopes to make season 3 soon
A man holds a paper in his fingers for Severance.

It's been three years since Mark S. screamed, "She's alive!" before the screen cut to black in the Severance season 1 finale. After numerous setbacks and delays, Severance season 2 returns to Apple TV+ this month.

The Emmy-nominated sci-fi drama enters its sophomore season with several unanswered questions, many of which revolve around the mysterious Lumon Industries. With so many queries and nothing guaranteed past season 2, does the Severance creative team have a roadmap to the ending? Have no fear. Creator Dan Erickson knows how the series ends.

Read more
Severance season 2 trailer reveals Mark’s new mission
severance season 2 trailer adam scott apple tv plus reveals marks new mission carries blue balloons in

In Severance season 2, Mark (Adam Scott) still has plenty of questions, but only one mission on his mind. At this year's CCXP24, Apple TV+ unveiled the first full trailer for Severance's long-awaited second season, which offers viewers their best look yet at what's to come in the hit sci-fi series's new episodes.

Severance season 1 ends with Mark, Helly (Britt Lower), Dylan (Zach Cherry), and Irving (John Turturro) exposing to the outside world the torment that their "innie" work selves endure at Lumon Industries. In the new Severance season 2 trailer, Lumon floor supervisor Seth Milchick (Tramell Tillman) tells Mark that this act of rebellion has made him and his co-workers "the face of severance reform." Mark, however, has his mind set this season solely on rescuing Ms. Casey (Dichen Lachman), the wellness counselor he's discovered is his outie's "dead" wife.

Read more