North American League records an average of 7.9 million viewers per week; tournament will change calendar in 2027 to align with global standard
(Major League Soccer), a professional football league in the United States, announced this Friday (May 29, 2026) a 62% growth in the average audience for its matches in the first 3 months of the season. The advance is attributed to the reformulation of the transmission strategy: the league discontinued the “MLS Season Pass”, a separate paywall service, and included all games in the standard Apple TV subscription.
Adding international distribution and TV partnerships, the league averaged 7.9 million live viewers per week before the World Cup break.
INTEGRATION WITH APPLE
The format change is part of a revised contract between MLS and Apple. Last year, the parties updated their 10-year partnership – the contract will now end before the start of the 2029/2030 season.
Previously, the “MLS Season Pass” required an extra subscription that created barriers to new fans, despite having eliminated local broadcast blocks (blackouts). With the new model, the matches were incorporated into the regular Apple TV package (which costs US$99 per year in the US), sharing space with broadcasts of Formula 1, MLB (baseball) and entertainment productions.
Apple does not disclose the official number of subscribers, but company executives indicated that the platform surpassed the estimated mark of 45 million users last year.
FINANCIAL VALUATION
MLS is experiencing a moment of strong commercial and demographic appeal. The average attendance at stadiums reached 22,109 fans per match this year, the league’s second best historical performance for the month of May.
Furthermore, the competition has the youngest average fan age among the main men’s sports leagues in North America: 39.6 years. The public success and engagement increased the market value of the franchises.
Today the average value of an MLS team is US$767 million, according to data from .
GLOBAL ALIGNMENT
League games are paused in preparation for the 2026 World Cup, which begins on June 11. The MLS board plans to use the world tournament in North America as a catalyst for long-term growth, promoting events at training centers and campaigns focused on the league’s athletes who will compete in the world cup.
For next year, MLS plans a profound change in its business model and calendar. The league will play a shorter transition season and then reverse its official calendar. From 2027, the tournament will start in mid-July, aligning with the European football calendar and the international market.
