ESPN Won’t Be Part Of Major League Soccer’s Newest TV Deal

ESPN is done with Major League Soccer.

The sports network won’t be part of the league’s new TV deal after MLS agreed to multiple four-year deals with media companies including Fox Sports and Univision, which will air games exclusively in the U.S., and Canadian company Bell Media, which will show games on its TSN and RDS networks. The agreements run through 2026.

The terms of the deals were not publicly announced.

As part of the new package, Fox will broadcast 34 regular season games across its networks. Fox will also show the MLS Cup through 2026, the Leagues Cup tournament and receive “extensive highlight rights” to help MLS increase its brand exposure. MLS commissioner Don Garber said in a statement that the linear agreements alongside its streaming deal with AppleAAPL
increase MLS programming in North America “by a significant margin.”

Apple’s ten-year streaming agreement is reportedly worth $250 million annually, and Garber labeled it a “minimum guarantee” instead of a rights fee. But MLS will be responsible for costs associated with the production of the games. Factoring in expenses, MLS could make less than the $250 million figure. The league is betting it will profit from a subscription package that’s part of Apple’s streaming service. The service launches in 2023, and soccer fans with Apple TV+ can pay an additional $79 per season for MLS content, and without the service, fans can pay $99 per season.

ESPN is part of the expiring deal to show MLS games. In that agreement, Fox and ESPN paid MLS a combined $75 million a year, and Univision paid roughly $15 million annually. Of that amount, MLS estimates $25 million went to the U.S. Soccer Federation for national team TV rights.

In July, Forbes reported that ESPN offered MLS a four-year deal worth about $40 million, while Fox Sports offered MLS only $7 million per season.

This time around, MLS didn’t offer networks enough premium matchups in popular soccer markets, such as Los Angeles, Portland and Seattle, according to people with knowledge of the matter, and ESPN quit negotiations. Apple’s acquisition of the league’s entire streaming content in June made MLS linear rights less valuable because the league no longer offered exclusivity.

In a statement, ESPN said its “happy” with its current soccer lineup which includes top soccer league LaLiga. The network added, “We wish Major League Soccer continued success.”

ESPN reported 2022 MLS regular season games averaged only 343,000 viewers across its platforms. Still, that was up 16% from 2021. In 2020, MLS games averaged 233,000 viewers on ESPN platforms. Fox Sports, which will broadcast the 2026 FIFA World Cup, didn’t respond to a Forbes request for viewership metrics.

MLS will face competition from other sports streaming offerings, including the National Football League’s NFL+ service and the National Basketball Association’s newly revamped package.

This article was updated to reflect comment from ESPN.