MLS' Multi-Billion Dollar Deal with Apple - An Overestimation of Fandom
News
But first, some news in Football from this past week!
Crazy Italians 🇮🇹
An anonymous Boar’s head was delivered to Italian (Serie A) club UC Sampdoria bearing an ominous message roughly translated to, “the next head will be yours,” according to Reuters. The package was addressed to former President Massimo Ferrero and current Vice President Antonio Romei. This is just a month and a half after a bullet was delivered to the club, demonstrating fans’ extreme discontentment with operations.
I always laugh ironically when I read about fans going to extremes like this. Do they really think the elite owners of clubs are scared of this? Ferrero is an Italian film producer who has had four business ventures go bankrupt in the past couple of years. Much bigger issues on his plate than a couple of fans taking the time to send empty threats to his front door, especially from a team sitting at the bottom of the table in Serie A.
Girl Boss 💅
Saint Louis City SC marked its MLS debut with a 3-2 win over Austin FC Saturday. In addition to its inaugural game, the club makes league history as it is the first MLS team with a female founding owner and president in Carolyn Kindle.
Look for this club to grow dramatically over the next few years. Saint Louis has been a footballing hotspot in America for over 50 years, so there should be heavy support both financially and from fans, which is a formula for success in sports. Usually teams can get by or develop with money alone, but loyal fandom is an added bonus that accelerates growth in clubs on and off of the field.
The Viking of the Prem 🇳🇴
Erling Haaland surpassed Manchester City legend Sergio Aguero in most goals scored in a single Premier League season (27) with his finish against Bournemouth Saturday. The scary part? There are 13 matches left. Some say City is better without him on the field, but it’s hard to support that when the 22 year old is on pace to set the league record for single season goals scored. Yes, there are periods when he doesn’t do much, but my god can he finish. City’s quality of play obviously doesn’t hurt him either. Regardless, he’s a forward whose sole job is to put the ball in the back of the net. Until he stops doing so, anyone criticizing him is looking too hard for flaws and not admiring Haaland for what he is - a pure goal scorer - which is good not only for fans but the game itself. He’s the antithesis to every critic who has ever said there isn’t enough scoring in football, and to that, we have to give thanks no matter what.
MLS and Apple
Major League Soccer kicked off the season this past weekend, beginning the 10 year, $2.5 Billion MLS Season Pass deal signed with Apple in 2022. The first game was Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) vs. The Los Angeles Galaxy, dubbed El Trafico, a play on words of the famous Spanish fixture of Real Madrid versus Barcelona, El Clasico.
Apple TV - $14.99 a month/$99 a year
Apple TV+ - $12.99 a month/$79 a year
Highlighted benefits include exclusive access to all MLS games, inside looks at clubs, English/Spanish/French broadcasts, and the ability to watch games from their beginning at any time subscribers desire. If you’re interested, here’s how to sign up for MLS Season Pass.
Reactions to the deal have varied. Beforehand, viewers could access games through cable providers for a lower cost. But now, even those who already have Apple TV must pay the additional monthly or annual fee. Many believe that viewership will decrease the first couple of years before fans are converted to subscribers.
Only time will tell how this deal fairs for Major League Soccer. The league is attempting to grow as much as possible, and making fans access matches through a paywall seems in direct contrast with this goal. In comparison, major European leagues are accessible through multiple viewing avenues including cable and streaming (NBC Sports, Peacock, and Youtube TV). According to Deloitte, broadcasting can make up to 70% of a European club's revenues (comparable to MLS clubs’ business models), so it will be interesting to see how this deal fairs for Major League Soccer.
Personally, I am a proponent for multiple viewing platforms and against the Apple deal. MLS is still in its early stages of development, where fans' willingness to pay is low while competition for viewers’ time is extremely high. It begs the question why one would pay for lower quality football when the top leagues are accessible for cheaper and bundled together with other offerings.
Peacock/NBC - Premier League (ENG)
ESPN - Bundesliga (GER) and La Liga (ESP)
Youtube TV - Ligue 1 (FRA)
CBS/Paramount+ - Serie A (ITA)
Apple TV - MLS (USA)
Peacock, ESPN, Youtube TV, and CBS all have respectable catalogs of television shows and movies that makes the value to cost ratio appear fair to customers. Not only do they get to watch the cream of the crop when it comes to football, they also have access to shows like The Office (Peacock), all of the offerings from ESPN, and live sports, shows, and cable television with Youtube TV.
Apple on the other hand is a struggling streaming service. They currently have a 6% market share of video streaming and take a different approach to production. The company prides itself on quality rather than quantity. It may be nice to win Oscars for screenplays, but in a consumerist society, there is a point where volume dominates. I’m one of the largest advocates of supporting football in America, and even I'm not willing to pay for Major League Soccer on Apple TV. So what does that say for novice fans? There is going to be a large customer segment that will not be reached due to this pricing strategy.
What this signals to me is an overestimation of fan loyalty. I believe that revenue will not be anywhere near projections and prices will come down in the near future. Additionally, switching costs are extremely low in terms of finding other leagues/teams to support, which can pose further issues to this pricing decision. Until the league can find a way to solve this conversion issue, it will remain in the shadows of Europe’s top five leagues.
However, one benefit that is hard to ignore is the increase in revenue for Major League Soccer. In their past deal with Fox, ESPN, and Univision, the league was receiving $90 million on average annually, a measly figure when compared to the Apple deal that is almost 3x that figure ($250 million). My biggest hope is that this new available capital is invested in things that will benefit the league in the long run - youth development, sponsorships, infrastructure, and strategic acquisitions.
Americans Abroad Rating: Decent
A little bit about this section. This is covering performances of some, not all, American players playing in Europe. My rating system is a simple three level system. From lowest to highest: Absolute Shite, Decent, and Proper Weekend. These are subject to change if any readers have better British phrases they’d like to text me.
Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie, and Brenden Aaronson start as a trio for the first time this season for Leeds and secure a 1-0 win over Southampton to help their club’s effort in fighting relegation
Daryl Dike (West Bromwich Albion FC) - Dike puts two past fellow American goalkeeper Zack Steffen in his club’s 2-0 win over Middlesbrough in the English Championship
Ricardo Pepi (FC Groningen) - Scores once, raising tally to nine for the season in Netherlands’ top flight.
Folarin Balogun (Reims) - The 21-year-old Arsenal loanee has a match against Toulouse in Ligue 1, at 9:00 AM EST today. He is one to watch for as he is the leading scorer in the French top flight with 15 goals in 23 games. That tally is more than Neymar, Messi, and Mbappe.
Balogun is a dual national, originally from New York. Although he is yet to represent the USMNT, he has publicly stated that he is open to joining. This would be the perfect addition for the USMNT, as anyone who watched the World Cup knows that Wright, Ferrera, and Sargent ain’t cutting it. Other countries were miles ahead in their attacking abilities, and it’s hard to compete at the highest levels without someone that can score.
Footy Term of the Week
Cup Tied - In certain European competitions, players cannot represent more than one club. This mainly applies to mid-year transfers. If a player played at the beginning of the season for Chelsea in the FA Cup, they would not be allowed to play in that same tournament for another club for the remainder of that season.
What to Watch 2/26-3/5
Sunday 2/26
ESPN - Carabao Cup Final: Manchester United versus Newcastle 11:30 AM EST
USA Network or NBC - Tottenham versus Chelsea 8:30 AM EST
No matter what the Chelsea board may say, Chelsea manager Graham Potter is on the hot seat. So much so that his pants would be assless chaps if he stood up.
(Bonus points if you know what movie this is from)
As a Chelsea fan, I hope this team can find the chemistry it needs. But if they keep losing after spending the amount they did, Potter has to be fired at the end of the season.
Thursday 3/2
ESPN - Copa Del Rey: Real Madrid versus Barcelona 3:00 PM EST
Saturday 3/4
NBC - Manchester City versus Newcastle 7:30 AM EST
A meeting of two top five teams in the Premier League that should be extremely competitive. City want to stick to winning ways to put pressure on Arsenal for the top spot in England while Newcastle are fighting for a Champions League spot.
Footy Fact of the Week
An English Manager has never won the Premier League
One Last Thing
Guys, thank you so much if you’ve read this in its entirety or just skimmed it. I’ve never done something like this before, so the support is instrumental in the development of this newsletter. I know how valuable everyone’s time is, so I’m extremely motivated to push out quality content and hope you learn something each time you open this up.
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Alright, that’s all for this week. I’ll see y’all next Sunday.
Peace.
This is a good start, funny in parts and you know the sport.