Apple, a company known for its clandestine operations, has maintained a high level of secrecy with regard to its viewership numbers for games on the MLS Season Pass, until now.
Industry experts have managed to unearth the profound impact being had by the arrival of Lionel Messi to Inter Miami on the Apple TV+ platform.
Eye-watering statistics have shown that Inter's Leagues Cup clash with Atlanta United, which saw them win 4-0, drew massive viewership and become the third most watched game on the MLS Season Pass so far this season.
Unveiling Messi's Impact on MLS
Sports TV ratings expert Robert Seidman, recently told reporters:
“Messi moved the needle. No match detail is available, but aggregate Apple TV+ platform viewing is [I’m] told up on Tuesday 75% versus last week."
“On its own, that 75% would have amounted to an average minute audience of approximately 230,000, but the actual match could have been higher. [I] think the reverse-engineered 230,000 is a respectable number for MLS on Apple TV+.”
It's not been easy to find such data on the viewership achieved by the Apple TV+ or MLS Season Pass platforms. Therefore, these insights are very valuable.
To put things into perspective regarding viewerships across different platforms,the USA vs Netherlands match from the 2023 Women's World Cup streamed live over FOX Sports’ portal and garnered an average minute audience count of nearly 196,938 people tuning in concurrently throughout their broadcast duration.
In comparison, Telemundo Digital (which includes Peacock & the Telemundo app) recorded even higher traffic at approximately 244k concurrent eyeballs averaged per minute during that same match-up.
Therefore taking all factors into account it becomes apparent that Lionel Messi brings in numbers which almost parallel those generated by the US Women’s National Team competing at a major tournament. This solidifies how instrumental he continues to be when it comes to influencing mass appeal within soccer circles no matter what platform is involved.
It is as yet unclear how big an impact Messi will have had on the league when all is said and done, but the start has been more than promising to say the least.
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