Major League Soccer (MLS), the top-flight soccer league in the US, has seen a significant increase in viewership since discontinuing its 'MLS Season Pass' on primary broadcaster Apple TV. The first three months of the 2026 campaign have shown promising figures, suggesting that this move was justified.
The coverage of the 2026 MLS campaign, which kicked off on February 21st, averaged an impressive 7.9 million cumulative live viewers per gameweek. This figure spans across domestic linear broadcast partners Fox (US) and TSN and RDS (Canada), as well as global viewing figures on AppleTV's OTT streamer.
This number represents a substantial increase of 62% compared to the equivalent figure from the previous season in 2025 - when MLS coverage on AppleTV was still paywalled under the now-defunct 'MLS Season Pass'.
Impact of ending 'MLS Season Pass'
Despite strong viewership during the 2025 campaign – which was indeed one of their strongest since migrating to OTT platform in 2023 – it was believed that charging $99 annually for access to MLS games via 'Season Pass' might be limiting potential growth. The recent surge in numbers seems to validate this belief, indicating that removing this paywall has allowed for greater accessibility and subsequently increased viewership.
In addition to increased television and online streaming numbers, MLS’ league-wide and club-specific social media channels have also experienced growth. They now boast a combined total of over 113 million followers - up by an impressive14% year-on-year - generating approximately5.71 billion impressions throughout this period. Moreover, there has been robust support from fans attending matches physically too. One notable example is Colorado Rapids’ game against Inter Miami on April 18, which was hosted at the Mile High Stadium in Denver. This match drew a crowd of 75,824 - marking it as the second-highest MLS attendance of all time.
On average, MLS games in 2026 have seen an attendance of 22,109 supporters per match. This is the second-highest average in league history, only surpassed by Lionel Messi’s first year in 2024. MLS has temporarily suspended play until July 17 to facilitate the US and Canada’s co-hosting of the FIFA World Cup (alongside Mexico) in 2026. However, given these promising figures and strong fan support both online and offline, it's clear that soccer's popularity is on a steady rise across North America.
