Apple and the MLS have launched a 1-month free trial offer for MLS Season Pass for the first time. You can redeem the 1-month trial here, valid for new and returning monthly subscribers.
After the trial is up, the subscription automatically renews at the standard monthly MLS Season Pass price ($14.99 or $12.99 for TV+ members), unless cancelled.
The free trial offer runs through October 31, roughly in line with when this year’s soccer season will end.
The success of MLS Season Pass remains unclear. Apple nor MLS have released any subscription or viewership figures on the service’s performance in its inaugural year.
The service — which offers streaming and on-demand access to all MLS games without geographic blackouts or other restrictions — launched in February and has been praised for its high-quality video streams and generally strong broadcast production value.
Criticisms include the patchy availability of replays after the game is broadcast live, which can take many hours to appear depending on platform you are watching on. Until recently, the app UI did not surface replays prominently in the interface, leaving many to wonder whether they will available at all. Many soccer fans have also shown a distaste for the default setting of ‘Show Sports Scores’, which can accidentally spoil matches for people joining late.
The ability to turn off sports scores from appearing on game thumbnails is also not available on some platforms, such as the web interface at tv.apple.com. The lack of native Android app has also been a frustration for MLS fans outside of the Apple ecosystem.
However, the overriding complaint we’ve seen has simply been the fact that local team games that used to be available over-the-air on either national broadcasts or popular cable channels are now paywalled behind the MLS Season Pass subscription. Many consider the MLS Season Pass package to simply to be too expensive for access to just one league, whereas competing subscriptions like Peacock or Paramount host a variety of sports games — among other content — for a lower monthly price overall.
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