Javier Hernandez, n ° 14 of the Los Angeles galaxy. Take a hit on the goal in a match between the New York Red Bulls and Los Angeles Galaxy at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California, April 25, 2021.
Michael Janosz | Getty images
Major League Soccer's matches start Electronic arts“Mobile game platform.
The best American football league is associated with the video game company to offer four MLS games this season via EA Sports FC Mobile.
The first game will be available to be broadcast for free to players from the International Football Mobile Game on Saturday, May 10. This game will be a revenge match of the 2024 final match between the Los Angeles Galaxy and New York Red Bulls. The Galaxy won its sixth MLS Cup in December after beating the Red Bulls.
The second match will be broadcast on May 17, while the last two will take place in September, with dates that have not yet been announced. The four games will be simultaneous with the MLS Pass of Apple TV, which holds the global and exclusive media rights of the football league games.
Thanks to the partnership, the Mobile Players EA FC who connect to Watch will obtain a free trial of MLS season Pass, and will also receive a currency in the game.
It will be EA's first foray into the live streaming of a game, at a time when live sports attract the most public to various media platforms. The partnership also comes after a difficult district for EA, which he blamed at the underperformance of his games, in particular his football franchise, EA Sports FC. EA will publish its next quarterly results Tuesday.
Visitors play the EA Sports FC 25 game in front of a sign with the midfielder of England Jude Bellingham at the Electronic Arts stand during media day at the Gamescom video game show in Cologne, West Germany, August 21, 2024.
Ina Fassbender | AFP | Getty images
MLS, who is in his 30th season, has experienced growth through its sponsorship and attendance in recent years, especially since the world superstar Lionel Messi joined the League in 2023 and the United States is preparing to co-organize the 2026 World Cup.
However, the League has a delay in popularity compared to other major sports leagues in the United States
EA's football video game, which was marketed under the FIFA brand until recently, served as “entry point for certain fans segments,” said Camilo Durana, executive vice-president of MLS.
“We have worked hard with EA over the years to bring MLS to life, whether by our players or our uniforms or stadiums,” said Durana in an interview. “I think we are always looking for interesting ways and new things to do with our partners.”
He called the four games that will be broadcast this season the “initial phase” of the new partnership this season, adding that the games will see where it goes from here.
“I think we are delighted to try different things, to learn and finally to continue to innovate,” said Durana.
Durana has described the League’s media rights partnership as a Launchpad to experiment with various partners, in order to bring the fans back to the MLS Pass Pass platform, which is available via the Apple TV application.
In 2022, the League signed an agreement on the rights of the 10 -year media with Apple. All MLS matches are available via MLS Season Pass, which is offered as an autonomous ability, or an additional module at the Apple TV +streaming service. The cost of the MLS season's pass starts at $ 12.99 for Apple TV +subscribers, or $ 59 for the season, and intervenes for those who paid only for football matches.
Apple does not disclose the number of MLS season pass subscribers. Last year, the MLS commissioner, Don Garber, told CNBC Sport that the number of subscribers exceeded expectations.
“We have more subscribers than Apple and Apple do not think it. We have more people watching our matches,” Garber at CNBC Sport told an interview.
In a push to expand its audience, MLS and Apple have widened access to MLS season Pass earlier this season. Paid television customers of Comcast Xfinity and Directv can subscribe directly via suppliers rather than via Apple. Games are also now available for free to Mobile Users.
Disclosure: Comcast has nbcuniversal, the parent company of CNBC.