Magenta customers get their first taste of free MLS action
They say soccer is “the beautiful game,” but its beauty has only become apparent to a burgeoning crowd in the United States in the past decade. That shine is only expected to grow as Apple — in its efforts to draw bigger audiences for Apple TV+ — gave Major League Soccer a $2.5 billion shot in the arm to carry its games for 10 years. You can now count T-Mobile in as an MLS booster as it’s offering a year’s worth of matches for free this coming Tuesday.
The carrier says T-Moible and Metro by T-Mobile customers can pick up a free MLS Season Pass (valued at $99) for free through the T-Mobile Tuesdays app from February 21 — just ahead of the MLS season opener on February 25 — through March 14. There won’t be any blackouts based on market coverage, so you’ll be free to roam around the league for all the action you can take.
Here’s the catch: you’ll only be able to watch those MLS matches through the Apple TV app — something that doesn’t exist on Android. If you own any sort of Apple hardware, you will be able to get Apple TV working on said hardware and the app is also available on a long list of smart TVs from LG, Panasonic, Samsung, Sony, and other manufacturers — yes, the app is available on Android and Google TVs, ironically. There’s a web version, too, though it’s not the best experience out there. Fortunately, the iPhone maker is believed to be working on Apple TV apps for Android and while there’s no timeline for their arrival, the apps are reportedly undergoing internal testing.
Sports Business Journal reported back in January that T-Mobile had signed up to become the official wireless sponsor for Mexico’s top soccer league, Liga MX, as well as presenting sponsor for game-related programs on its broadcaster, TelevisaUnivision.
T-Mobile has maintained a similar positioning partnership with Major League Baseball to offer that league’s Season Pass for free to the carrier’s customers. The parties signed a four-year extension to the contract in 2019. It’s not immediately clear if it’ll be renewed in time for this season, so we’ll have to keep an eye out when spring training wraps up.
It’ll definitely be interesting to see if this move signals a switch away from America’s pastime to a sport that’s been waiting to become the nation’s next fan craze.
