MLS announce multi-year linear TV rights agreements in United States & Canada

90min

·14 December 2022

MLS announce multi-year linear TV rights agreements in United States & Canada

Alongside their partnership with Apple, Major League Soccer have announced new TV deals for the next four years.

Running from the 2023 season through 2026, selected matches from the MLS regular season, MLS Cup Playoffs, MLS Cup, and Leagues Cup will be shown live on FOX Sports and TelevisaUnivision in the United States and TSN and RDN in Canada.

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The new agreements will run alongside Major League Soccer's landmark 10-year partnership with Apple TV, with every match available to watch live with a season pass starting in 2023 - along with a range of other MLS-related broadcasts.

“We are proud to continue our partnerships with FOX Sports, Univision and TSN, and we are pleased to have MLS matches on RDS in Canada,” MLS Commissioner Don Garber said in a statement. “These broadcast industry leaders continue to demonstrate their deep commitment to MLS and soccer.

“Our linear agreements, along with our partnership with Apple, are the culmination of a series of collaborative discussions to provide our fans with the most expansive and accessible lineup of programming MLS and our sport in the U.S. and Canada have ever seen – and by a significant margin.”

How will Major League Soccer's linear TV agreements work?

FOX Sports (USA - English and Spanish language)

34 regular-season games annually and eight Audi MLS Cup playoff matches each season on FOX/FS1/FOX Deportes
15 regular-season matches each year on FOX (the most ever by one English language over-the-air network in MLS history)
MLS Cup every year on FOX and FOX Deportes
Leagues Cup: 10 Group Stage, four Round of 32, and two Round of 16 matches each tournament on FS1
Highlight rights, editorial coverage, and cross-marketing support

TelevisaUnivision (USA - Spanish language)

Leagues Cup: 21 matches each tournament on Univision/UNIMÁS/TUDN, which includes:12 Group Stage matches
8 Knockout Round matches
Leagues Cup Final
MLS: TelevisaUnivision will have MLS highlights and substantial editorial coverage.

TSN (Canada - English language)

Extensive schedule of regular-season matches, eight MLS Cup playoff matches, and MLS Cup each season
One match per week featuring a Canadian club
Leagues Cup: 12 Group Stage and four Round of 32 matches each tournament
Highlight rights, editorial coverage, and cross-marketing support

RDS (Canada - French language)

Extensive schedule of regular-season matches, eight MLS Cup playoff matches, and MLS Cup each season
One match per week featuring a Canadian club
Leagues Cup: Three Group Stage and four Round of 32 matches on RDS
Highlight rights, editorial coverage, and cross-marketing support

What have the broadcasters said about the deal?

Eric Shanks, CEO & Executive Producer, FOX Sports: "We’re proud to extend our longstanding partnership with Major League Soccer at a truly exciting time for the sport here in the United States. There is no soccer league in the world better positioned for growth and with FOX’s unrivaled reach we are fired up to be a part of it."

Shawn Redmond, Vice-President, Bell Media Sports: "We look forward to continuing our long-standing partnership with Major League Soccer to deliver an extensive lineup of regular season and playoff coverage across TSN and RDS, culminating with MLS Cup. With this agreement, we will continue to serve Canadian soccer fans in both English and French with comprehensive live coverage on TSN and RDS, showcasing our fan-favorite Canadian teams every week throughout the season."

Olek Loewenstein, President of Global Sports Business of TelevisaUnivision: "We are thrilled to continue our partnership with Major League Soccer and bring our viewers the excitement of the 2023 Leagues Cup. As The Home of Soccer, fans can count on our networks and platforms to deliver comprehensive coverage of the biggest leagues and rivalries in North America."