MLS and Apple agree to landmark global rights deal

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The United States’ premier football competition Major League Soccer (MLS) has found a new broadcasting home from next season and beyond with technology giants Apple.

Making their first foray into live football broadcasting, Apple have struck a long-term global partnership with Major League Soccer (MLS) worth a reported US$250 million ($360 million AUD) per year.

After moving for a package of Major League Baseball, Apple has made their biggest sports rights acquisition to date by signing a 10-year partnership with MLS to show all matches across the world via the Apple TV streaming platform.

The agreement runs through until the end of the 2032 campaign and will see every match offered through a new MLS-dedicated subscription streaming service available exclusively through the Apple TV app. The over-the-top (OTT) offering will also include a weekly live whiparound show, full-match replays, highlights, analysis, and other original programming. A number of MLS Next Pro and MLS Next developmental tier matches will also be on the platform.

A broad selection of MLS and Leagues Cup matches, including some of the biggest matchups, will also be available at no additional cost to Apple TV+ subscribers, with a limited number of matches available for free. Access to the new MLS streaming service will also be included as part of full-season ticket packages.

According to the Sports Business Journal (SBJ), MLS is also negotiating with ESPN and Fox around a linear domestic package of non-exclusive matches. In addition, SBJ report that Apple is not paying a straight fee, with the US$250 million per year figure being a minimum annual guarantee that will be topped up with revenue as Apple sell subscriptions for the streaming service.

MLS commissioner Don Garber believes that Apple TV will provide the catalyst for the ever-improving competition to grow even further.

“This (partnership) sort of seems like a bit of the icing on the cake,” Garber told the PA news agency.

“We really have been very focused on building a league that we all can be proud of, that could become one of the top leagues in the world, that could show fans here and globally that America, North America, are soccer markets.

“And now with a global opportunity to build a fan base with the leader in global product and global technology and global innovation, it’s going to allow us to expand beyond our borders.

“This gives us the ability to participate not only in the global market for players but on the global market for fans, and that any game, anytime, anywhere without restrictions really is the rocket fuel that’s going to get us to that point.

“So, it is the perfect sort of end to the previous beginning and gives us a new sort of journey towards the World Cup and beyond.”

Garber said MLS is “very pleased with the financials” of a deal that, among other things, will allow for an improved schedule, better quality broadcasts and see season ticket holders at the clubs receive a subscription.

This is just Apple’s second rights deal for live sports, having acquired a package with Major League Baseball in March, but they have achieved great success in football with their comedy-drama Ted Lasso.

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Eastern Suburbs Football Association Announces First All-Female Referee Course and Expanded Women’s Competition

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Image Credit: Football NSW

The Eastern Suburbs Football Association has opened its 2026 season with three structural investments that reflect the growing ambition of community football associations to address participation, representation and development gaps simultaneously, beginning with the delivery of its first all-female Football Match Official Course.

The course, held at Matraville Sports High School and led by female liaison committee member Michelle Hilton and 2025 Referee of the Year Ariella Richards, brought 25 new female referees into the association ahead of Round 1. The initiative targets one of the most persistent imbalances in community sport, with women remaining significantly underrepresented in officiating roles at every level of the game, by creating a dedicated entry point separate from the mixed course environment that many women find unwelcoming.

The Women’s Premier League has also expanded, now featuring eleven teams and introducing a WPL1 and WPL2 structure following the first ten rounds of the season. The tiered format creates more competition opportunities for clubs across the region while providing a clearer development pathway for teams at different stages of growth. Returning clubs Randwick City, Glebe Wanderers, Easts FC and Sydney University join established sides in what the association describes as one of its most competitive women’s seasons. ESFA clubs have continued to perform strongly in state-wide competitions including the Football NSW Sapphire Cup, State Cup and Champion of Champions.

Building the next generation

The season opened with an inaugural Development League Gala Day for Under-9 to Under-12 boys and girls, bringing eight clubs together in a structured development environment ahead of Round 1. Sydney FC A-League Women’s players attended the event and engaged directly with young participants, a deliberate effort to connect grassroots players with visible examples of where the pathway leads.

“We are committed to creating more opportunities for clubs, players, coaches and referees to thrive, with a strong focus on participation opportunities to suit participants of all abilities and aspirations,” said ESFA CEO John Boulous.

The three initiatives, a new referee entry point for women, an expanded women’s competition structure, and a development-focused junior gala day with elite role models present, together reflect an association responding to the participation pressures the AFC Women’s Asian Cup has brought into sharp relief across Australian football.

More Than One in Five Football Australia Staff to Lose Jobs Amid Growing Financial Losses

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Image Credit: ESPN

Australian football finds itself in a curious position.

From the outside, the game appears to be riding a wave of momentum. Attendances, visibility and public interest have all experienced significant uplift in recent years, while major international tournaments and growing discussion around football’s future continue to place the sport firmly within the national conversation.

Yet behind that momentum, Football Australia is now confronting a far more challenging internal reality.

 

A compounding deficit

Chief Executive Martin Kugeler has reportedly indicated the governing body’s projected financial losses for 2025 are expected to exceed the organisation’s reported $8.5 million deficit from the previous year. Accompanying the financial outlook are substantial organisational changes, with reporting from Tracey Holmes indicating more than one in five Football Australia employees are expected to lose their positions through restructuring measures.

The figures represent more than a difficult balance sheet. They point toward a significant period of recalibration inside the organisation responsible for overseeing the sport nationally.

 

Losing the wisdom of existing staff members

For governing bodies, restructures are often framed as strategic necessities for future sustainability. However, workforce changes on this scale also raise broader questions around the challenges of such a transition.

People are often the carriers of knowledge, relationships and long-term strategic understanding. When organisations undergo significant structural change, the effects can extend beyond immediate financial outcomes.

 

Contradicting timing

The timing is what makes the developments particularly notable.

Football in Australia has spent recent years discussing expansion, growth and long-term opportunity. The conversation surrounding the game has increasingly centred on future potential. Often headlining stronger pathways, larger audiences, infrastructure development and greater visibility.

Against that backdrop, news of deep financial losses and substantial staffing reductions creates a different conversation: one focused not on where the game wants to go, but on what may be required to sustain that journey. Therefore, this announcement points toward stagnancy, rather than growth.

Further detail surrounding Football Australia’s strategy and long-term direction will likely emerge over coming months. For now, the developments serve as a reminder that growth stories are rarely straightforward.

Often, the periods that appear strongest from the outside can also be the moments organisations face their most significant internal tests.

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