But that's on top of needing Apple+ or whatever, right?
But they had a ton more games on TV before the Apple deal. Like it already existed and was on TV and the league is trying to get more and more popular.
This season meanwhile there are 34 games in total on national TV/cable which is barely one game per team.
Compare the MLS coverage/reach to the WNBA's:
It just feels like it was a shortsighted move by the MLS to take the money and as a result seriously restrict where casual fans and local fans can view matches. There are a lot of people (like me) that are soccer fans and sports fans in general that want to watch their local team play 5 or 10 or 15 or whatever matches per season and they turned that into a pain in the ass. I'm not interested in paying to watch Charlotte/Nashville or DC United/Chicago or even spend $20 or $25 on a month subscription where I don't wind up watching one Austin game.
It seems like the move for MLS is to grow the sport locally/regionally and have people follow THEIR team/club - because there are much better soccer leagues out there that the soccer fans in America are already watching - on top of international soccer. It isn't like the NBA or NHL or MLB where fans of the sport are going to tune in marquee national matchups because those leagues play the game at the highest level - and because of that I would think it requires a different marketing strategy.
The exception, obviously, is if you get superstars like Messi that already have a following - but if you're someone that only wants to watch Messi or (going back) Ibra or Kaka or whoever then you got paywalled just like anyone that only wants to watch their local club.