DirecTV for Business inked an agreement to deliver Apple’s Major League Soccer Season Pass this season in bars, restaurants and other venues across the U.S.
The satellite pay TV provider’s commercial product will serve up the 2023 soccer season to patrons as the exclusive home in more than 300,000 locations, through venues’ existing satellite equipment.
The MLS 2023 season kicks off on February 25 and runs through October 21. MLS Season pass via DirecTV will give access to the regular season, including Rivalry Week and the 2023 MLS All-Star Game, the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs and League Cups.
MLS Season Pass is a streaming service from the soccer league and Apple. Outside of the venue deal with DirecTV, the service is exclusively available on the Apple TV app at a price of $15 per month or $99 per season, with discounts available for Apple TV+ subscribers. MLS Season Pass launched this month after Apple last June snagged an exclusive 10-year deal, worth a reported $2.5 billion, to stream all live MLS matches.
“We welcome the addition of MLS Season Pass to an already market-leading lineup of sports properties that our commercial customers can continue to receive seamlessly through their existing satellite equipment and offer to their patrons,” stated Rob Thun, DirecTV chief content officer.
Buffalo Wild Wings is one DirecTV for Business customer that will be getting the MLS coverage.
“With the addition of MLS Season Pass, we are able to offer even more sports fans a reason to come to our sports bars to watch their favorite teams play,” said Buffalo Wild Wings CMO Tristan Meline in a statement.
Although DirecTV has lost some sports rights recently – notably the NFL Sunday Ticket, which it distributed since 1994, before YouTube in December scored rights that will see games available on YouTube TV and YouTube Primetime Channels – the MLS deal marks another win for its sports distribution to commercial entities.
Last summer the satellite provider inked a multi-year deal with Amazon to deliver Prime Video’s exclusive NFL Thursday Night Football package to more than 300,000 locations including bars, restaurants, hotels and retail shops nationwide.