Messi has doubled MLS Apple subscribers

Lionel Messi appears to be having the desired impact for MLS, both on and off the pitch.

Messi has only played four games with Inter Miami since his arrival last month, but has already scored seven goals as the Florida side has reached the Leagues Cup quarterfinal.

Off the field, Messi looks to be having a similarly profound impact for the league’s bottom line.

Inter Miami owner Jorge Mas posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, claiming that subscribers to MLS Season Pass on Apple TV have more than doubled just since Messi joined Inter Miami.

With Season Pass launching in February and Messi only joining in July, that would represent a significant jump.

Additionally, Mas said that more than half of the viewers for Messi’s matches have watched in Spanish.

The Messi Effect is real! 🐐 Subscribers to #MLSSeasonPass on @AppleTV have more than doubled since Messi joined @InterMiamiCF. Also, Spanish language viewership on #MLSSeasonPass on @AppleTV has surpassed over 50% for Messi matches and continues to rise. How exciting for a truly…

— Jorge Mas (@Jorge__Mas) August 10, 2023

The league has not publicized many details of its Apple deal this season, choosing to not release subscriber figures or details on viewers for individual matches.

Last month, Sports Business Journal reported that MLS Season Pass is “approaching 1 million subscribers, a number that includes season-ticket holders who are provided access as part of their purchase.”

At Apple’s quarterly earnings call this month, CEO Tim Cook said: “We are excited about our MLS partnership, and we’re thrilled to see Messi suiting up with Inter Miami.

“It’s clearly in the early days, but we are beating our expectations in terms of subscribers, and the fact that Messi went to Inter Miami helped us out there a bit – and so we’re very excited about it.”

The comments by Cook and Mas are the closest Apple or MLS has come to actually sharing subscriber details for Season Pass, which, starting this year, has the exclusive worldwide streaming rights for every MLS and Leagues Cup match.

MLS and Apple announced a landmark media rights agreement last summer in a deal worth $2.5 billion over 10 years.

Watch Messi and Inter Miami on Apple TV

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