Major League Soccer has been broadcast live in the U.S. nationally since the league's inception in 1996 and in Canada since 2007. In the United States the game is broadcast in English on Fox Sports 1 and Fox, in Spanish on Fox Deportes. In Canada, MLS is broadcast on TSN in English and RDS in French.
All matches are streamed live on MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app.
Historical breakdown From the 2015 season until 2022, MLS matches were broadcast nationally by ESPN networks and Fox Sports in English, and Univision networks in Spanish under an eight-year contract. Each broadcaster had a window for national regular season matches, with UniMás airing a game on Friday nights in Spanish and additional matches on Univision Deportes Network, and ESPN and Fox Sports 1 airing games on Sunday evenings in English. ESPN, FS1, and Univision share in coverage of the playoffs, while ABC and FOX alternate broadcasting the MLS Cup in English. ESPN and FS1 also alternated broadcasting the MLS All-Star Game in English, In total, at least 125 matches are aired per-season across all three networks. The three contracts have an average estimated value of $90 million per season—five times larger than the average $18 million value of the previous contracts with ESPN, Univision, and NBC Sports.
Matches not televised nationally were broadcast regionally, often by regional sports networks like Fox Sports Networks, Comcast SportsNet, Spectrum Sports and Root Sports, and sometimes by terrestrial stations like KTXA, WRDQ anad KMYU. Regionally televised matches were available outside their local markets on ESPN+.
From 2012 to 2014, MLS matches were broadcast by NBC Sports, with 40 matches per year—primarily on NBCSN, and select matches broadcast on the NBC network. The move from Fox Soccer to the more widely distributed NBCSN proved successful, with viewership numbers doubling for the 2012 season over those of Fox Soccer.
1990s
On March 15, 1994, Major League Soccer with ESPN and ABC Sports announced the league's first television rights deal without any players, coaches, or teams in place. The three-year agreement committed 10 games on ESPN, 25 on ESPN2, and the MLS Cup on ABC. The deal gave MLS no rights fees but split advertising revenue between the league and networks.
MLS Soccer Saturday was the first weekly presentation of MLS games, which usually started at 4 PM EST and was sponsored by Radioshack. Before the start of the 2007 season, the league and ESPN announced that MLS Primetime Thursday would be the flagship broadcast as part of a new television contract, ending an 11-year broadcast run of matches on Saturday afternoons.
The inaugural MLS Cup was broadcast in the United States on ABC in English, with a broadcast team that was used by ESPN for its previous MLS matches during the regular season and playoffs. Phil Schoen was the play-by-play commentator, while Ty Keough and Bill McDermott provided color analysis; Roger Twibell was the studio anchor and was joined by Revolution defender Alexi Lalas, who also performed the national anthem with his electric guitar. The final reached an estimated audience of 1.6 million viewers, exceeding league expectations but falling short of other sports programming from that day. In local markets, the match had an estimated Nielsen rating of 2.4 in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area and 3.3 in Greater Los Angeles.
The 1997 MLS Cup was also broadcast on ABC in the United States, where it was watched by an estimated television audience of 2.2 million viewers, setting a record that would stand until the 2016 final. Bob Ley replaced Phil Schoen, who served as the sideline reporter for 1997 only, as play-by-play while Ty Keough returned as a color commentator. The match was also televised in more than 100 foreign markets by ESPN International; it was the first MLS Cup to be broadcast in the United Kingdom, where it aired on Eurosport.
The 1998 MLS Cup was once again broadcast in the United States on ABC with English commentary and Spanish via secondary audio programming. For the second time in three years, play-by-play announcer Phil Schoen and color commentator Ty Keough called the ABC broadcast, who were joined by field reporters Seamus Malin and Bill McDermott. The quartet had worked together on the network's World Cup broadcasts. The television broadcast drew a 1.2 national rating and reached an estimated 1 million households, a 33 percent decrease from previous finals.
The match was also broadcast by local radio affiliates in multiple languages. In Chicago, WZCH carried the English broadcast, WRZA carried Spanish commentary, and WKTA had the match in Polish. The Spanish broadcast was aired on WACA in Washington, D.C., and the surrounding area.
The entire 1999 All-Star Game was aired to ESPN2 as ABC aired a special news report on the search for John F. Kennedy Jr.'s missing plane.
The ABC broadcast of the MLS Cup 1999 was led by play-by-play announcer Phil Schoen and color commentator Ty Keough for the third time in four years, who were this time, joined by studio host Rob Stone. MLS players John Harkes and Alexi Lalas joined the pre-game and halftime broadcasts as co-hosts. ABC deployed 18 cameras for the match and added additional field microphones to capture crowd noise. The television broadcast on ABC drew a 1.0 national rating, a 17% decline from 1998, partially due to competition from National Football League games. Pop singer Christina Aguilera sang the national anthem before the match and performed in the halftime show.
2000s The 2000 MLS Cup was again broadcast in the United States on ABC with English commentary and Spanish via secondary audio programming. The English broadcast was led by play-by-play announcer Jack Edwards and color commentator Ty Keough, who were joined by studio hosts Rob Stone and Alexi Lalas. The Spanish broadcast comprised play-by-play announcer Roberto Abramowitz and MetroStars coach Octavio Zambrano as color commentator. The ABC broadcast drew a 1.0 national rating, matching the 1999 final. The local broadcast in the Kansas City area had an estimated 5 percent share of televisions, falling behind concurrent broadcasts of the film Blank Check and a Kansas City Chiefs game that drew 64 percent.
ABC moved the start time of the 2001 MLS Cup by one hour from 1:30 p.m. Eastern Time to 12:30 p.m. to accommodate scheduling changes caused by the September 11 attacks. The English commentary crew once again consisted of Jack Edwards for play-by-play, Ty Keough with color analysis, and other programming hosted by Rob Stone, who was this time, joined by Dave Dir. The Spanish broadcast was transmitted over secondary audio programming on ABC and was headlined by play-by-play commentator Hammer Londoño and color analyst Hernan Pereyra of Radio Unica. The match was also broadcast in 108 other countries by ESPN International. The ABC broadcast earned a 1.0 Nielsen rating, beating the previous two editions of the cup.
Bad weather at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. led to a 57 minute long rain delay in the first half of the 2002 All-Star Game. Consequently, because ABC had to broadcast World News Tonight at 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time, the rest of the game was switched over to ESPN.
English play-by-play commentary for the 2002 MLS Cup on ABC was provided by JP Dellacamera with color analysis by Ty Keough and pregame and halftime shows hosted by Terry Gannon and Eric Wynalda, reprising their roles from ABC's coverage of the 2002 FIFA World Cup. The Spanish broadcast was handled by play-by-play commentator Ernesto Motta and color analyst Andres Rodriguez. The ABC broadcast was watched by an estimated audience of 1.2 million views, the lowest for an MLS Cup at the time.
English play-by-play commentary for the 2003 MLS Cup on ABC was once again provided by Dellacamera with color analysis Keough. Ernesto Motta returned from the previous cup's Spanish-language broadcast, working alongside color analyst Robert Sierra. ABC/ESPN provided a total of 20 cameras, including aerial coverage from a Goodyear Blimp. The ABC broadcast earned a Nielsen rating of 0.6, the lowest figure recorded for an MLS Cup.
In 2004, Dellacamera was now joined by Eric Wynalda on commentary for ABC's broadcast of the MLS Cup. Motta returned to the Spanish-language broadcast, working alongside color analyst Robert Sierra. The ABC/ESPN broadcast was produced by a team of 85 people and used 20 cameras, including specialized replay and slow-motion cameras. The match was also broadcast in over 175 other countries by ESPN International. The ABC broadcast earned a Nielsen rating of 0.8 and averaged a local 2.4 rating in the Kansas City metropolitan area—far below the competing Kansas City Chiefs game.
2005-06 From 2005 to 2011, FOX Soccer showed 25 to 30 live games each season, plus 2 to 3 playoff games. In 2007, MLS Saturday started showing a 30-minute pregame and a 30-minute postgame show for each game.
The 2005 MLS Cup was televised in the United States on ABC in English and Spanish using secondary audio programming. English play-by-play commentary was provided by JP Dellacamera with color analysis by Eric Wynalda, reprising their roles at MLS Cup 2004. Brandi Chastain provided sideline reporting, while Rob Stone anchored the pre-game and halftime shows. The Spanish language broadcast was provided by ESPN Deportes and included commentary from Randall Alvarez and Eduardo Biscayart. The match was also streamed via internet radio on MLSnet.com.
After averaging 223,000 viewers during the 2006 season, ESPN2's ratings increased slightly in 2007, to 289,000 viewers, including a regular-season high of 658,000 viewers for David Beckham's second regular season match. However, ratings dipped to 253,000 in 2008. Attendance often lagged, with few sellouts for the weeknight matches, with marquee club Los Angeles Galaxy unable to host home matches at the Home Depot Center on Thursdays due to its agreement with California State University, Dominguez Hills.
On August 4, 2006, ESPN reached a comprehensive multimedia agreement with Soccer United Marketing (SUM) for the rights to Major League Soccer through 2014. As part of the eight-year agreement, ESPN2 will televise 26 regular-season and three playoff MLS matches each year, all in primetime on Thursdays.
Highlights of the agreement include: ESPN2 will televise 26 regular-season MLS matches, primarily on Thursday nights. ESPN2 will televise three MLS playoff matches. ABC will televise one regular-season MLS match, the MLS All-Star Game, and MLS Cup. (replaced by ESPN in 2009, until 2017, returned starting in 2019) Televised coverage of the first round of the MLS Draft. MLS telecasts can be re-aired in full or abbreviated versions on any ESPN media platforms Extensive footage rights for all ESPN media platforms such as SportsCenter, ESPNEWS, ESPN Motion, ESPN360, etc. ESPN will also produce and be solely responsible for the content, whereas, they had not been able to do that in the past.
The 2006 MLS Cup was again televised in the United States on ABC in English and Spanish using secondary audio programming, earning a Nielsen rating of 0.8 and an estimated audience of 1.24 million. English play-by-play commentary was provided by Boston-based sportscaster Dave O'Brien and color analysis by Eric Wynalda and former U.S. men's national team coach Bruce Arena. Brandi Chastain provided sideline reporting, while Rob Stone anchored the pre-game and halftime shows. The match was also carried in 96 countries by ESPN International and its associated networks.
2007-09