NEW YORK, NY–Major League Soccer reached a linear broadcast deal with Fox Sports of the US, Bell Media (TSN and RDS) of Canada, and TelevisaUnivision to televise matches starting next season through 2026. These matches will not be exclusive as they are supplemental to the league’s 10-year streaming rights deal with Apple TV which will broadcast every match live through its Season Pass.
Below is the breakdown of what each linear outlet will broadcast starting in 2023:
FOX Sports
- 34 regular season games annually and eight Audi MLS Cup playoff matches each season on FOX/FS1/FOX Deportes (Including 15 regular season matches each year on FOX)
- MLS Cup every year on FOX and FOX Deportes
- Leagues Cup: 10 Group Stage, four Round of 32, and two Round of 16 matches each tournament on FS1
- Highlight rights, editorial coverage, and cross-marketing support
“We’re proud to extend our longstanding partnership with Major League Soccer at a truly exciting time for the sport here in the United States,” said Eric Shanks, CEO & Executive Producer, FOX Sports. “There is no soccer league in the world better positioned for growth and with FOX’s unrivaled reach we are fired up to be a part of it.”
Bell Media (TSN & RDS)
- Extensive schedule of regular season matches, eight MLS Cup playoff matches, and MLS Cup each season
- One match per week featuring a Canadian club
- Leagues Cup: 12 Group Stage and four Round of 32 matches each tournament on TSN; Three Group Stage and four Round of 32 matches on RDS
- Highlight rights, editorial coverage, and cross-marketing support
“We look forward to continuing our long-standing partnership with Major League Soccer to deliver an extensive lineup of regular season and playoff coverage across TSN and RDS, culminating with MLS Cup,” said Shawn Redmond , Vice-President, Bell Media Sports. “With this agreement, we will continue to serve Canadian soccer fans in both English and French with comprehensive live coverage on TSN and RDS, showcasing our fan-favourite Canadian teams every week throughout the season.”
TelevisaUnivision
- Leagues Cup: 21 matches each tournament on Univision/UNIMÁS/TUDN, which includes:
- 12 Group Stage matches
- 8 Knockout Round matches
- Leagues Cup Final
- MLSsoccer.com‘s Spanish language website will live on TelevisaUnivision’s platform for duration of agreement TelevisaUnivision will also have MLS highlights and substantial editorial coverage.
“We are thrilled to continue our partnership with Major League Soccer and bring our viewers the excitement of the 2023 Leagues Cup. As The Home of Soccer, fans can count on our networks and platforms to deliver comprehensive coverage of the biggest leagues and rivalries in North America,” said Olek Loewenstein, President of Global Sports Business of TelevisaUnivision.
The linear deals, which will lead up to the 2026 World Cup, also means the end of broadcasts on ESPN who have televised matches since the league’s inception in 1996. ESPN, which in some soccer circles used to stand for “Every Soccer Person’s Network”, now just carry the German Bundesliga, Spain’s La Liga, the FA Cup, and several other European leagues–mostly on ESPN+. The US National Teams will broadcast on Warner Brothers Discovery Sports starting in 2023.
Fox had a previous stint with MLS from 2003 to 2011 and have been a broadcast partner since 2015. Both Bell Media and TelevisaUnivision (Univision/Unimas/TUDN) has been an original league partner since 1996.
