Major League Soccer Has Lost Its Way

This weekend marked the start of the US Major League Soccer (MLS) season. For over a decade now, soccer has been my favorite sport - in large part due to my kids playing the game growing up (and my son continuing to play at the collegiate level), and a growing deep appreciation for the athleticism, strategy, and deceptive simplicity of the game. I'm a diehard Chelsea Football Club fan (even with their current form...) and also enjoy watching my local team - the New England Revolution . When the kids were younger, we had partial season tickets to the Revs, and watching their games on TV has long been a favorite family activity.

Coming off the excitement of the World Cup - which culminated in arguably one of the best finals of all time - I was excited to welcome the MLS season, as I'm sure many other new and longtime US soccer fans were. Being much more tuned into the Premier League, I had largely ignored the advertising for the new "MLS Season Pass" deal between the MLS and Apple TV, assuming that at least the local games would still be on cable TV (yes we - like roughly 50% of this country - still have cable TV). Much to my chagrin, I found that is not the case.

Instead, I discovered that in order to watch just about any MLS games this season, I need to buy the MLS Season Pass. While I'm familiar with this model for the Premier League and other international leagues and competitions, every other major US sporting league is available on cable TV. Thus, I find this move surprising at a time when soccer is still trying to gain viewers and popularity in the US. Although soccer is the most popular global sport, it currently ranks 6th in US viewership according to theSporting.blog, miles behind the NFL, NBA, and MLB, and even behind boxing.

At a time when the MLS is trying to attract new audiences, making it the only major sport available exclusively behind a paywall seems to be counterproductive.

As I scrolled through my cable channels this weekend, beyond the tennis, golf, skiing, XFL, basketball, hockey, and myriad other sports, were several soccer matches: I could choose between the Premier League, the Mexican Liga MX, the Turkish Süper Lig, etc. - but no US MLS. For casual soccer fans who are not yet invested in the MLS, why would they pay to watch the MLS vs. just watching other high (or higher...) quality international matches without a subscription?

Despite my overall misgivings about the move, given that I already pay for Peacock to watch most Premier League games, and have occasionally purchased month-to-month subscriptions for other services to watch FA Cup or other international soccer matches, I was willing to consider the same for the MLS so I could watch the Revs. Most of those services cost $5-10 per month - a price I'm willing to pay for the sport I love. However, I was shocked to find out that the MLS Season Pass costs $15 per month - 3 times as much as I pay for the Premier League subscription on Peacock.

While I appreciate that the MLS is a business like any other and they need to find ways to drive revenue, I think MLS leadership could benefit from a quick refresher on "stakeholder capitalism" vs. "shareholder capitalism." While Milton Friedman championed the idea that the only responsibility a business has is profit generation for its shareholders, R. Edward Freeman countered with the stakeholder theory of organizational management, stating that a firm should create value for all of its stakeholders. Fans are critical stakeholders for major sporting leagues, and while the extra content available on the MLS Season Pass may increase value for diehard MLS fans, charging casual or new fans $15 per month for something that used to be available on cable does not increase value, nor will it increase viewership or loyalty among casual fans.

The deal the MLS signed with Apple for the MLS Season Pass is for 10 years. I sincerely hope they come to recognize and rectify this error long before then, or else I fear that soccer - or at least the MLS - will fall further down the popularity chart. For now I'll be sticking to the Premier League, while following the Revs updates on FotMob and The Bent Musket.