A T-Mobile MLS Season Pass graphic. (T-Mobile.)

We’re only a week away from the Feb. 25 start of the MLS season, the first where all matches will be broadcast by Apple under a 10-year, $2.5 billion global deal. Some games will be simulcast on linear TV , but to get access to all MLS and Leagues Cups games will require a subscription to MLS Season Pass. And that will cost U.S. customers $14.99 a month or $99 a year. However, that’s not going to be the case for some people: MLS season ticket holders will receive free access, and wireless provider T-Mobile announced Thursday that all of their T-Mobile and Metro by T-Mobile customers will get a free year’s subscription as well. Here’s a video they put out on that:

Here’s more on this offer from a T-Mobile release:

What’s the news: Soccer fans, let’s go! T-Mobile customers can soon experience MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV App on Us — the unprecedented subscription service bringing the action and excitement of Major League Soccer to the Apple TV app. MLS Season Pass ($99 annual value) features every live regular-season match, all MLS Cup playoff matches, and the Leagues Cup – all with no blackouts. Available for all T-Mobile and Metro by T-Mobile customers on Us beginning Feb. 21 in the T-Mobile Tuesdays app.

What they’re saying: “T-Mobile customers already get unbeatable value with entertainment benefits like Apple TV+ on Us and now we’re giving them yet another with one year of MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app on Us,” said Mike Katz, President of Marketing, Innovation and Experience at T-Mobile. “With the Un-carrier, you don’t just get access to the nation’s leading 5G network, you also get some serious value with so much included on top of your wireless plan.”

…MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app on Us will be available in the T-Mobile Tuesdays app starting Feb. 21 for T-Mobile and Metro by T-Mobile customers. To access, T-Mobile customers just need to download the app and sign in with their phone number. For more information on T-Mobile Tuesdays, visit https://www.t-mobile.com/offers/t-mobile-tuesdays.

As noted there, T-Mobile already offers free ongoing Apple TV+ subscriptions to those on their Magenta Max plans, and free Apple TV+ for six months to those on Magenta plans. But this MLS Season Pass deal is an even larger monthly savings, and it will be available to all T-Mobile and Metro by T-Mobile customers. So that’s going to be a significant number of people able to get this for free, at least for this year. And that may help alleviate some of the concerns about MLS fans losing access to games under this deal. That’s still a concern in some regards (there are plenty of other wireless providers out there), but this does boost how many people will be able to get MLS Season Pass.

T-Mobile has tried a strategy similar to this before with free year-long MLB.tv packages for customers, which they launched in 2016 and ran through last season. There’s no word yet on if they’ll offer that deal as well again this year or not.

[T-Mobile]

 

 

About Andrew Bucholtz

Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.