MLS Cup Playoffs viewership sees strong year-over-year growth

As Lionel Messi and Inter Miami prepare to face off against Thomas Müller and the Vancouver Whitecaps for the MLS Cup on Saturday, the league is touting strong year-over-year viewership growth for its postseason.

On Tuesday, MLS announced that MLS Cup Playoffs matches are averaging 711,000 viewers globally across Apple TV and linear platforms, up 23% versus last season’s postseason run to this point. Prior to this year’s playoffs, MLS and Apple announced that all postseason games will be made available to Apple TV subscribers without requiring an MLS Season Pass subscription. No doubt, that decision likely contributed to the increased viewership by lowering the barrier for entry.

In fact, the decision was a prelude for what was to come. Just last month, MLS and Apple announced they would drop the Season Pass requirement altogether beginning next season, making all MLS matches available to any Apple TV subscriber without an additional payment required.

Of course, it’s difficult to put these viewership figures into context. The 711,000 viewers figure represents MLS and Apple’s internal data rather than a measurement from a third-party firm like Nielsen, so methodologies could differ. Of course, it’s also a global figure, and MLS has struck a number of linear deals abroad which could serve to boost viewership abroad.

However, the increase follows a similar trend from the regular season, when MLS touted a 29% year-over-year increase.

The data should bode well for a strong audience on Saturday afternoon when Messi makes his first-ever MLS Cup Final appearance, which will air live across Apple TV, Fox, and Fox Deportes in the United States.

Luckily for MLS, it will be one of the final times in which the league’s postseason will be contested during the heart of football season. Saturday’s MLS Cup match will compete head-to-head with the end of the Big 12 Championship Game and the beginning of the SEC Championship Game; not exactly the caliber of live sports programming a league like MLS wants to compete against. The newly formatted calendar will flip the MLS season to end in May rather than December beginning in 2028.