Larry Berg is set to become MLS’s third commissioner. He’s already framing media rights as one of his biggest growth opportunities.
What We Know: MLS and Apple signed a 10-year, $2.5 billion deal in 2022. The Season Pass paywall came down for the 2026 season, opening games to standard Apple TV subscribers. With the changes, the deal is now set to run through 2029. Apple agreed to waive its contractual right to opt-out after the 2027 season. Following the changes, unique viewers per match reportedly climbed to about 120,000, a nearly 50% year-over-year jump. Even so, NYCFC CEO Brad Sims recently called broadcast revenue the league’s “one gaping hole.” Berg spoke with Front Office Sports about what he sees for the future of the league’s media rights.
What They Said: Larry Berg (via Front Office Sports): “In my private equity business, if I buy or acquire a business that has a very popular revenue item that is low, that means a lot of upside. So just mathematically, we clearly have upside in media. We don’t have, in some cases, the same percentages as other sports leagues; that’s pretty obvious to us, but it also inspires us to correct that.”
Larry Berg: “I do think it’s [media rights] an opportunity for growth and something we certainly plan to improve over time.”
What Remains Unclear: It’s also unclear how Berg’s next deal will value distribution versus raw audience. Timing for formal negotiations remains unset too.
What It Means Berg is framing MLS’s below-market media revenue as opportunity rather than crisis. That’s just smart business. An approach that allows him room to negotiate privately better with the potential for a massive upside. With the league’s media rights deals out to compete with the NFL and MLB over the next couple of years, it will be interesting to see who is in the bidding for the MLS because of heightened costs of the other leagues.
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John Mamola is Barrett Media’s sports editor and daily sports columnist. He brings over two decades of experience (Chicago, Tampa/St Petersburg) in the broadcast industry with expertise in brand management, sales, promotions, producing, imaging, hosting, talent coaching, talent development, web development, social media strategy and design, video production, creative writing, partnership building, communication/networking with a long track record of growth and success. He is a five-time recognized top 20 program director in a major market via Barrett Medi’s Top 20 series and has been honored internally multiple times as station/brand of the year (Tampa, FL) and employee of the month (Tampa, FL) by iHeartMedia. Connect with John by email at John@BarrettMedia.com.