Media reporter offers unique idea for MLS' promotion of Messi

"They need to showcase Messi. I had said 'Monday Night Messi,' you know, I'd make a 'Monday Night Football' for soccer. He wouldn't play every week, of course, but he'd play a lot on those Mondays. Because if' you're trying to sell (subscriptions) in the United States domestically, you want them to taste your league on one night and get Messi another night."

The main criticism of MLS' deal with Apple is that the league put too many games behind the walled garden, one that costs at least $13 per month and may not be attractive beyond die-hard MLS fans. Apple TV+ failed to gain new subscribers in the first quarter of 2023 and it only holds six percent of the streaming market in the US, according to industry research shared on World Soccer Talk. Obviously this was prior to the start of its MLS package, as well as the final season of its biggest hit, "Ted Lasso."

In his review of Apple TV+'s debut with MLS, Andrew Webster of The Verge highlighted a potential problem: that other soccer leagues could move behind someone's paywall, too.

Now, imagine MLS Season Pass is a hit that gives all of those other leagues the same idea. Paying a separate subscription to watch each of LaLiga, the Bundesliga, or the Premier League sounds like a nightmare that would very quickly get out of hand financially — and that’s not even including all of the other teams and leagues I follow from other sports. It almost makes cable seem appealing.

"Monday Night Messi" could be a huge attractant in the short-term, but realistically, soccer consumers subscribe to more than one streaming service. While Messi is in the GOAT conversation, the rest of his new league will have to rise to the occasion to make sure that subscribers don't hit the cancel button once he's done for good.