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On paper, the new deal between Major League Soccer and Apple TV looks fabulous. For $99 per season, fans get every game, replays of classic matches, player profiles, and lots of other soccer content. And there are no blackouts. If the game is on, you can see it, anywhere.
But at least one Portlander is pissed off.
After driving around looking for a bar where he could watch the Timbers home opener Feb. 27 without success, Portland man Grant Mooney started a petition on Medium asking MLS to pay for Apple TV in every sports bar in all 29 MLS cities.
For 10 sports bars per city, Mooney says, it would cost MLS $66,120 total, including the Apple TV box. That’s a drop in the bucket compared with the $2.5 billion that MLS got from Apple for a 10-year broadcast deal, Mooney says.
A Timbers spokesman says the Apple deal is great for everyone, especially bars. And even with the change, bars with DirecTV can still show MLS games. They need to pay the $99, but at today’s prices, that amounts to selling about 14 beers—an easy feat, especially if the Timbers are winning.
See photos of the match Mooney missed here.