St. Louis CITY SC joined a growing trend in Major League Soccer when it recently announced a new partnership to replay matches on TV. Through a partnership with First Alert 4, Matrix Midwest (local channel 32) will air the past weekend’s matches on Tuesdays at 7 p.m.
“By deepening our partnership with First Alert 4, we continue expanding our reach, offering new ways to connect people with CITY by watching our matches, getting to know our players, and growing their love for our team and our sport,” said Diego Gigliani, St. Louis CITY SC president and general manager.
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The first “CITY SC Match Day Replay” airs tonight and features CITY SC’s recent 1–2 loss to San Diego.
The Background
Before CITY’s inaugural season, in 2023, MLS made a 10-year, $2.5 billion partnership with Apple TV. Until now, there was no other way to watch CITY SC matches besides an MLS Season Pass subscription.
While the deal has been beneficial for the league’s appeal and a boon for markets that would have otherwise had to rely on regional sports networks, Apple TV’s paywall has closed off the product to some fans. So to make the matches more accessible, the MLS Season Pass is available as an add-on for DirecTV and Comcast subscribers, as well as for free to T-Mobile subscribers and CITY season ticket holders.
MLS clubs have also started to explore other ways to showcase their matches; CITY SC joins the likes of LAFC, the Seattle Sounders, and Charlotte FC in offering free over-the-air replays.
Still, overall viewership numbers continue to lag behind previous media rights deals with such networks as FOX and ABC. During last year’s MLS Championship match, for instance, the final combined audience number for the FOX and FOX Deportes simulcast was 468,000 viewers; there is no public data on how many fans watched via MLS Season pass. In comparison, more than 600,000 viewers watched the United Soccer League Championship.
While visibility will always be somewhat limited because of Apple TV’s paywall, these measures, along with select matches in the app and on the FOX/FS1 simulcast, will help deliver content to more casual MLS fans—and to die-hards who just can’t get enough.
