NEW YORK—Major League Soccer has announced plans to move MLS Productions, the league’s media and broadcast production arm, into a new studio and facilities at World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut.

The move will help MLS Productions expand its capabilities, broaden content offerings, offer more efficient workflows and centralize its broadcast content and graphics.

The move is part of a renewed, multiyear deal between MLS and IMG that will expand their existing broadcast production relationship. As part of the agreement, IMG will continue to produce live match and studio productions and programming for more than 600 annual games on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.

The WWE facility where MLS Production plans to reside is part of TKO Group Holdings, which recently reached an agreement with Endeavor to acquire IMG, in a transaction expected to be completed in the first half of this year.

The brand new state-of-the-art production facility, The Studios at WWE in Stamford, is a 30,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art production facility equipped with five studios with the latest technologies, wide-ranging production amenities, and highlighted by an awe-inspiring virtual production stage.

The facility features best-in-class production offerings and new cutting-edge technology to further improve the production of MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, MLS said. It will serve as the hub for popular MLS live studio programming and content in English and Spanish. The new location for MLS Season Pass will enable MLS Productions to add programming in the new season.

The bespoke facility, which has been engineered around the needs of MLS Productions, will also enable centralized solutions across the MLS workflow, the companies said.

“The debut of MLS Season Pass on Apple TV has been remarkable for fans around the world to be able to consume all MLS games and content,” said, Seth Bacon, executive vice president, media, MLS. “With the incredible momentum and excitement around the league, we are thrilled to further our partnership with IMG to support our vision of elevating production, creating new viewing opportunities, and pushing the sports broadcast landscape into the future.”

IMG produces content for some of the world’s biggest leagues and events, including the English Premier League, English Football League, Saudi Pro League, CBS Sports’ UEFA Champions League and Europa League coverage, UFC, DP World Tour, The Ryder Cup, and The Open Championship.

“Together with MLS and Apple, we have set a new standard for the MLS viewing experience, creating a new era of entertaining, highly engaging content for football fans globally,” said Barney Francis, executive vice president of studios, IMG. “Over the coming years, we will continue to innovate with cutting-edge technology and creativity, powered by our incredible new home, The Studios at WWE, and IMG’s industry-leading production experience and capabilities.”

“We have long admired the tremendous MLS-IMG partnership—and the fantastic product and results it has generated over the years,” WWE Executive Vice President, Media and Production Lee Fitting said. “We believe that WWE’s new state-of-the-art facilities will help take their collective capabilities to even greater heights.”

In 2023, MLS and Apple debuted MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, creating a single destination where every MLS match is available for fans worldwide, the league said. Together with its production partners IMG and NEP, MLS Season Pass has brought best-in-class production, more expansive coverage and increased global visibility, surpassing expectations in its first two years, according to the league.

NEW YORK—At the midseason mark, Major League Soccer is reporting record highs in traffic and engagement on its social media and digital platforms.

Engagement on League and Club social channels are at an all-time high and have received over 400M social interactions in 2024 to date, a +230% rise vs. last season. 

In addition the league reported that traffic on the league's website is up +102% year-to-date over 2023. This includes the highest single-day traffic in MLSsoccer.com's history when the Inter Miami vs. El Salvador preseason match was streamed live on the site on Jan 19.

The league also reported these record breaking stats:  

• 3X Increase in Video Views: @MLS' video content continues to increase in popularity, collecting 1 billion video views in 2024 thus far, three times more than the same time last year.
• Fastest Growing Social Following: MLS' social following has grown at a higher rate in 2024 than any other major men's North American sports leagues on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube:
• TikTok: +566K added followers in 2024 (+17% since start of season)
• YouTube: +180K added followers in 2024 (+14% since start of season)
• Instagram: +328K added followers in 2024 (+8% since start of season)
• Inter Miami Leads the Way in Social Engagement: Inter Miami has become the most followed North American sports team on TikTok (8.9M followers) and the 3rd most followed on Instagram (17.1M followers). 

In addition the league also reported midseason records for attendance, sponsorship revenue, & retail sales.

Major League Soccer's All-Star takes place July 24 when the MLS All-Stars take on the LIGA MX All-Stars at Lower.com Field in Columbus Ohio. The second edition of Leagues Cup kicks off July 26 with every MLS and LIGA MAX club competing in the month-long tournament. The MLS All-Star Game and Leagues Cup are available on MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app on Apple devices, smart TVs, streaming devices, set-top boxes, and game consoles, and the web at tv.apple.com. 

ENGLEWOOD, Colo.—The live broadcast technology services company Mobile TV Group (MTVG) has announced significant technology and equipment upgrades for 15 Flex Series mobile units. 

The improvements include hardware and software upgrades to make them 1080p, a move that will significantly improve in-person and Cloud Control hybrid cloud productions and enhance the viewing experience, the company said.  

MTVG reported that the opportunity to provide broadcast technology for Major League Soccer (MLS) games during the 2023 season and beyond was one of the catalysts for this investment. The upgrades will benefit multiple teams and leagues, as MTVG produces over half of all MLB, NHL, and NBA games every season. 

Flex Series mobile units were designed to be upgradable and keep up with the rate of technology evolution. 

“At MTVG we are committed to providing our customers with the technology they need to bring viewers at home the highest quality viewing experience possible,” said Nick Garvin, chief operating officer at MTVG. “MTVG prioritizes the broadcasting experience for our customers and the sports ecosystem. We are proud to be leaders in our industry in giving our customers the ability to make their viewers feel closer to the game than ever.” 

In addition to the Flex Series, MTVG offers the Edge Series, a hypermobile edge computing solution for small to midsize live productions — a solution that reduces the on-site footprint of a production crew. 

More information is available here.  

CUPERTINO, Calif.—In another major example of how streamers are piling into the sports business, Apple and Major League Soccer (MLS) have announced a major deal that will make the Apple TV app the exclusive destination to watch every single live MLS match. 

The deal begins in 2023 and runs through 2032. Financial terms were not disclosed. 

Apple is calling the deal “a historic first for a major professional sports league,” because it will allow fans around the world to watch all MLS, Leagues Cup,1 and select MLS NEXT Pro and MLS NEXT matches in one place without any local broadcast blackouts or the need for a traditional pay TV bundle.

In addition to all of the match content, the service will provide fans a new weekly live match whip-around show as well as game replays, highlights, analysis, and other original programming, Apple announced. 

A broad selection of MLS and Leagues Cup matches, including some of the biggest matchups, will also be available at no additional cost to Apple TV+ subscribers, with a limited number of matches available for free. As an added benefit to fans, access to the new MLS streaming service will be included as part of MLS full-season ticket packages.

“For the first time in the history of sports, fans will be able to access everything from a major professional sports league in one place,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Services. “It’s a dream come true for MLS fans, soccer fans, and anyone who loves sports. No fragmentation, no frustration — just the flexibility to sign up for one convenient service that gives you everything MLS, anywhere and anytime you want to watch. We can’t wait to make it easy for even more people to fall in love with MLS and root for their favorite club.”

“Apple is the perfect partner to further accelerate the growth of MLS and deepen the connection between our clubs and their fans,” said Don Garber, MLS’s commissioner. “Given Apple’s ability to create a best-in-class user experience and to reach fans everywhere, it’ll be incredibly easy to enjoy MLS matches anywhere, whether you’re a super fan or casual viewer.”

At launch, all MLS and Leagues Cup matches will include announcers calling the action in English and Spanish, and all matches involving Canadian teams will be available in French.

Apple and MLS will also provide enhanced league and club coverage for fans to easily follow the league or their favorite clubs in Apple News, with the ability to watch highlights right in the News app.

Complete details for the new MLS streaming service, including when fans can sign up, subscription pricing, specific details about the new MLS programming, an improved match schedule, broadcast teams, production enhancements, and pre and postgame coverage will be announced in the coming months, Apple said. 

NEW YORK—The MLS (Major League Soccer) and Facebook are now friends, as the two sides have announced a partnership that will see all MLS matches during the 2020 season have video recaps created for and played on Facebook Watch. Fans will be able to view the latest highlights from the league on MLS’ Facebook Page.

Another aspect of the partnership will see MLS host a weekly Watch Party on Facebook, where fans from around the world can view game recaps and videos as a community in real time. Official Facebook Groups for select teams will also be created.

“Facebook’s innovative Watch Party experience is the perfect place for Major League Soccer fans around the world to exchange views and share their passion for our clubs and palyers,” said Chris Schlosser, MLS senior vice president, media.

In addition, archival clips from top moments in MLS’ 25-year history and player-centric highlights will be available on Facebook Watch.

Facebook struck a similar deal for highlights of the PGA in January of this year.

The MLS content will be available on Facebook through mobile apps, desktops, laptops and a variety of TV apps.

ORLANDO, Fla.—Fox Sports will stream 4K coverage of the MLS All-Star Game July 31 from Orlando, Fla., as part of its expanded use of the high-res format online and made available on its apps.

“Fox is looking at how we get into 4K in a really exciting way,” says Steven Thorpe, VP, video platforms, for Fox. “The question is, how can we start getting 4K out to our audience? The best way to do that is through our digital products.”

Streaming 4K from Orlando (broadcast coverage begins at 8 p.m. EDT on FS1) follows Fox Sports’ 4K stream this summer of the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup made available on its website and coverage of the July 27 game between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox from Fenway Park.

Fox will also stream 4K coverage of the Aug. 3 contest between the Yankees and Red Sox from Yankee Stadium (broadcast begins at 1 p.m. EDT on FS1).

The 4K all-star soccer coverage, available on the Fox Sports App and Fox Now as well as Apple TV and Roku devices and via select MVPDs offering TV Everywhere services and pay-TV providers, will not make use of high dynamic range (HDR), which the broadcaster is experimenting with at the moment, says Thorpe.

For distribution, FOX has partnered with satellite service provider SES. Coverage from Orlando City Stadium will be uplinked to an SES satellite and downlinked to an SES facility where basic bugs and slates will be added before being re-uplinked for distribution to Fox’ distribution partners, says Thorpe.

One destination will be Verizon Digital Media Services where Thorpe’s team and Verizon will rely on the Verizon Slicer ecosystem for transcoding into HLS video, which will be transited out via Verizon’s EdgeCast CDN and ultimately to consumer devices, he explains.

For consumers, the goal is to make accessing the 4K stream fast and easy. “We are trying to make sure we surprise and delight our audience by making content available in 4K,” says Thorpe. “We will give them some simple badging that lets them know a feed is available in that higher quality. We want to make sure that when people go into the Fox Sports app or Fox Now, 4K content is treated just like anything else.”

The approach Fox Sports is taking to 4K production harkens back to the early days of HD production, says Michael Davies, Fox Sports SVP, Field & Technical Operations. “The way to go about it [4K production] is to produce in that highest common denominator format and downconvert,” he says.

While resolution is important, it is HDR that will make the most noticeable impact. “I would go as far as to say that the colorimetry of a broadcast is more important than the resolution. It’s nice when you have both. But overall, the HDR is the moneymaker,” says Davies.

During these early days of HDR, Fox Sports has zeroed in on Hybrid Log Gamma (HLG) for high dynamic range, “mainly because of what the manufacturers support at the moment,” says Davies.

There is even an incremental increase in the quality of standard dynamic range video that begins as HDR and is downconverted, another benefit of starting in the higher resolution and downconverting, he adds.

However, challenges remain from a production point of view. Small, specialty cameras, such as those used in pylons, aren’t available with 4K support. Nor are the RF cameras that play a critical role in sports production, he says.

Additionally, high frame rate cameras and graphical treatments viewers expect, like the yellow line on a football field, are in short supply, says Davies.

As a consequence, the availability of upconverters on production trucks takes on added importance. “There is a fair amount of conversion that is always needed, and sometimes you find that sort of left out,” he says, adding the dearth of upconverters makes renting additional resources common.

An often overlooked aspect of 4K production—until it’s needed—is monitoring. “All well and good if you are producing 4K, but unless—let’s say your video person—has an HDR monitor to actually see what he is doing, you will need to make sure one is added,” says Davies.

As Fox Sports expands its 4K sports coverage, however, it’s important not to lose sight of the fact that the vast majority of viewers still watch in HD.

“Let’s be honest, there are not a lot of people watching HDR at the moment, so it is important to make sure at the end of the day that you are protecting the show that 99% of the people are watching,” says Davies. “They won’t understand if the colors are wrong because you are doing HDR for a small segment of the audience.”