It lives. Happy MLS season pass day. A truly historic day in sport.
I promise I’m not saying this just because the good folks at Apple are now tracking my heart rate down to the millisecond, or because I’m just thrilled at how easy it is to type The Daily Kickoff on this whole new iPhone 14 Pro Max they sent me. I say this because we’ve never seen anything like it, which means it’s both exciting and scary.
It’s a real first day of school feeling because there can be bumps in the road at first. It’s going to take some time for everyone to get used to something that’s never been done before in the sport. This is both for the people involved in creating the content and for its consumption. But once it starts to click, it’s going to be outstanding.
I know there are concerns. A common problem I’ve seen is that people won’t be able to turn on their TVs and flip through the channels and come across MLS and become a lifelong fan. Well y’all, I’m going to agree with you, there were maybe five people in the last year who actually did this and that sounds like a generous estimate. Seriously, very few people still have cable, and I think we can largely agree that people who do usually aren’t the target age for your average MLS fan.
What sets soccer apart from other professional sports in North America is the atmosphere inside the stadiums. By investing in the people who fill stadiums through free season tickets to season ticket holders and cutting out Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET as the fixed day and time for MLS, you’re investing in the kind of grassroots community building that actually attracts attention. and create fans for life.
It also helps that the league can tell stories in a bit more depth. Everyone loves a story. If done right, getting to know the key characters and storylines on a more personal level will do wonders to help make the overall league product as engaging as possible. You’ve seen examples of the power of storytelling in sports like Formula 1 and football teams like Wrexham in recent years. Now MLS can take that to another level.
Will everything be perfect from the start? Like most things, probably not. But, objectively, the ceiling is incredibly high with this partnership. A few years from now, we could look back on today as another pivotal moment for the league. For now, though, let’s just get excited (and anxious) to get through day one.
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