A local touch was lost when MLS signed its 10-year media rights deal with Apple, which will net a reported $2.5 billion for the league. Seattle will no longer have a televised “Voice of the Sounders” and instead will have rotating broadcasters for matches beginning this season.
Keith Costigan has been the team’s play-by-play announcer since 2016. The Irishman most recently worked alongside club legends Kasey Keller and Steve Zakuani to bring insight to matches. Costigan, who’s based in Los Angeles, joined the Apple team and is now paired with former U.S. men’s national team midfielder Maurice Edu.
The duo will crisscross the country calling various MLS matches beginning with the Nashville SC versus New York City FC season opener Saturday.
“One of my favorite rituals is I would go down and get the mini donuts at Pike Place Market, so I can’t wait to get back,” said Costigan, who couldn’t share when he’d be assigned to a Sounders match. “If you look at the (German) Bundesliga or the (English) Premier League, they all have similar setups as Apple in terms of the league is broadcast by who they consider good commentators who can tell the story of the league.
“We all hate change. But after a few weeks, fans are going to realize what a great opportunity this is and it’s about pushing the league forward. The Sounders have done that with the local broadcast talent (over the years). Nobody had that all-star roster but there are going to be some big names coming in.”
The Apple deal is highlighted by “MLS Season Pass,” a subscription service through the Apple TV app, which is available on Apple devices, smart TVs, streaming devices, set-top boxes, game consoles and on the web at tv.apple.com. It will make the Sounders and league globally accessible with broadcasts offered in English and Spanish for every match and French for Canadian teams in more than 100 countries and regions with no blackouts.
MLS Season Pass subscriptions costs $99 per season ($14.99 per month); Apple TV+ subscribers can purchase for $79 per season ($12.99 per month). Every MLS season-ticket holder has a subscription included in their packages. And Apple’s Family Sharing system will permit six different people to share one MLS Season Pass account. T-Mobile customers will receive the subscription for free.
Those who don’t want to subscribe to “MLS Season Pass” can still view select matches free of charge, including the league’s opening weekend this Saturday and Sunday. The list of free matches per week can be found at MLSsoccer.com.
In addition to access to every MLS regular-season match, MLS Cup, Leagues Cup (except in Mexico), MLS Next Pro and MLS Next matches, the season pass has content like learning supporters’ groups rituals for each club and select player features. For match broadcasts, there’s the standard live pregame, halftime and postgame analysis and a whip-around show for live views and highlights of games.
“(Apple) have put their full weight behind this partnership,” said Hugh Weber, the new Sounders president of business operations. “This isn’t a dip your toe in the water and let’s see what happens. They have a lot to lose if this isn’t wildly successful. … Their commitment to this and their belief, which is as strong as ours, is this has real reach and scale. To be able to do, not just outside the 1,000 matches will show, but in terms of the content that will go around it and how our brands will be more accessible to more people on a broader basis; that’s what gives me excitement.”
MLS will still have 34 matches on FOX or FOX Sports 1 and FOX Deportes. Seattle will have five games on FOX and one, Sunday’s match against Colorado, on FS1.
But the on-air talent for the Sounders on MLS Season Pass is pegged to be Mark “Rogo” Rogondino and Heath Pearce. Rogo was a longtime voice for the LA Galaxy while Pearce is a former USMNT defender.
Zakuani said he immediately declined to join Apple due to the travel schedule. He will be part of the radio team as iHeartMedia and Sports Radio 950 KJR AM continue their partnership with the Sounders. Former Sounder Danny Jackson will handle the play-by-play in place of Costigan and former Sounder Brad Evans will replace Keller as an analyst.
There’s an option through MLS Season Pass for viewers to switch to the radio broadcast and hear that call during matches. Including El Rey 1360AM, which provides Sounders coverage in Spanish.
“For all of us, it’s going to be weird sort of having national voices doing a game and then leaving town,” said Zakuani, who will also continue his podcast and work as a brand ambassador for the Sounders. “We’re used to having these voices that were very much Seattle people. Keith lives in LA but was here for every game and was entrenched into the Sounders community. It’ll be an adjustment but is good for the league as a whole.”