Apple is close to agreeing a new deal which could see Apple TV become the home of a new soccer tournament. According to a new report from The New York Times, and citing “three people familiar with the matter” for the information, the agreement could be announced as soon as this month.
The tournament appears to be the Mundial de Clubes FIFA (a name understood to now be under review), a 32-team version of the FIFA Club World Cup, and Apple would hold the worldwide rights to the event. FIFA announced the “first edition of FIFA’s new prime club competition” in December, confirming that the first tournament would be played in the United States between June 15 and July 13 , 2025.
While likely to be a major live sports move for Apple, it won’t be its first soccer-related partnership. Apple’s existing deal with Major League Soccer is a 10-year deal and also includes the worldwide rights. However, the new FIFA tournament could prove more appealing from an international perspective, due to the teams involved. It would also be the first time that FIFA has agreed a single worldwide contract
Apple’s deal with the MLS did result in the launch of MLS Season Pass, a standalone subscription service. While it remains unclear how the new tournament will fit in with Apple’s existing subscriptions, it seems unlikely that Apple will offer a standalone subscription, similar to MLS Season Pass, for what is essentially a month-long tournament. This would seem to suggest that access to the tournament is likely to be offered as an additional benefit of Apple TV+.
It is also possible that some games could be available to watch without an Apple TV+ subscription through the Apple TV app. This seems all the more likely considering senior FIFA executives have raised concerns over the availability of free-to-air matches, according to the report.
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