Apple and Major League Soccer Wednesday shared their live event production plan for MLS Season Pass.
Spearheading MLS Season Pass coverage is a team of more than 80 accomplished announcers and soccer legends presenting to fans in English and Spanish, plus French for matches involving Canadian clubs. They represent 21 different countries and nationalities, and in total have covered more than 75 World Cups, 30 Champions League finals, 30 Olympics, and innumerable Premier League, LaLiga, and Bundesliga matches. Together, they make up one of the largest collections of on-air talent by a single network or service covering soccer and any major sports league.
Live match and studio productions will be supported by a pair of global industry leaders: NEP Group and IMG Productions. Together, they will power event production for over 900 matches representing over 2,000 hours of live coverage, as well as production of live studio programming on MLS Season Pass.
All MLS and Leagues Cup live matches will be produced at MLS stadiums, including on-site talent, using a fleet of production units to produce simultaneous coverage of up to 14 matches each game night. Live studio programming will be created at a newly rebuilt production facility in New York City with a trio of state-of-the-art studios that will serve as the central hub for all MLS Season Pass studio programming.
All matches will feature commentary in English and Spanish, while matches involving Canadian teams will also have French commentary. Fans in the US and Canada will have the option to select their home team’s radio broadcast for audio on the Apple TV app where available. Viewers will also have the ability to watch any match from the start, no matter when they tune in, and have access to the full game replay immediately after the match has ended. Additionally, MLS Season Pass features a vast library of MLS classics, historic and current match replays, highlights, and club-produced content that is updated weekly.
Fans can visit mlssoccer.com/schedule to see the full 2023 MLS season schedule, including which matches that will be available for free on the Apple TV app during the first month. Additional free matches will be added regularly throughout the season.
“MLS 360” talent
“MLS 360,” the service’s new live whip-around show, will be led by studio hosts Liam McHugh and Kaylyn Kyle, who will be joined by the dynamic analyst duo of former teammates Sacha Kljestan and Bradley Wright-Phillips. Rules expert Christina Unkel will round out the show’s talent roster.
“MLS Countdown” and “MLS Wrap-Up” Talent
Jillian Sakovits and Andrew Wiebe will serve as hosts of “MLS Countdown” and “MLS Wrap-Up,” the English-language pre- and postgame shows, and they will be joined by analysts Nigel Reo-Coker, Calen Carr, Shep Messing and Matt Doyle. Tony Cherchi and Stefano Fusaro will host the Spanish-language pre- and postgame shows, and they will be joined by analysts Diego Valeri, Melissa Ortiz, and Chelsea Cabarcas.
Play-by-play and analyst teams
More than 60 play-by-play announcers and expert analysts will be in the booth calling matches each week. Their expertise and passion for the game will keep fans entertained and informed throughout the season.
The announcer pairings for the start of the 2023 MLS season:
English:
· Jake Zivin and Taylor Twellman
· Kevin Costigan and Maurice Edu
· Kevin Egan and Kyndra de St. Aubin
· Steve Cangialosi and Danny Higginbotham
· Eric Krakauer and Lloyd Sam
· Jenn Hildreth/Chris Wittyngham and Lori Lindsey
· Blake Price and Paul Dolan
· Max Bretos and Brian Dunseth
· Mark Followill/Chris Wittyngham and Danielle Slaton
· Andres Cordero and Jamie Watson
· Callum Williams and Calen Carr
· Tyler Terens and Devon Kerr
· Tony Husband and Ross Smith
· Mark Rogondino and Heath Pearce
· Ed Cohen and Greg Sutton
· Adrian Healey and Cobi Jones
Play-by-play announcer Nate Bukaty and analysts Tony Meola and Warren Barton are also regular members of the team.
Spanish:
· Pablo Ramírez and Carlos Ruiz
· Jorge Perez Navarro and Marcelo Balboa
· Juan Arango and Carlos Suarez
· Sergio Ruiz and Miguel Gallardo
· Moisés Linares and Jaime Macías
· Bruno Vain and Andrés Agulla
· Jose Hernandez and Eduardo Biscayart
· Ramses Sandoval and Walter Roque
· Rodolfo Landeros and Martín Zuñiga
· Raúl Guzmán and Sonny Guadarrama
· Adrian Garcia Marquez and Francisco Pinto
Francisco X. Rivera, Pablo Mariño and Maximiliano Cordaro will be regular match analysts. In addition to their studio hosting duties, Fusaro will handle play-by-play and Cherchi will serve as a match analyst.
French:
· Frederic Lord and Vincent Destouches
· Matthew Cullen and Sébastien Le Toux
· Olivier Brett and Patrice Bernier
French analyst Matthias Van Halst is also a regular member of the team.
