Major League Soccer has launched its first 24-hour channel on Pluto TV’s free streaming service. The MLS channel will not carry live games but will air recent replays, condensed and classic matches, highlights, studio analysis, and documentary-style programming.
This is the first sports league network on Pluto’s ad-supported platform, which Viacom acquired for $340 million in March. Pluto TV hosts some sports content on channels such as Stadium, a clip- and studio-based version of Fox Sports, the Big Sky Network, and several offerings serving niche sports. Pluto is available on most streaming devices such as Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, and Android TV as well as several brands of Smart TVs. The MLS network will be Channel 203 on Pluto.
MLS will not be producing any content exclusively for Pluto but will be providing full replays of games from the current season as well as famous matches such as the 2018 MLS Cup and Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s debut for the LA Galaxy. Programming already appearing elsewhere will run on Pluto’s MLS channel, too, including Matchday Central, Extratime, MLS Review, and various highlight shows produced out of the AT&T MLS Studios in New York City. Documentary-style shows such as The Movement (on the intersection of soccer and culture) and Birth of a Rivalry (about intense league pairings) will also be shown on the channel.
“We’re really excited to learn how our fans interact with this kind of an experience, this lean-back experience,” said MLS Digital SVP and GM Chris Schlosser. “I think we’re going to learn a whole lot about which content resonates, which content doesn’t.”
Pluto TV’s SVP of content partnerships, Amy Kuessner, said longer form programming generally attracts more viewership, and the network’s demographics line up well with MLS fans.
“We share a common user with Major League Soccer, which makes this so much more of an intriguing deal for us,” Kuessner said. “It is clearly a sports fan, but it is a tech-savvy sports fan.”
Kuessner said Pluto will likely steer clear of the live sports rights market for major properties, given the hefty price tags, but predicted that the streaming service “can and will be just as successful” with its varied content. She indicated that Pluto conceivably could start doing business directly with individual pro sports franchises that both produce healthy amounts of their own content and have national fanbases.
“You might, on Pluto for the first time ever, see team-oriented channels,” Kuessner said.
Given that Bellator MMA is a Viacom subsidiary, Kuessner said there is a reasonable chance of envisioning a Bellator channel in the future that would serve as a companion to the live fight broadcasts on DAZN. Kuessner indicated that Pluto was having similar discussions with golf and tennis circuits.
Schlosser said that whether MLS would experiment with similar versions of the channel on other streaming services is “too early to say.” Whereas the MLS app encourages lean-in engagement, he said the Pluto channel will be a valuable counterpart for fans to relax and bask in soccer content.
“All MLS, 24 hours a day,” Schlosser said.