How Major League Soccer is embracing fan rituals, brand partnerships and a growing event playbook
With a new season underway, a primetime broadcast property to promote and the 2026 FIFA World Cup around the corner, Major League Soccer (MLS) is casting a wide net over the soccer ecosystem this year in an effort to grow an already thriving fan base. To get the ball rolling, the league has been leaning into its brand partnerships and experiential tactics, in addition to TV spots, athlete partnerships, earned media, p.r., OOH and social.
Altogether, MLS says those cogs comprise a “content engine” designed for maximum visibility, and in particular, to drive tune-in for “Sunday Night Soccer” on Apple TV. On that front, MLS is leveraging a “singular” insight to boost viewership—that most consumers lay low on Sunday evenings—and turning the occasion on its head.
During the season opener between the LA Galaxy and New York City FC in Los Angeles last month, MLS and 16-year partner Continental Tire activated a mobile living room that aimed to replicate the experience, and joy, of viewing “Sunday Night Soccer” at home.
“It’s the idea that Sunday night is this wind-down moment for most of us. You’re in your pajamas and your slippers, and you’re on the couch and maybe you have those Sunday scaries,” says Radhika Duggal, cmo at Major League Soccer. “But if you watch ‘Sunday Night Soccer presented by Continental Tire,’ you totally flip the script. And when you’re doing that, the couch isn’t where the weekend ends; it’s the place of noise and debate and MLS energy. And it’s just the opposite of that sleepy ritual.”
On a mission to take over L.A. and make a major splash during opening weekend, the league also hosted a fan event with Walmart to promote the co-branded “Saturday Showdown” broadcast platform, which features a marquee MLS matchup every Saturday throughout the regular season. A large chunk of MLS’s paid marketing plan focused on L.A., as well, with much of the city wrapped in Major League Soccer advertising.
During the same weekend, the league executed an OOH push in New York City, where it utilized a connected series of Times Square billboards that directed fans to the MLS viewing experience via QR code, and enacted a takeover of the Penn District Plaza with 26 synchronized digital screens.
EXPERIENTIAL’S GROWING ROLE
The overall approach was part of MLS’s new focus on incorporating product marketing into a mix that has historically been brand marketing-heavy.
“You’ve got to do brand marketing, but you’ve got to create appointment viewing—that’s our product—and we have to be really in your face and clear about, ‘Go here to watch every Sunday at this time,’” says Duggal.
And experiential may play a critical role in spreading that message, and supporting MLS’s new strategy, she says. Depending on the success of the campaign, the Continental Tire mobile living room experience may be expanded to other markets as MLS seeks out modular, scalable and repeatable tactics that will increase viewership throughout the season.
“Experiences continue to grow in importance for sports leagues and sports teams because the reality is, advertising is very cluttered, and to some degree, so is experiential marketing,” Duggal says. “There are pop-ups and photo booths and branded giveaways. But this idea of a mobile living room, we thought really tied back to the consumer insight. It’s built around a behavior that we could take from market to market.”
ROAD TO THE WORLD CUP
While momentum builds for the FIFA World Cup, taking place from June 11 to July 19 in stadiums across the U.S., Mexico and Canada, MLS is preparing to position itself at the center of the conversation with a multichannel effort and a “think global, act local”-style approach. While the league will implement one “end-to-end,” go-to-market strategy, it will also cater to MLS markets via local events and media partnerships.
At the end of the day, however, as much as the league values the World Cup and the opportunities it presents, Duggal says MLS is focused on engaging soccer fans—and offering the same level of excitement—on a consistent basis.
“Coming out of that [World Cup] moment, of the 100 million-plus consumers that are interested in soccer in North America, we want every one of those people to know: If you liked the World Cup, we are here playing that same game with that same energy all season, every season.”
Photos: Courtesy of Major League Soccer; Walmart
