Apple’s 10-year (at minimum), $2.5 billion deal to stream Major League Soccer games is different and potentially groundbreaking. It could be a factor for the NBA’s next broadcast deal, which is up in 2025. It could be a landmark moment in how we watch sports and how leagues grow in the changing digital environment.

It also could be a dud.

MLS, now 29 years old, has had an impressive run, creating a league and making its in-stadium experiences exceptional, but it has failed to become must-see TV. And this deal could make it increasingly irrelevant if its pitch to tech-savvy, younger fans doesn’t see them flocking to its new way of presenting games.

We first mentioned the possibility of an Apple-MLS agreement in this newsletter in late January. Now, it is here, and it could change the landscape of sports media. To understand all the ways it could, Sports+ spoke to TV and professional league executives, as well as agents, about the long-term agreement and what it could mean for the future of live sports with an eye on the NBA’s rights that are up in the middle of this decade.