One MLS game will mark a major 'milestone' in sports broadcasting history this weekend

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Tom Weber | Writer

Multilingual sports writer who specialises in European football and American soccer.

Saturday's Major League Soccer clash between the LA Galaxy and the Houston Dynamo will mark a "milestone" in sports broadcasting history.

The US Open Cup quarter-finals are in the books, meaning that there is now just one more game to be played before domestic football grinds to a halt for MLS teams. After this weekend's matchday, the league will go on a seven-week hiatus to avoid scheduling conflicts with the World Cup.

MLS will only switch to a European-style calendar next year, so it has had to effectively split its schedule in two this season, which has already led to plenty of fixture congestion for teams with Open Cup and CONCACAF Champions Cup commitments.

The league will return on 16 July, three days before the World Cup final, with a truncated matchday. It will go full throttle again the following week. Clubs will be able to treat this upcoming break as a second pre-season, with five franchises already hitting the reset button by firing their coach.

This weekend's games promise plenty of intrigue, as several of the teams that have just changed managers or that are generally struggling face each other. But one game will also be interesting for a different reason.

Galaxy v Dynamo to be broadcast on iPhone 17 Pro

Apple, MLS's main broadcasting partner, has announced that Saturday's game between the LA Galaxy and the Houston Dynamo will be captured exclusively on iPhone 17 Pro.

It will mark the first time in broadcasting history that a major professional live sporting event will be shown using only smartphones. To do so, 15 iPhone 17 Pro will be set up at the Galaxy's home, Dignity Health Sports Park.

This is the logical next step for Apple TV, which has been incorporating mobile footage in its broadcasts for some time. It was first tested during a Friday Night Baseball matchup between the Boston Red Sox and the Detroit Tigers last September.

MLS Cup 2025 between Inter Miami and the Vancouver Whitecaps was partly shot on iPhone, and it has now become a regular feature of Apple TV's production of MLS games this season.

"iPhone 17 Pro will capture live footage throughout the match, including team warmups on the pitch, player introductions, in-net goal angles, and the atmosphere inside the stadium," the tech giant announced.

"With cameras positioned throughout the venue, the broadcast will deliver the pristine video quality fans expect, alongside dynamic new perspectives that bring viewers closer to the action, made possible by the small form factor of iPhone."

Apple TV has been MLS's main broadcast partner since the league dropped ESPN in 2022. Fox Sports can still show select MLS matches, but the league has mostly disappeared from linear TV.

It was a major gamble by MLS, but Apple TV's centralised production has allowed the league to experiment with different broadcasting experiences. Data on supporters' viewing habits is also much more granular and sophisticated.

"The data from Apple is so specific that it’s impacting the way we think," MLS Commissioner Don Garber said in a recent interview. "We know what games are driving fan interest, through technology.

"We’re looking at how we can have people looking at our highlights. It’s affecting the players we’re signing. It’s affecting how we’re structuring our rosters, which is probably the most fascinating part of this."

The 10-year deal agreed in 2022 was renegotiated ahead of the 2026 season, with the contract now ending in 2029 as opposed to 2032. MLS has been trying to make the league more appealing by signing global superstars ahead of negotiations over fresh broadcasting terms.

On Saturday, new ground will be broken. Streaming live events via smartphone seems to be the future - at least on Apple TV.