Soccer

This hub covers two things a U.S. viewer needs to keep separate: Major League Soccer, whose games all stream on Apple TV, and the English Premier League, whose U.S. rights belong to NBCUniversal.

MLS, 2026. The 31st season has 30 clubs in two conferences and a regular season that ran from February 21 to November 7, with a six-week break for the 2026 World Cup. The playoffs run through November and December, and MLS Cup is on December 18. Inter Miami are the reigning MLS Cup champions, per Wikipedia's season article.

MLS, 2027: the "Sprint Season". MLS owners voted in November 2025 to move to a summer-to-spring calendar like Europe's, starting with 2027-28. To bridge the gap, 2027 is a short season: 14 matches per team, only against teams in the same conference, from February 19 to May 8, followed by a 16-team single-elimination playoff and MLS Cup on Memorial Day weekend (May 29 to 31). Results decide the 2028 U.S. Open Cup, Leagues Cup and CONCACAF Champions Cup places.

Premier League, 2026-27. The 35th season began on August 21, 2026, and ends on May 30, 2027. There are 33 weekend rounds and five midweek rounds. The winter transfer window opens January 1 and closes February 1. Arsenal are defending champions; Coventry City, Ipswich Town and Hull City were promoted this year.

The table shows the dates that matter to a U.S. viewer: the end of the MLS season, the playoffs, MLS Cup, the 2027 Sprint Season, and the Premier League's winter window and final day.

We do not list Premier League fixtures: a per-match calendar is not what this site is for, and weekend TV picks are announced a few weeks ahead.

MLS: Apple TV carries every match, with no local blackouts. Before 2026 it was sold as a separate service called MLS Season Pass; in 2026 Apple folded it into the main Apple TV service. In earlier years some matches were sold to FOX; check Apple's page for any free-to-air games this season. We do not list a price because we could not read one in a source we can use.

Premier League: NBCUniversal has the rights through the 2027-28 season. For 2026-27:

• NBC (broadcast): selected matches, all also on Peacock.
• Peacock (streaming): all NBC matches, exclusive matches, replays, studio shows, Multiview.
• USA Network (cable): the main cable outlet, run by Versant's USA Sports.
• NBCSN: also shows matches, including this Sunday's Arsenal at Liverpool.
• Telemundo, Universo, Peacock: Spanish-language coverage.

Local: there is no local layer for either league. MLS has no regional rights, so there are no home-market blackouts, and the Premier League is a national package.

MLS Cup playoffs (2026). The top nine teams in each conference qualify and play in separate brackets.

1. Wild-card round: seeds 8 and 9 play one match; the winner advances to play the first seed.
2. Round one: best-of-three series: 1 plays the wild-card winner, and 2 v 7, 3 v 6, 4 v 5. The higher seed hosts the odd games.
3. Conference semifinals, conference finals and MLS Cup: single matches hosted by the team with the better regular-season record. Extra time and penalties decide ties.
4. No re-seeding.

MLS Cup playoffs (2027 Sprint Season). Sixteen teams (the top eight per conference) in a single-elimination bracket.

Premier League: there are no playoffs. The champion is the team with the most points after 38 matches. The bottom three clubs are relegated to the Championship and three are promoted.