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MLS Season Pass Coverage Plans Announced for Leagues Cup 2023

July 15, 2023 - Major League Soccer (MLS) News Release


NEW YORK - Apple and Major League Soccer announced its Leagues Cup 2023 coverage plans for MLS Season Pass, including enhanced productions for Inter Miami CF matches, as well as live coverage of Lionel Messi's unveiling event at DRV PNK Stadium and major training session with the club. Messi is expected to make his highly anticipated debut when Inter Miami hosts LIGA MX club Cruz Azul Friday, July 21 to kick off Leagues Cup, the unprecedented month-long official Concacaf tournament where all 47 participating clubs - 18 from LIGA MX and 29 from MLS - will play in a World Cup-style tournament that qualifies its three top finishers to the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup.

Beginning July 21 and culminating with the Leagues Cup Final on August 19, MLS Season Pass will offer the most comprehensive coverage of the tournament, including live broadcasts of all 77 matches in English and Spanish, and in French for matches with Canadian teams; pregame and postgame shows; club-produced match previews; and additional features highlighting the tournament's biggest stars and many historic moments across MLS and LIGA MX clubs. MLS Season Pass is available in over 100 countries and regions and can be accessed on the Apple TV app on smart TVs, streaming devices, Apple devices, set-top boxes, and game consoles, as well as on the web at tv.apple.com.

"This is a monumental moment and an unprecedented opportunity to showcase the rivalries, the talent, and the strength of soccer in North America to a global audience," said Seth Bacon, MLS Executive Vice President of Media. "With the arrival of the greatest soccer player of all-time, the storied history of LIGA MX, and the natural rivalries that exist with MLS, this promises to be a tournament filled with drama and excitement. We have assembled a great team of announcers to tell the stories and deliver all the action in three languages to soccer fans worldwide on MLS Season Pass."

Messi's Arrival

Inter Miami CF will host La PresentaSÍon by Royal Caribbean: on Sunday, July 16 to introduce Messi to the fans and supporter groups. Beginning at 8:30 p.m. ET, MLS Season Pass will produce a one-hour live show in English and Spanish, giving fans all over the world a chance to experience Messi's presentation to his new team and fans. MLS Season Pass will have a variety of cameras capturing the event, including Skycam to provide unique angles of Messi's unveiling. MLS Season Pass personalities Tony Cherchi and Melissa Ortiz will emcee the event at DRV PNK Stadium.

Kaylyn Kyle will host the English version of the MLS Season Pass show with Taylor Twellman, Sacha Kljestan, and Stefano Fusaro providing commentary. Andrés Agulla will lead the Spanish production and will be joined by Messi's former teammate and MLS legend Diego Valeri, Eduardo Biscayart, and Antonella Gonzalez.

In addition to the player presentation, MLS Season Pass will offer live coverage in English and Spanish from his training session with the team on Tuesday, July 18 starting at 8:45 a.m. ET. Fusaro and Devon Kerr will provide commentary from the training in English, while Antonella Gonzalez, Eduardo Biscayart, and Mark Gonzalez will handle the Spanish coverage.

Inter Miami CF Matches

MLS Season Pass will feature an enhanced production for Inter Miami CF's matches during Leagues Cup, including 18 cameras, Steadicam, four super slow-motion cameras, Skycam, a drone, sideline reporters in Spanish and English, a dedicated one-hour pregame show on site with features, interviews and expert analysis, and a postgame show to wrap things up.

Jake Zivin and Taylor Twellman will call the Leagues Cup Inter Miami matches against Cruz Azul (July 21) and Atlanta United (July 25) in English, with Katie Witham reporting from the sideline. Sammy Sadovnik, Eduardo Biscayart, and Carlos Hermosillo will cover in Spanish with Gonzalez handling sideline duties. Cherchi will lead the Spanish pregame show and will be joined by Valeri and Biscayart. Kyle will host in English alongside Maurice Edu and Twellman.

Play-by-Play and Analyst Teams

More than 60 play-by-play announcers and expert analysts will be in the booth calling Leagues Cup matches during the Group stage. Many are familiar with MLS Season Pass announcers, while new additions include Jesús Bracamontes, Steven Caldwell, Dan Gargan, Antonella Gonzalez, Carlos Hermosillo, Pável Pardo, Carlos Pavón, and Katie Witham.

Bracamontes will be reunited with play-by-play announcer Pablo Ramirez. The pair worked together for more than two decades. González and Witham will serve as sideline reporters for Inter Miami CF's matches.

English

Jake Zivin, Taylor Twellman, Katie Witham (Inter Miami CF matches)

Adrian Healey, Cobi Jones

Steve Cangialosi, Danny Higginbotham

Keith Costigan, Maurice Edu

Max Bretos, Brian Dunseth

Tyler Terens, Devon Kerr

Eric Krakauer, Lloyd Sam

Mark Rogondino, Heath Pearce

Ed Cohen, Paul Dolan

Callum Williams, Calen Carr

Chris Wittyngham, Dan Gargan

Dre Cordero, Jamie Watson

Tony Husband, Ross Smith

Mark Followill, Steve Caldwell

Kevin Egan, Mariano Trujillo

Spanish

Sammy Sadovnik, Eduardo Biscayart, Carlos Hermosillo, Antonella González (Inter Miami CF matches)

Jorge Pérez Navarro, Marcelo Balboa

Pablo Ramírez, Jesús Bracamontes

Sergio Ruiz, Miguel Gallardo

Raúl Guzman, Sonny Guadarrama

Diego Pessolano, Walter Roque

Oscar Salazar, Carlos Ruiz

Adrian García-Márquez, Francisco Pinto

Bruno Vain, Andrés Agulla

Rodolfo Landeros, Claudio Suárez

Alejandro Figueredo, Jaime Macías

Juan Arango, Carlos Suárez

José Hernández, Tony Cherchi

José Hernández, Pável Pardo

Francisco X. Rivera, Martín Zuñíga

Moisés Linares, Pablo Mariño

French

Frederic Lord, Vincent Destouches

Olivier Brett, Sebastien Le Toux

Studio Talent

Cherchi, Agulla, Kyle, and Jillian Sakovits will serve as the primary hosts of pregame and postgame coverage throughout the tournament. Cherchi and Agulla will lead Leagues Cup La Previa and Leagues Cup El Resumen, the Spanish pregame and postgame shows, while Kyle and Sakovits host the Leagues Cup Countdown and Leagues Cup Wrap-Up.

They will be joined by a rotation of analysts, including Valeri, Miguel Gallardo, Pável Pardo, Carlos Pavón and Carlos Suárez for Spanish and Kljestan, Bradley Wright-Phillips, Calen Carr, Danny Higginbotham, and Andrew Wiebe on the English shows.

Additional Programming

Fans can enjoy 18 LIGA MX club-produced tournament overview videos on MLS Season Pass.

Additionally, LIGA MX clubs will provide a match preview for all matches they participate in throughout the tournament.

A curation of notable collections celebrates iconic players and historical moments across MLS and LIGA MX clubs.

MLS will produce Leagues Cup Group Stage Previews, while club-produced match previews will be available for all matches they participate in throughout the tournament.

Best of MLS vs. LIGA MX includes a collection of highlights from 2021 and 2022 MLS vs. LIGA MX All-Star Games/Skills Challenges, other Leagues Cup matches, and Campeones Cup contests.

Mexico's Brightest Shine in MLS is a series of features revolving around Mexican stars Carlos Vela and Hector Herrera.

MLS stars, LIGA MX roots is a collection of episodes/extras revolving around MLS stars who previously played in the Mexican league. Players that will be featured include Paul Arriola, Lucho Acosta, Brandon Vazquez, and Alan Pulido.

MLS Season Pass is available to fans in over 100 countries and regions, bringing MLS to its biggest worldwide audience ever, in a simpler and streamlined way. All matches will be available on billions of devices through the Apple TV app on Apple devices, smart TVs, streaming devices, set-top boxes, and game consoles, and the web at tv.apple.com.

*The alternate audio option of home radio will not be available during Leagues Cup matches.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


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