Fair enough. But MLS viewership has risen since the last deal. Before this announcement, it was speculated MLS was looking for a $300M/year deal. So it doesn't seem so insane to me.
But season ticket holders as a group are probably the ones most likely to pay for a season of MLS. Why not let them pay and get exposed to Ted Lasso on their own dime?
I assume this is something MLS wanted out of the deal and Apple conceded. It makes the season tickets even more valuable for every team in the league. Do you really think Apple demanded a subscription give-away?
This blog post is an announcement for a wide audience. In the proposal[1], which gives detail on motivations and implementation, there is an "Acknowledgements & Prior Art" section that mentions Akka, Orleans, Erlang, and Elixir.