Union phenom Cavan Sullivan to be featured in upcoming Apple TV+ docuseries
Sullivan and his family appeared in the trailer for “Onside: Major League Soccer,” which will premiere in February.
Sports documentary series have grown in popularity in recent years. Recently, some of the more successful ones have pulled back the curtain to reveal the raw emotions of athletes that often go unseen — from The Last Dance to Formula 1: Drive to Survive. The latest is an eight-part docuseries from Apple TV+, Onside: Major League Soccer.
Onside premieres Friday, Feb. 21 and will follow the best moments and stories from the 2024 MLS season both on and off the pitch. That includes the story behind the 15-year-old Philadelphia Union phenom Cavan Sullivan. On Thursday, the first trailer was released.
Sullivan can be seen in the trailer spending time with his mother, Heike, and father, Brendan. Both of his parents come from a Pennsylvania soccer background — his mother was a Division I soccer player for Penn and his father was an All-Ivy League selection there before playing five seasons professionally in the A-League.
“I worry about him, but I think he’s pretty grounded,” Heike said in the trailer.
The camera crew for the series was on site at Subaru Park last July during Sullivan’s first-team debut where he became the youngest athlete in a major American sport league to appear in a league match. Sullivan has three more years to play with the Union before he transfers to Manchester City when he turns 18 years old. But Sullivan isn’t focused on his move to England just yet.
“I’m just taking it every day at a time. Obviously, there’s a lot to look forward to in the future. But right now, my main focus is Philadelphia,” Sullivan recently told USA Today. “I understand that without this, that doesn’t matter. I need to show I can perform in the MLS before I can perform in the Premier League. So, a lot of work to do here.”
Like any other young kid, Sullivan has big dreams — and he plans to achieve them before his move in 2027, including playing in the World Cup.
“A pipe dream is to be in the 2026 World Cup. I’ll be only 16 years old,” Sullivan said in his interview with USA Today. “Just to be able to play in front of my home country, representing the first team of the U.S. national team will be absurd.”
Sullivan is already in the spotlight and is now becoming one of the centerpieces for a major docuseries. If mainstream fans don’t know about Philly’s young phenom now, they likely will after the series debuts.