As Apple continues to bolster its Apple TV+ offerings, the company has shown a steadily increasing interest in broadcasting live sporting events. The company’s latest move might see it expand its Major League Baseball coverage to include Wild Card games during the MLB postseason. According to a report from The Athletic, Apple is making a push that would see it secure the rights to Sunday Night Baseball along with some MLB playoff games. Should Apple and MLB ultimately strike a deal, it would be a nice complement to the company’s Friday Night Baseball programming.
As with all streaming negotiations with major sports leagues, there is no shortage of competition. The report notes that MLB is also conducting negotiations with companies like ESPN, NBC, and Netflix. Of course, the scope of programming rights each company is aiming to secure varies wildly. Apple’s specific approach, as one would expect, appears to be quite measured. All in all, it seems content to slowly but surely expand its live sports offerings without spending vast amounts of cash to secure more expansive streaming deals with the likes of the NFL or NBA.
Sports is the new streaming battleground
As the streaming wars intensify, live sports have proven to be a great way to provide unique content capable of instantly attracting a ton of viewers. Last year, for example, Netflix for the first time aired two NFL games on Christmas Day. Netflix shelled out a lot of money for the broadcast rights and the gamble paid off in a big way. According to reports, Netflix’s foray into NFL streaming attracted 65 million US viewers.
Amazon has also gotten involved with the NFL. In 2022, the company became the exclusive platform to watch Thursday Night Football. And Peacock, starting in 2023, began airing exclusive NFL playoff games. In short, as streamers look to solidify their subscriber base, securing rights to live sporting events has proven to be a smart strategy.
To this point, you might recall a report from earlier this summer claiming that Apple is also interested in acquiring Formula 1 streaming rights for somewhere in the range of $120 million. It’s certainly a chunk of change, but pales in comparison to the billions ESPN pays for NFL streaming rights and the $150 million Netflix paid the NFL for just two NFL games last year.
