Apple TV (only $5.99/month for Cyber Monday) is best known for prestige TV shows and movies. But according to a new report covering six months of Apple TV signups this year, it appears sports is a surprisingly strong driver of new subscribers.
MLB games dominate Apple TV’s signup drivers through much of 2025
Lucas Shaw writes at Bloomberg:
Major League Baseball games drove more sign-ups for Apple TV than shows like The Morning Show and Your Friends & Neighbors, according to research from Antenna.
A May game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees led more people to sign up for Apple than any other program between April 2025 and September 2025 (aka baseball season). Individual games accounted for six of the 10 biggest sign-up pushes in that span.
Here’s the full top 10 list of April-September Apple TV signup drivers per Antenna:
- Dodgers vs. Yankees (May): 722k
- Yankees vs. Phillies (July): 698k
- Phillies vs. Mets (June): 631k
- The Morning Show: 524k
- Your Friends & Neighbors: 514k
- Phillies vs. Dodgers (April): 473k
- Stick: 443k
- Mets vs. Dodgers (May): 426k
- Giants vs. Rangers (April): 375k
- Chief of War: 370k
Apple doesn’t reveal official subscriber numbers, or share which TV shows or movies drive the most subscriptions. However, Antenna has a strong reputation in Hollywood for its streaming subscription data.
9to5Mac’s Take
It’s fascinating to see the impact that a single sports game can make on driving subscriptions. Though I probably shouldn’t be surprised, as I’ve personally signed up for several streaming services this fall when they exclusively featured an NFL game I wanted to see.
One important thing to keep in mind with these numbers is that it’s unclear whether viewers who signed up just for an MLB game stuck around long after. On that note, Shaw adds: “Baseball fans are less likely to stick around given the relative paucity of sports on Apple. But the benefits of the sign-ups weren’t completely erased by the cancellations.”
Next year, Apple TV will include full access to both Formula 1 and MLS, alongside MLB games, at no extra charge. It will be interesting to see what kind of impact sports can make on the streamer’s success.
Apple TV is only $5.99 per month through Monday, December 1 and features hit TV shows and movies like Ted Lasso, Severance, Pluribus, and more. You can also get it through the Apple One bundle.
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