Apple has been “aggressively hunting” for deals to secure live sports rights to help build out its Apple TV+ streaming service, and it’s starting to pay off.
Just days ago, Front Office Sports published a report that Apple is vying to purchase the NFL’s available rights in a multibillion dollar deal involving three primary assets:
- An equity stake in NFL media
- The NFL Sunday Ticket package for out-of-market games
- Live streaming games on mobile devices
Before any of that is potentially realized, we’re already seeing the company take a major step with another incredibly popular league: Major League Baseball.
The $85 million streaming deal will include weekly Friday doubleheaders that will be streamed in the U.S., Canada, Australia, Brazil, Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico, South Korea, and the United Kingdom.
In May 2021, ESPN announced a new seven-year deal with the league — worth around $4 billion or $550 million annually. The deal opened the door for Apple to fill its first live sports inventory, largely because ESPN walked away from approximately 61% of its broadcast games from last season.
In conjunction with the live games, Apple will air a new live show dubbed “MLB Big Inning,” featuring highlights and live look-ins on a nightly basis during the regular season. Viewers in the U.S. and Canada will also have access to a new 24/7 livestream featuring replays, highlights, classic games, and news and analysis.
According to Forbes, the $85 million annual value of the deal comes out to $55 million per year for the media rights and $30 million allocated to advertising. Apple earned $191.1 billion in revenue from the iPhone in 2021. That $85 million figure represents roughly four hours’ worth of iPhone sales.
But it’s just the early innings for Apple in this space. In fact, this is only the first pitch.
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