Apple is considering a bid to broadcast Premiere League games in the UK

March 23, 2023

All soccer, brought to you by Apple.

Soon, Apple TV+ will be like 90 percent of soccer. Apple is considering bidding for the streaming rights for the UK rights to matches from the Premier League and lower leagues run by the English Football League. Bloomberg report.

Spokespeople for Apple TV+ and the Premier League did not immediately respond to inquiries about the potential offer.

Amazon Prime Video currently holds the Premier League streaming rights in the UK for the 2024–25 season; Comcast-owned Sky also has (various) games, as does BT Sport. The Premier League sold domestic (domestic there) rights for 2022-2025 6.3 billion dollars.

NBCUniversal’s Peacock currently has the US streaming rights to the Premier League until 2028, so don’t worry about those for now. The company, also owned by Comcast, paid the was reported $2.7 billion for the privilege. An NBCU spokesperson did not immediately respond to our request for confirmation on the price tag.

A spokesperson for Sports on Prime Video did not immediately respond to IndieWire’s request for comment on the future of streaming rights for the British Premier League.

Either way, Amazon will have the UK rights to the Champions League – another football league – from 2024. Amazon also exclusively broadcasts the NFL’s “Thursday Night Football,” New York Yankees games, and a host of other international leagues. rights, including the Brazilian NBA. In many ways, streaming sports rights is between Amazon and Apple.

Not only does Apple TV+ already have the soccer comedy “Ted Lasso,” Apple is the streaming home of every Major League Soccer (MLS) game through the MLS Season Pass. The service is available as a TV+ add-on or as an independent platform. “Lasso” and the Premier League already have synergy: at the start of Season 3, AFC Richmond is back in the Premier League after promotion.

Ted Lasso Season 3 Brett Goldstein Jason Sudeikis

“Ted Lasso” on Apple TV+

Courtesy of Colin Hutton / Apple TV+

The MLS Season Pass will cost Apple TV+ subscribers an extra $12.99 per month, almost double the cost of TV+ itself ($6.99). Current subscribers can pay $79 for a full season of MLS. For those who don’t want ‘Ted Lasso’, ‘Severance’ and ‘Acapulco’, the MLS Season Pass is $14.99/month or $99/season. Also, you’re missing out on great shows.

The 2023 season kicks off a 10-year, $2.5 billion partnership between Major League Soccer and the tech giant, with all 29 clubs sporting the Apple TV logo as a finger patch in different colors on their club jerseys; season ticket holders of any MLS club receive a free MLS Season Pass subscription.

Apple TV+ really leans towards live sports. Last year, Apple streamed “Friday Night Baseball” games for free (though Letitia James still wasn’t happy about it) — this year, only paying Apple TV+ members can watch those games. That’s two live games (not limited by local power outages) every Friday during the 25-week baseball season. Unlike the MLS Season Pass, “Friday Night Baseball” cannot be purchased à la carte.

Apple’s “Friday Night Baseball” will now be available in 60 countries worldwide, up from 12 last year. Other shows behind the paywall include “MLB Big Inning” (or baseball’s answer to “NFL RedZone”), pregame and postgame shows, “MLB Daily Recap” and “MLB This Week,” recap matches, highlights and interviews.

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