Apple TV+ evolves towards sports broadcasting!
Apple TV + has not stopped exploring new options to please its audience, and the world of sports has been its card up its sleeve. After the confirmation of several agreements, the streaming service will broadcast baseball games on the platform, at no additional cost, in several more countries.
Since its debut in April this year, “Friday Night Baseball” has been available in the United States, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Japan, Mexico, South Korea and the United Kingdom. To these countries will now be added Colombia, Dominican Republic, Germany and Italyas the new destinations to live the passion for this sport.
Apple TV+ focuses on sports
“Friday Night Baseball” debuted on Apple TV+ in April and will continue through the 2022 regular season, which ends October 5..
Apple has since released the September schedule for “Friday Night Baseball” games. The stations assigned for each game will be announced weekly. Likewise, the service will transmit additional content related to the matcheswhich will be available on all devices that support the Apple TV+ app.
The MLB calendar for the month of September includes the following meetings by date.
Friday, September 2.
- Miami Marlins at Atlanta Braves
- Philadelphia Phillies vs. San Francisco Giants.
Friday, September 9.
- Cleveland Guardians at Minnesota Twins.
- Atlanta Braves at Seattle Mariners.
Friday, September 16
- Baltimore Orioles at Toronto Blue Jays.
- Los Angeles Dodgers vs. San Francisco Giants.
Friday, September 23
- Boston Red Sox at the New York Yankees.
- St. Louis Cardinals at Los Angeles Dodgers.
In the middle of last year, several reports indicated Apple’s intentions to close negotiations to acquire the rights to live broadcasts of various sports. In addition to the MLB, which has already been finalized, information has also been leaked about seeking agreements to do the same with broadcasts of the NFL and the UEFA Champions League.
Of course it will not be an easy or cheap fight. This year, With the termination of the agreement between DirecTV, current owner of the rights, and the NFL, several companies are interested in acquiring these rights. Among them Disney, Amazon and DirecTV itself.
However, it seems that Apple is the closest to getting them. And it is that according to several leaks Tim Cook and Eddy Cue, CEO of Apple and head of Apple services, met with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell during the Sun Valley Conference. Apparently a possible negotiation for a final price that could amount to up to 3,000 million dollars a year appearedand that undoubtedly few companies would be willing to pay.