Apple Is (19659002) Major League Baseball is said to be in discussions to acquire streaming broadcast rights, focusing on Sunday Night Baseball games. Negotiations began after ESPN declined its offer to extend the deal beyond 2025. Apple, NBC, and others have shown interest in the package of games that comprised the former ESPN agreement. The league is likely to try to separate the package into different buckets to appeal to both the modern streaming audience as well as traditional broadcast TV viewers.
At this time, no agreement has been signed and discussions are ongoing. Apple and MLB already work together, thanks to Friday Night Baseball, which allows Apple TV+ to exclusively stream two baseball matches each Friday without blackouts or restrictions on region.
Apple is believed to have paid Apple $85 million per year for the Friday Night Baseball deal that began in 2022.
Since the partnership is doing well, a Sunday night extension would be a breeze. Apple may charge a fee for Friday Night Baseball, even though it is a free perk to TV+ subscribers. This is because it would cost Apple a lot more money to make this deal work. For context, ESPN paid about $550 million a season.
Apple could give Apple’s streaming sport offerings a much needed boost if it can make this happen. Currently, Apple TV only offers Friday Night Baseball and MLS Season Pass. The company had previously expressed interest in negotiating deals for NFL Sunday Ticket, and the Pac-12 Conference. However, it backed out at a late date. Add 9to5Mac’s Google News feed.FTC: we use auto affiliate links that earn income. More.
