Apple and Major League Baseball (MLB) on Tuesday announced “Friday Night Baseball,” a weekly doubleheader with live pre- and postgame shows that will be available to fans in eight countries exclusively on Apple TV+ as soon as the regular season begins. The deal reportedly costs Apple $85 million per year.
The new streaming deal between Major League Baseball and Apple is worth $85 million annually over seven years, according to several sources familiar with the agreement who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to discuss the terms.
Under the new pact, Apple will pay a $55 million rights fee and $30 million worth of advertising. Apple gets the exclusive rights to telecast two Friday Night Baseball games each week (about 50 a season) in the U.S. and in eight countries overseas via Apple TV+. Apple has the right to exit the agreement after the first or second year.
MacDailyNews Take: That’s a deal at that price for Apple TV+ – just $1.7 million per game.
Hopefully, this deal signals that Apple TV+ is about to enter into live, exclusive, sports in a big way!
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Hope they got a money-back guarantee.
Interesting to see how much they can get AppleTV+ splashed on some screens. Get that above the scoreboard at Fenway Park and that’s a lot of eyes (but that would probably take a lot more than what Apple paid).
Apple needs 1 million new subscribers for 1 year to make this about break even. I doubt that’ll happen but this may be Apple taking a wider view. Apple almost certainly has Masters of The Air coming this year. If history of Band of Brothers and The Pacific repeats, Masters of the Air is going to get anywhere from a few to 10 million new subscribers — at least for a few months. Apple has to have something to give these subscribers to stay. Ted Lasso and 30 great cinematic production quality but far too woke movies/series won’t get most of these to stay subscribed.
It is a tiny amount for Apple, streaming ultimately is a loser game I have three and they Apple, Netflix, and Public TV are it, note Public Television is the only good one, better programs across the board in all genre’s….