Apple Considering Bid For English Soccer Streaming Rights — Report
Apple is said to be interested in bidding for the rights to broadcast English soccer games, according to a new report published this morning.
The report, found in Bloomberg, states that the rights currently under consideration at Apple would allow the company to broadcast games from the Premier League, the highest level of English soccer, alongside games from the lower-ranked English Football League. Deadline has reached out to Apple for comment on the matter.
More from Deadline
The move would expand the company’s global soccer coverage following its $2.5B, 10-year deal with Major League Soccer to stream games from the US-based league. The MLS deal was one of the biggest sports streaming deals in history.
Apple also recently inked a deal with Major League Baseball and broadcasts live Baseball games on AppleTV+ every Friday alongside pre and postgame shows available across the world without local broadcast restrictions.
The English Football League is offering the rights to seasons starting in 2024, according to Bloomberg. The Premier League currently has a deal in the UK with Sky Sports, BT Sport, BBC Sport, and, more recently, Amazon for live games that runs through the 2024-2025 season.
Amazon has also been making steady moves into live sports. The company became the first streaming service to broadcast live English Premier League soccer in 2019. Alongside soccer coverage in the UK, the company also streams ATP tour tennis in the UK as well as NFL fixtures in the US.
The Premier League sold domestic rights for 2022 to 2025 for $6.3 billion. NBC Sports has US rights for six seasons from 2022/23 to 2027.
Best of Deadline
Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
