Apple are looking to enter the football arena in UK
The EFL media rights race is starting to heat up with Apple TV announcing the early intention to take the exclusive rights. According to reports, Apple TV is interested in landing exclusive rights for the EFL broadcast in the United Kingdom.
They are also said to be considering the Premier League rights, but Sky, BT Sport, and Amazon hold Premier League rights until 2025.
The EFL media rights are up for grabs for Apple from the next season onwards, making a realistic case for them to cash in.
The company's portfolio currently consists of only Major League Soccer and select Major Baseball games. After signing a 10-year deal worth $250 million with Major League Soccer, they are now ready to move into football.
This will not be the first time Apple TV is looking to dive into English football as in 2022, they fought for Premier League rights in the USA but lost to NBC.
Apple are very well in the picture to snap the EFL rights this time and even Peter Hutton, former media partnerships executive at Meta said:
“Apple will be looking closely at their early data on MLS and MLB experiments, but the unique ability of sport to change a predefined audience’s behavior means it’s a safer bet than entertainment content to grow the Apple TV international market,”
Apple TV would've to edge out Sky, TNT Sports, Amazon, and Viaplay
Apple TV is not only the first one to register its interest in EFL media rights. There are many big names on the list. Sky Sports who held the rights from the 2019/20 season to the 2022/23 season are one of the major suitors for this deal.
In the previous deal, the UK-based network paid £119 million per season. However, the EFL has now valued media rights at whopping £200 million. Besides Apple and Sky, Viaplay also expressed early interest in rights last November.
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