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Apple Interested in Bidding for English Premier League Streaming Rights?

That would be great - but I just want to see MLS MatchDay come to the AppleTV the same way MLB, NBA, and NHL are. I don't even mind paying the subscription fee - I just want to be able to watch the matches live. If they added that, I could ditch my broadcast TV service once and for all. (I have a very early HDTV that doesn't have a tuner, so I have been using a Media Center PC with an over-the-air tuner for a while, occasionally getting Comcast for the 6-month-deal-of-the-moment then promptly canceling exactly 6 months later. I'd ditch Comcast and the power-hog Windows-running HTPC if I could get live MLS.)


Jonny1989 said:
Although I doubt it would happen if it were to be accessed to the US it would be a major step for the game as a whole. The MLS is improving every year and even if users aren't watching MLS games its showing how big the sport could be for the future.

Any US Newcastle United fans? or are we all ManUnited, ManCity, Chelsea and Arsenal fans?
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Yeah, I follow ManCity lightly. If EPL were free on AppleTV, I'd watch it, but I won't pay for EPL. In some areas, soccer/football is starting to get big - especially in the Pacific Northwest. The three-team derby between Vancouver, Seattle, and Portland is pretty big. It helps that Vancouver and Seattle only have two other major-league teams each, and Portland only one other.
 
I'd pay:

$0 / month for weekly low-quality random games (worse than ESPN3.com)
$5 / month for team-specific streams with access to all team's games
$10 / month for average stream with access to all game (similar but worse quality than ESPN3.com)
$25 / month for good stream with access to all games (equal or better than ESPN3.com)
 
Why not, no one of any fortitude else cares about this "sport" called football / soccer that was designed by British Colonials intended to avoid teaching effective combat skills to pacify the local population. Get it on the cheap. When you have an optional laugh track when players fake injuries to red card an opposition player, it could be worth it. If Apple could afford Howard Stern to insult the sport as play by play, that is entertainment. When you can pummel opposing players without a red card, then it is a sport.
 
CFreymarc said:
Why not, no one of any fortitude else cares about this "sport" called football / soccer that was designed by British Colonials intended to avoid teaching effective combat skills to pacify the local population. Get it on the cheap. When you have an optional laugh track when players fake injuries to red card an opposition player, it could be worth it. If Apple could afford Howard Stern to insult the sport as play by play, that is entertainment. When you can pummel opposing players without a red card, then it is a sport.
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what an intelligent point of view...:rolleyes:
 
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uknowimright said:
backinblack875 said:
at least the opposing teams have a combined score of more than 3 :rolleyes:
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by that standard then basketball is king, because there is more scoring...
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Doesnt beat cricket...
 
EPL and media hype - at it's best.

That's why Barca will always kick the ass out of any PL team.
 
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liavman said:
As a shareholder, I am not sure if this is the right move for Apple. They do have the billions that is necessary to spend, but usually others make it up with ads. Apple is trying to make it up with margins on device sales? Something does not add up.
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Something doesnt add up? Well if they want to revolutionise tvs they need content....
 
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I love when people doubt Apple then years later turn around and praise them once they've knocked it out the park. Apple has a knack for doing things different that's why they've been so successful. I heard the same bitching and moaning saying it would never happen when Apple first went after music labels for iTunes and now theyre going after the TV WORLD so look out Sky,Dish,directv, Comcast etc.... Cuz the new king in TV is finally gonna demolish you!!!! :)
 
I thought Apple fans and soccer fans were two

very different animals. Like opposites. Why would Apple do this?
 
The UK pay TV market is dominated by the live football rights, Sky have pretty much built their entire business up around it. If you wanted to break in to the UK market then the way to do it is to get the football rights.

But the article reads to me that it is just the internet streaming rights they are looking at. If they're not a separate package at the moment they will be once the Premier League know Apple (and maybe Google are interested). A similar thing is done with radio coverage for the Football League, the BBC own the radio rights whilst another broadcaster owns the internet radio streaming rights.

One other thing to consider is that the Premier League will possibly have to sell the rights for the entire EU rather than individual countries next time round, due to a court ruling.

Not sure what the streaming rights would cost, but the total amount paid for Premier League broadcasting rights for the UK only is currently about $1bn a season (and about the same again for foreign rights).
 
Meh

Meh

Wake me up when Apple has full (not shortened/edited) auto races from NASCAR, ALMS, and WRC with a 48hr delay or less...(for download and streaming, not interested in streaming only tyvm, tho I'd pay extra for LIVE STREAMING of the above..)

The only reason I still have Cable TV is NASCAR... Come on Apple.. Shut up and take my money!
 
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uknowimright said:
sounds like they would have to go to La Liga to find a team like Apple, you know those flopping Catalans
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Haha have I found a fellow Madridista on an Apple forum?

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pancakedrawer said:
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Id say the customer base for EPL would be far greater than any other sporting league by a long shot.

I'd apple stream this for free it could be a huge drawcard for the ATV ecosystem.
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Doubt Apple would do it for free...
 
CFreymarc said:
Why not, no one of any fortitude else cares about this "sport" called football / soccer that was designed by British Colonials intended to avoid teaching effective combat skills to pacify the local population. Get it on the cheap. When you have an optional laugh track when players fake injuries to red card an opposition player, it could be worth it. If Apple could afford Howard Stern to insult the sport as play by play, that is entertainment. When you can pummel opposing players without a red card, then it is a sport.
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Yet it's the most popular sport worldwide, Do people outside the US even care about 'American Football' :rolleyes:
 
Eventhough I don´t really think that this is even remotely true, but... if it would be, this would give Apple the upper hand they need when dealing with the cable companies to bring content to the much rumored apple television set and/or the Apple tv.
i.e. "give us your content or we´ll buy the rights for the most popular sports all around the world and watch you go down..."

they´ve done it before, well, not really but close to... when they bought "all the worlds production capabilities" of lcd´s and memory chips for the iPod, iPhone and iPad products... it´s a "******" thing to do against your competitors, but it´s apparently very effective. And they are one of the very few companies that can actually afford to do things like that.
 
ChristianJapan said:
I doubt ... First I would assume they would go with NBA or NFL. Plus I doubt that the customer base would be big enough to justify a huge pile of $$$ to be used for that.
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Apple is already streaming NBA games live on the Apple TV. They are also streaming the NHL, MLB, and a couple others live on it. Direct TV has full rights on the NFL until 2014 I believe although they make a Sunday Ticket app for the iPad which means they could possibly make it available on the Apple TV.
 
This is epic if it happens, it really is.

For our American readers who may not be fully up to speed with the Premier League, the EPL makes hundreds of millions from the tv rights across the world.

If Apple were to get it, then that is a major shock, as the current owners of broadcast rights will not let it go cheaply.

In my heart of hearts I think Apple will be priced out purely because they will need to pump extra millions into setting up the broadcasting.
 
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Despite it being a Daily Mail article and the fact they wont get all the packages exclusvely due to the reasons already mentioned (The PL arnt allowed to sell exclusive rights), it does follow a model of what Apple have done before:

iPod - Music/record labels
iPhone - Apps/software
TV - Sport/EPL, NFL, NBA (?)

As music drove the sales of ipods, sport would unquestionably drive sales of a TV based product. Apple can afford it, they have a mechanism to sell it, doesnt mean they have to present it! Apple doesnt make music either! It makes sense to be honest. Would love it.
 
Who was in charge of approving this article. Check your sources, you may as well have got the news from a random drunk guy down the pub. The daily fail are ALWAYS wrong...

Either way, you'd nave to pry the footy rights from moneybags Murdochs cold dead hands. It's laughable that people for one minute think that Apple has a chance here. As with most sport in the uk, there is also a caveat in that x percentage muse be free to air.

I can't see the teams being interested in moving to a virtually zero viewer base...their sponsors would run a mile.
 
The fact the DM article also mentions Google makes me wonder if this story came from a quote from some 'expert' who speculated that this might happen in the future. Just a gut feeling. There could be truth to it but it sounds to me like speculation about the future of online streaming content in general rather than an insider tip that Apple are bidding. But hey, I could be wrong.
 
newagemac said:
Apple is already streaming NBA games live on the Apple TV. They are also streaming the NHL, MLB, and a couple others live on it. Direct TV has full rights on the NFL until 2014 I believe although they make a Sunday Ticket app for the iPad which means they could possibly make it available on the Apple TV.
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Except that it's not apple streaming it...it's not even on their servers, it's handled by the NHL/MLB license holder. Big difference.
 
CFreymarc said:
Why not, no one of any fortitude else cares about this "sport" called football / soccer that was designed by British Colonials intended to avoid teaching effective combat skills to pacify the local population. Get it on the cheap. When you have an optional laugh track when players fake injuries to red card an opposition player, it could be worth it. If Apple could afford Howard Stern to insult the sport as play by play, that is entertainment. When you can pummel opposing players without a red card, then it is a sport.
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Think you may be on your own on this one.

No-one cares about football? really??
 
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