Apple Interested in Bidding for English Premier League Streaming Rights?

[flynndean]

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To clarify...My inference was that my frustration at a lack of legal, consumer-led web-based marketplace for music a decade or so back forced me down the road of illegal Newsgroup/P2P services.

It's clear that a lack of choice in terms of content-delivery in the television-world frustrated Jobs & certainly it has pushed me back to those same illegal services I mentioned earlier to access delayed-broadcast content where my TiVo/Sky+ has failed or 'clipped' a Sports event, or where a TV Series isn't repeated etc etc.

It's only a matter of time before somebody attacks the ludicrous state of affairs that the Status Quo in the Television world represents...

 

[Satori]

Thanks for clarifying that – I thought that was likely the situation but wasn't 100% sure.

What that means is that Apple wading in and knocking Sky out of the frame with its financial clout – as some are suggesting – isn't going to happen, as Apple would need Sky to provide the content.

Exactly right. A partnership between Apple and Sky/Newscorp is much more likely for premier league. Newscorp have been cosying up to Apple for a while now.

Anyway - this story has only been reported by the daily mail (with no acknowledged sources for the story) so anything could be true!

 

[gnasher729]

A lot of people would be interested in paying the $10-$15 a month fee to be able to stream live matches thru Apple TV and other devices legally.

While I personally wouldn't give a damn, I know people who would throw their Android phone away and buy an iPhone, or get an iPad, if it came with free Premier League football.

When you talk about $10-$15 a month, you are taking the cost and divide it by the number of people willing to pay. But if instead of having X subscribers paying $10 a month Apple sold 5X additional iPads or iPhones, that would be worth a lot more to Apple.

 

[davie18]

Although at the moment it's the streaming rights that Apple are reckoned to be looking into rather than TV, things are set up so that – in the UK at least – no single broadcaster has sole broadcasting rights to the Premier League. The TV companies essentially bid for blocks of matches, Sky has the lion's share but games are also currently shown live on ESPN here (and previously on Setanta before that went tits up).

Incidentally, if any big media companies want to pay me billions for exclusive coverage rights to the MacRumors Fantasy Football League I'm open to offers.

Oh yes, I'm fully aware of that, lol. I'm a big football fan from the UK.

 

[The Phazer]

That big cloud data centre is looking a lot more useful now isn't it!

That data centre isn't a CDN.

It wouldn't be very good at distributing a large amount of identical data to people far away. Not very good at all.

And there's no CDN in the world that could cope with even a tenth of the traffic required to match the Sky viewings alone.

If any partnership were to exist between Apple and another broadcaster, I'd wager it'd be ESPN rather than Sky...

Phazer

 

[moel]

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"I can't see the teams being interested in moving to a virtually zero viewer base...their sponsors would run a mile."

You mean like with the Formula 1 that sky now has the rights to? Reducing F1 viewership in the uk from many millions to many thousands...

 

[MonkeySee....]

The only thing Apple will be able to achieve is an agreement with Sky to have a "Sky Sports" app/feature on AppleTV. It wont solely run on AppleTv, that would be ridiculous.

 

[moel]

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That big cloud data centre is looking a lot more useful now isn't it!

That data centre isn't a CDN.

It wouldn't be very good at distributing a large amount of identical data to people far away. Not very good at all.

And there's no CDN in the world that could cope with even a tenth of the traffic required to match the Sky viewings alone.

If any partnership were to exist between Apple and another broadcaster, I'd wager it'd be ESPN rather than Sky...

Phazer

Not to burst your bubble but average viewership for a standard premier league match here in the uk is much less than a million people

You think Apple couldn't supply that?

 

[69650]

If it happens it would probably work like the MLB.com app.

Stream live EPL matches worldwide on iPhone/iPad/AppleTV for one monthly subscription.

That would leave the TV broadcast rights with Sky/ESPN.

 

[The Great Boony]

Blame the EPL, they are the ones that are preventing 3pm games for instance... not Sky, what Sky would do to get those 3pm games

Incorrect, it's actually illegal to show 3pm kick offs live in the UK

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If Apple could get streaming rights to the 3pm matches that would be a killer (or to the non TV broadcast matches)

Under UK law, it's illegal in the UK to show 3pm kick offs.

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I'm sure Sky would aggressively up their bid if another company tried to muscle them out as they would struggle to survive without their Sky Sports subscribers.

I'm not sure it would be worth it for Apple to pay over £2 billion just for the UK rights. Also, Apple is currently just a content distributor. Buying the rights would mean they would have to set themselves up as a content producer or partner with another TV company to produce the actual live coverage.

Anyway, it's from the Daily Mail so I'm not taking it very seriously.

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That's never going to happen. Match attendances would plummet (and not just those in the Premier League).

I think your confused between buying the internet steaming rights and the live TV rights.

 

[moel]

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Blame the EPL, they are the ones that are preventing 3pm games for instance... not Sky, what Sky would do to get those 3pm games

Incorrect, it's actually illegal to show 3pm kick offs live in the UK

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If Apple could get streaming rights to the 3pm matches that would be a killer (or to the non TV broadcast matches)

Under UK law, it's illegal in the UK to show 3pm kick offs.

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I'm sure Sky would aggressively up their bid if another company tried to muscle them out as they would struggle to survive without their Sky Sports subscribers.

I'm not sure it would be worth it for Apple to pay over £2 billion just for the UK rights. Also, Apple is currently just a content distributor. Buying the rights would mean they would have to set themselves up as a content producer or partner with another TV company to produce the actual live coverage.

Anyway, it's from the Daily Mail so I'm not taking it very seriously.

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That's never going to happen. Match attendances would plummet (and not just those in the Premier League).

I think your confused between buying the internet steaming rights and the live TV rights.

Again incorrect

It is ILLEGAL for uk broadcasters to broadcast 3pm matches. It is NOT illegal to show or watch 3pm matches. Try it, go to your local walkabout australian themed pub.

Oh look a 3pm match. Remember Apple isn't a uk broadcaster

 

[RobQuads]

Incorrect, it's actually illegal to show 3pm kick offs live in the UK

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Under UK law, it's illegal in the UK to show 3pm kick offs.

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I think your confused between buying the internet steaming rights and the live TV rights.

What law would that be then? Its not illegal.

If you happen to have a european satelite dish which will show you the 3pm matches there is nothing to stop you doing so as shown when Sky LOST its legal battle against a Portsmouth landlady who did this. One of the few benifits from being int he EU

 

[northy124]

Incorrect, it's actually illegal to show 3pm kick offs live in the UK

Right and I am incorrect how? you don't blame Sky for the fact that we are not shown 3pm games but the EPL who don't let people watch 3pm games because they want them to be in the stadiums.

And it is not illegal for them to be shown, you are allowed to watch them via foreign satellite after a recent ruling in the EU court case Karen Murphy v. Sky/EPL (I can't find the exact court case name but it involves the afore mentioned people in that order).

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How about Apple bit for the streaming rights of a real sport, say (real) football.

by this you mean american football right??

If you guys want real manly football go watch the Australian Football League for Australian Rules Football, none of the crap you get with the NFL (i.e. pads and stoppage time every 3 seconds) and no rolling around from idiots in the Italian Serie A/B although it is entertaining

 

[flynndean]

What law would that be then? Its not illegal.

If you happen to have a european satelite dish which will show you the 3pm matches there is nothing to stop you doing so as shown when Sky LOST its legal battle against a Portsmouth landlady who did this. One of the few benifits from being int he EU

Annoyingly, the case you cite only acquitted that individual of wrongful intent in obtaining an overseas box from elsewhere in the EU to circumvent the paying of the Sky Commercial Broadcast subscription. So she did not have her ass hauled into jail. She was still breaking the law with reference to her not observing the FA's Regional Broadcast Rights & if she persisted, she would be open to prosecution again.

For the Americans in the room that aren't fans of English Football. The point of contention that is being raised concerns the current situation where the majority of EPL games are played at 3pm on a Saturday (GMT) as a tradition. The Broadcasting Deal that is in place with SKY/ESPN prevents them from showing any game that kicks-off at this 3pm timeslot for the purpose of preserving physical attendance at games (particularly at smaller clubs where sell-outs are not 100% guaranteed)

It's similar to the NFL Blackout legislation but is tied only to that traditional Saturday 3pm Timeslot and not directly linked to Ticket Sales.

The suggestion is that if Apple (or a rival bidder) were to somehow negotiate a streaming deal that allowed them stream all games or to offer "Season Tickets" for individuals to watch Live games for their chosen teams, there would be a contravention of this "blackout-esque" legislation and attendances would suffer as a result. If you do offer team subscriptions (like they do in Italy) for the EPL, you'd also encounter a situation where teams like Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea etc. would have many more subscriptions for their games than the likes of Swansea or Norwich etc. How would this affect the 20 EPL Team's share of the Broadcast Rights? Would it remain an equal 1/20th?

It's delicate ground but certainly interesting.

 

[MonkeySee....]

If it happens it would probably work like the MLB.com app.

Stream live EPL matches worldwide on iPhone/iPad/AppleTV for one monthly subscription.

That would leave the TV broadcast rights with Sky/ESPN.

My name sake is right.

Sky seem to be in bed with Apple at the moment what with the SkySports iPad/iPhone app and the Sky+ App.

There is no reason why an agreement can't be made to extend their coverage to those fortunate enough to have ATV.

 

[shotts56]

It isn't illegal to show 3pm live football on a Saturday in the UK, I wish people would stop using that word so often.

Every country applies to UEFA for a blackout period in their home country when no live football is allowed to be shown in order to protect lower league domestic football. In the case of England & Scotland, it is 3pm-5.15pm on a Saturday afternoon so no live football can be shown on these times if it is competition with a full scheduled fixture card.

The EPL & SPL are not permitted (under UEFA regulations at their own request) to sell rights for live games to be broadcast in the UK at 3pm on a Saturday. They can to overseas broadcasters who broadcast in other countries, and if any of those signals happen to get picked up in the UK, well thats a different matter.

 

[Jaffa Cake]

If you do offer team subscriptions (like they do in Italy) for the EPL, you'd also encounter a situation where teams like Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea etc. would have many more subscriptions for their games than the likes of Swansea or Norwich etc. How would this affect the 20 EPL Team's share of the Broadcast Rights? Would it remain an equal 1/20th?

As you say, delicate ground but a couple of Premier League clubs have been making noises lately about trying to get their own TV deals for their games – and therefore increase the cash they can bring in.

A situation where 'season tickets' for specific clubs are offered through Sky/Apple/whoever could happen, if it does it'll be the 'big' teams who help push it through because it's really only the 'big' clubs who would benefit. The wants of clubs such as Norwich and Swansea will count for little I'm afraid.

 

[apolloa]

Are Americans not allowed to watch football now, or something? My grandpa was from Arizona and he was one of the biggest football fanatics I ever knew.

Sky Go also only applies if you have a really quite expensive subscription to Sky Sports. You don't know the model that Apple would implement, they might be more flexible with their content. Such as by having a pay-per-view option for favourite teams, and for the rest, there's match of the day on the Beeb later, or a highlights download for 69p, or something. In truth, you might end up paying the same as you might through Sky, but I personally wouldn't grudge it as you'd have some degree of choice.

And I would far rather deal with Apple's customer service reps than bloody Sky's retentions department.

Nothing wrong with Sky, and you should also thank Murdoch for making football what it is today! Plus Sky do actually pay a rather large fortune for those rights, kinda ironic if you think about it! Anyway I don't follow football but I would rather have Sky and BBC etc have the rights then an American corporation, and this is Apple, it won't be cheap! I'm interested in the F1 SKY season, Apple could stream that sport?

We're interested because this is the first real foray Apple has made into acquiring premium live streaming content, and it may have major ramifications for the direction Apple takes in television and streaming media. What else will they try to get a contract for (HBO? NFL? NBA? Network sitcoms and dramas?)?Will it be subscription based? If they sign up a lot more of these contracts could they offer a legitimate "cord cutter" package? There's lots of interesting aspects.

Thank you for providing a sensible reply. I see the reasoning now.

 

[moel]

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Yes be glad for Murdoch and what he has turned the premier league into

A league where football players are paid more money than god, so they can indulge in prostitutes, gold plate automotive exotica and pay £500 for a curry.

A league where every season at least 1 team goes bankrupt due to the top heavy profitability of the teams in the league and made it a completely unsustainable sport.

Yes Murdoch really has worked wonders with the premier league

 

[apolloa]

My name sake is right.

Sky seem to be in bed with Apple at the moment what with the SkySports iPad/iPhone app and the Sky+ App.

There is no reason why an agreement can't be made to extend their coverage to those fortunate enough to have ATV.

Possible scenario, but I don't think so. However Murdoch DID get into bed a bit with Apple for the launch of it's iPad newspaper so you never know, I do now they have had meetings, well Sky is such a powerful media house if Apple wanted content it's a good place to go.
But Sky is an incredibly innovative company, you get the most HD content in Europe on it plus a dedicated 3D channel! No body else seems able to match that? So with it's Sky Go app plus it's increasing and massive investment in it's own broad band network (now has over 3.5 million subscribers) then they may be more tempted to stream footy on it's own outlets.

But to be honest this is most likely all here say as considering the source of this article it's truthfulness it most likely as high as high as Obama and the Queen are aliens in disguise.....

 

[Jaffa Cake]

...you should also thank Murdoch for making football what it is today!

Murdoch and Sky certainly played a major role in making football in this country what it is today – uncompetitive and dominated by a small elite of super rich clubs to the detriment of their smaller counterparts. I wouldn't thank them for that one bit.

We had yet another club go into administration again over the weekend, incidentally – Blue Square Premier side Darlington. This is the third time for them in nine years. Away from Sky's top table there are a lot of clubs in a lot of financial trouble.

Anyway, veering off topic now.

 

[apolloa]

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Yes be glad for Murdoch and what he has turned the premier league into

A league where football players are paid more money than god, so they can indulge in prostitutes, gold plate automotive exotica and pay £500 for a curry.

A league where every season at least 1 team goes bankrupt due to the top heavy profitability of the teams in the league and made it a completely unsustainable sport.

Yes Murdoch really has worked wonders with the premier league

Actually I was more thinking how it's turned into a major world wide supersport. But yes money does play a large part, and plenty of punters seem happy to pay those footballers wages! As I said Sky pays a lot for the rights, a lot of money goes into the sport and unfortunately a lot goes into footballers wage packets HOWEVER......

Have you ever watched Cribbs? You should do, you see just how much money American sports people get paid, it puts British footballers to shame.

 

[prowlmedia]

Despite all the Football/Soccer/AmericanKickball/Rugby slating going on here, no-one has really mentioned the fact that the DAILY MAIL is the worst newspaper in the World and constantly just makes stuff up for the shear hell of it. Renowned for it. PLEASE DO NOT BELIEVE ANYTHING THE MAIL PRINTS! **** stirring Right wing foul rag

 

[skiman]

Your forgetting one pretty major thing.

Steve Jobs once said "If we don't know how to do something right, we partner with the people who do"

What about if apple were to go into some sort of partnership deal with BSkyB?

I found it weird that Sky Go is only available on iPhone, iPad and Laptops - Its not available on any Android handset? Maybe ideas are already floating around Apple & Sky for a partnership....


Either that or its all BS lol

 

[WeegieMac]

Your forgetting one pretty major thing.

Steve Jobs once said "If we don't know how to do something right, we partner with the people who do"

What about if apple were to go into some sort of partnership deal with BSkyB?

I found it weird that Sky Go is only available on iPhone, iPad and Laptops - Its not available on any Android handset? Maybe ideas are already floating around Apple & Sky for a partnership....


Either that or its all BS lol

Good thinking, but alas Sky Go comes to Android sometime in 2012.