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Apple is one of several tech companies on Disney's radar as the media giant looks for a strategic partner to help expand distribution of ESPN, according to the
New York Post. However, the report does not indicate if Disney has actually held discussions with Apple, and there are a few reasons why a sports partnership between the companies is unlikely.
Not sure how that makes Apple an "ideal partner".
First, the report says that the idea of an ESPN app being preloaded on the iPhone would be appealing to Disney, but Apple has not offered a built-in iPhone app for a third-party brand since YouTube was removed as a pre-installed app on iOS 6 in 2012.
As much as Apple is in the frying pan for bundling the apps they do now ... They would need a bundled ESPN like a hole another in the head. If the app is preinstalled by no service by default , is there really a 'low friction' upside there???? ( versus download it and login. Still going to have to login. )
ESPN doesn't have tons of 'extra' money so they are not likely to pay untold billions to get bundled. Apple isn't going to do it 'for free'. ESPN has even less pentration than YouTube... so not sure what Apple gets here unless it is buckets of money ( which ESPN doesn't really have.)
Second, ESPN is currently only available through cable and satellite TV packages, which does not make it a fit to be streamed through the Apple TV app. The report claims that Disney is looking to make the sports network available on an à-la-carte basis as early as 2025, but that timeframe likely rules out any imminent partnership.
The AppleTV+ app has had "channels" feature since 2019
"...
Some of the new Channels that will be supported include Acorn TV, CBS All Access, Starz, Showtime, HBO, Nickelodeon, Mubi, Tastemade, Cinemax, Sundance, EPIX, Smithsonian, The History Channel Vault, and Comedy Central Now. ..."
Showtime , Starz , The History Channel , Hallmark Channel ... those didn't start off as 'cable channels'.
MLS is effectively another 'add on' channel can
optionally buy.
The major 'problem' with ESPN is that is to often structured as part of the basic cable package . Not as an independent 'add on'. Sports and 'so called news' networks drive basic cable prices way up. Go look at Philo which eschews both of those and compare the monthly costs differences.
That is part of the problem here. Is ESPN looking for a bigger monthly price package to deflect blow back from its high cost or are they really looking for a stand alone service with a stand alone value proposition. In the latter case, ESPN app with some mods should be sufficient. In the former case, Apple really doesn't have a big monthly payment bundle to hide inside of. Not for as big as ESPN likely will be. So a bad place to be looking for non ESPN viewers to help subsidize the high costs of ESPN by paying for stuff they aren't going to watch.
Apple has instead been focusing on acquiring global rights to live sports content to stream through the Apple TV app and on its Apple TV+ streaming service. For example, Apple reached a
10-year partnership with MLS to stream all matches worldwide.
This is far more indicative of why Apple is
far from being an 'ideal partner' . Geographic distribution of sports event is something the sport league/agency/organization gets to make the 'call' on ; not ESPN. Almost every contract that ESPN has regional limitations on it.
Apple and Disney already have a close relationship, with Disney CEO Bob Iger having appeared on stage at WWDC 2023 to announce that Disney+ will be available on Apple's Vision Pro headset at launch. Iger also served on Apple's board of directors from 2011 to 2019, and he was friends with Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. As of now, however, any partnership between the two companies involving ESPN appears unlikely.
ESPN has an App. Might make sense for them to do something that spans phone/iPad/Vision/Mac with a high overlap of common codebase. But Apple doesn't need to do much special for that.
