Potential MLB TV Rights Deal Could Fuel Interesting Evolution For Apple TV+

Just last week in this space, we discussed how streaming services were about to embrace production volume in the next iteration of the “streaming wars.” The idea, of course, was that Netflix’s dominance is in part guided by the glut of content it possesses. And after a year or two of competitive services finding their respective sea legs, volume seemed to be the next logical play for those streamers as well in 2022.

There’s another possibility always lurking out there, though, especially for the digital-first services: Live sports rights.

Sports are streaming on most services at this point, though there are two notable exceptions: Netflix has yet to enter that arena (pun intended) and seems content to raise prices for subscribers instead… even if that may bite them in the short term. The other is Apple TV+, which doesn’t currently have the glut of content Netflix possesses, and comes off as more of an HBO Lite/NBC Primetime hybrid than it does a service you can spend hours perusing.

But sports could drastically change all of that, and turn Apple into a much more viable streaming option, and a more lucrative one as well. Perhaps coincidentally, Apple already seems to be in serious talks with Major League Baseball (according to the New York Post) to pick up some broadcast rights and fill the void left by ESPN downsizing its baseball package in the new TV deal.

Such a move would not just be the sort of throwaway (perceptively, anyway) agreement that MLB’s previously made with Facebook, Twitter and YouTube for games. Rather, Apple TV+ airing baseball games would serve a similar — albeit smaller from an audience standpoint — purpose as Amazon’s Thursday Night Football setup. Beyond a handful of prestige dramas and comedies, there would potentially be appointment, live viewing on Apple TV+ for six months out of the year. AND it would also be an easy inroad for Apple to transition at least part of the service to an ad-supported model.

Ads are where Apple could really shine, too. Because like fellow tech giant Amazon, Apple also has access to a ton of consumer data and purchase preferences, and could opt to use MLB ad breaks to tailor content accordingly. It could be addressable advertising on steroids, basically, with plenty of Apple ads mixed in for good measure. The service could even keep ads confined to live sports if they wanted. But since live sports remain premium programming and the fuel for rising TV ad costs, these hyper-targeted spots during MLB games could quickly generate brand interest.

In large part, Apple could use MLB games as a testing ground for new advertising approaches, without impacting its other programming. Apple’s also unique in that they don’t NEED the ad money from these games the way competitors might. The company has all the cash it could possibly want already. Again, like Amazon, Apple would be engaging in sports broadcasts as a lucrative hobby; not a move that they need to stay afloat.

Airing MLB games would likely gain some new subscribers, sure. But at $4.99 per month, Apple has arguably already removed all the hurdles for likely consumers. MLB is a play at the unlikely consumer, and one that helps further push Apple TV+ into a conversation more akin to where Peacock and Paramount+ are headed than where Amazon appears content to sit.

As always, the “streaming wars” are never truly over. The playing field just continues to evolve. And for Apple, it could look like a (baseball) diamond soon enough.