Apple is working to enter the world of live sports broadcasting. Andrew Marchand of the New York Post has reported that Apple is engaged in serious talks with Major League Baseball to broadcast regular season games.
If Apple is able to strike a deal with Major League Baseball, it could mark a changing of the guard in sports broadcasting. Recently, Amazon secured the rights to Thursday Night Football. Not long thereafter, Sports Business Journal predicted that Apple would make a play to acquire ESPN by the end of 2023.
While there are changing trends in the world of sports broadcasting, there is still debate as to how far this will go. When the news of Apple’s play for MLB games hit social media, sports media journalists began to debate what this all means.
“This is the beginning of the end of ESPN. Apple and Amazon have a hell of a lot more free cash laying around than Disney. Live rights is all that is left,” Darren Rovell of the Action Network tweeted.
“It’s the end of ESPN because now Apple will air A’s vs. Tigers on a Wednesday night in July?” Jimmy Traina of Sports Illustrated asked.
“No, [it’s the end of ESPN] because they will buy more and more,” Rovell replied.
“Apple can buy more and more, but if they are going to end ESPN, they better get exclusive rights to postseason MLB and NBA games and exclusive NFL games. Regular season MLB games ain’t gonna do it,” Traina shot back.
At the moment, it’s all speculation and debate. With that said, it’s clear that change has arrived and things will shift rapidly.
