NBA games could land on Apple TV+ in local rights grab
Malcolm OwenApple TV+ could nab NBA streaming rights
Apple is allegedly interested in securing even more sports content for Apple TV+, with it keen to take over local NBA TV rights from the fallen broadcaster Bally Sports.
Apple's sporting initiative for Apple TV+ has resulted in games from major leagues being hosted on the streaming video service, but Apple wants to do more. Part of that push could involve regional sporting rights.
After the bankruptcy of Bally Sports, the local streaming rights for NBA games held by the Diamond Sports Group are potentially up for grabs. It is claimed by Bloomberg that Apple and other tech firms are all keen to try and secure streaming rights if they were to become available.
YouTube, Amazon, and Disney join Apple in being interested in the rights, as well as satellite provider DirecTV. However, a source claims that the tech firms are only interested in securing the streaming rights if they can "obtain a critical mass of teams," making securing the rights worthwhile in the first place.
Diamond Sports failed to make a $140 million interest payment in February, resulting in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filing. Diamond Sports also couldn't pay a selection of MLB teams, missing a deadline to pay in June and surrendering the rights for one team in July.
With that surrendering, Apple and the interested parties believe more teams could be secured. With $8.6 billion owed in September 2022 by Diamond Sports to maintain broadcasting rights for 42 teams across the NHL, NBA, and MLB, there's a belief that there may be more opportunities down the road.
While Apple is named as a potential suitor for any rights that are given up, the company does tend to prefer to deal with leagues as a whole and on its own terms. For example, it has looked into securing rights for the Dutch Eredivisie soccer league as well as Pac-12, Germany's Bundesliga, and the English Premier League.
However, negotiations for the Premier League apparently fell flat due to limitations on the rights being offered to Apple.
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2 Comments
Apple wants a product that appeals to a global audience (MLB notwithstanding) - that's why they've gone with soccer (a global sport, but they're only broadcasting a minor national league) and have been in talks with Formula1. Basketball is probably also in the mix as long as the anticipated audience is big enough, but I really don't think they'd bother with this particular opportunity unless they could also tie in the global rights at some point down the road.
Bally's current contract with the NBA is only for rebroadcast in the US, as far as I can see. Apple has a contract with MLB and MLS which includes rights to broadcast some games in Canada (and which both have teams in Canada.) The NBA already has Canadian companies signed up for broadcast rights on NBA games over streaming in Canada. If Apple takes over Bally's rights in the US only, it will fragment North America for NBA games in a way that MLB and MLS are currently not fragmented in Apple's deals with them. So I predict Apple won't bite. If the NBA wants a big company like Apple to pay up, they can't fragment the market between Canada and the US when the league itself crosses the border. That's 20th century thinking. The Internet is 21st century.