Apple's $1B rights bid isn't enough for FIFA's new tournament

Discussions between Apple and FIFA over TV rights for a new soccer tournament have stumbled, putting the future of the high-profile competition in doubt.

In April, it was reported that Apple was in talks with FIFA to potentially secure the TV rights for a new soccer tournament. At the time, the deal was valued at about $1 billion, but it seems the competition is now in jeopardy.

According to sources of Bloomberg, the talks to stream the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup have halted, with FIFA now looking elsewhere.

The apparent stumbling block was Apple's bid. It seems that $1 billion was a quarter of what FIFA wanted for the deal.

Furthermore, an exclusivity deal with Apple for broadcasting apparently became an issue for potential sponsors. Rather, it seems sponsoring companies wanted the tournament to be on free-to-air networks, instead of behind an Apple paywall.

FIFA is now apparently in talks with other broadcasters, with a view to forming country-level deals instead of an all-encompassing one.

Apple's bid is only one apparent reason for the tournament's poor fortunes. It seems FIFA asked teams to accept a lower fee for playing than they were previously offered.

With Apple's bid rejection and sponsor troubles, it seems that there may not be as much money up for grabs to get the tournament underway.

4 Comments

Cesar Battistini Maziero 8 Years · 410 comments

About 6 months ago

Fifa is. getting greedy, they are charging fees that are so big that they will just lose all partnerships.

Maybe it's a strategy to run everything in house. We will never know.

godofbiscuitssf 2 Years · 103 comments

Cesar Battistini Maziero said:

Fifa is. getting greedy, they are charging fees that are so big that they will just lose all partnerships.
Maybe it's a strategy to run everything in house. We will never know.

FIFA is nothing but greedy. They called their $1 Billion stash a “rainy day fund”. They sold out to human rights violators Qatar. LGBTQ athletes and fans were at physical peril just being there and they knew it, but still, $$$ matter most.

realjustinlong 12 Years · 96 comments

godofbiscuitssf said:

FIFA is nothing but greedy. They called their $1 Billion stash a “rainy day fund”. They sold out to human rights violators Qatar. LGBTQ athletes and fans were at physical peril just being there and they knew it, but still, $$$ matter most.

Or FIFAs lack of concern that host countries use forced/slave labour practices. Deceptive recruitment practices that often result in migrant labour’s passports/paperwork being held and large hidden fees so that labours often can’t leave and are subjected to horrible working and living conditions.

jgreg728 8 Years · 113 comments

Eh whatever. Given the majority of Apple’s apps and services work most in the US they should focus on getting American leagues under their belt. NFL on Apple TV+. NBA League Pass as an Apple TV Channel. NHL. Give the majority of your TV watchers what they want.

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