MLB's Apple deal a curious marriage that might work
In early March, Major League Baseball announced a broadcast-rights deal with a new partner that was strange for a couple of reasons.
The first was that MLB was amid a lockout of its players, arguing over money at the same time it was securing a new stream of revenue worth tens of millions of dollars. The second is the partner was Apple. Specifically, Apple TV+, the streaming service of one of the biggest companies in the world — and one that became that way in part because it has always been, to oversimplify things, cool.
Baseball, to oversimplify things again, is not cool. It is a sport that is firmly and proudly rooted in its traditions. It seems like the absolute antithesis of an Apple sport. And yet, here we are. But, inside this curious marriage is the germ of an idea that could, eventually, blow up the traditional sports broadcasting model. Live sports might be the only thing allowing the networks to keep streaming services from wiping them out. If Apple's foray into live sports becomes the start of a long-term trend, will streaming services one day become the only way to watch your favourite teams?
Apple's initial deal with MLB is relatively limited. Friday Night Baseball, the flagship program that began this season, is a weekly doubleheader of games exclusive to Apple TV+, available only as a subscription service.
Apple is trying to give a modern flavour to the fusty old game. Rather than piggyback on someone else's production, Apple is producing the whole of Friday
Night Baseball, from the cameras to the sounds to the onscreen graphics. Apple diehards will notice that the font used on graphics is SF Pro, the same for Apple's operating system on its phones, tablets and computers.
The picture quality and sound are noticeably enhanced, particularly if viewers have the right Apple products,
So, why baseball, of all sports? And the short answer is, because it was available. MLB, with its 162-game schedule, has a massive inventory and had already experimented with exclusivity, with a small number of games shown exclusively on YouTube. The deal with Apple continues that trend, making games exclusive to digital platforms. (Heads up, Blue Jays fans, the May 27 late game in Anaheim will be available only on Friday Night Baseball.)
North America's other big sports are already locked into long-term broadcast deals, but even there some change is in the offing. The NFL's Thursday Night Football package will move to Amazon's Prime Video service next season.
The appeal of live sports to a streaming service that was built on the idea of on-demand programming is that they will bring in subscriptions in the form of fans who don't want to miss a single game. Will that be the case for Apple TV+, given the curious match with baseball? Time will tell.