Major League Baseball and Apple have had discussions about making the tech giant’s Apple TV+ a rights holder for the league. The talks were characterized as “substantial” by Andrew Marchand of The New York Post. He reports that games could end up on the streaming service as soon as next year.
Apple has kicked the tires on both the NFL and the PAC-12 Conference in the past, but ultimately decided against doing either deal. If Apple and Major League Baseball formalize an agreement, it would be the first live sports rights for the company.
The two sides have a long relationship. The MLB app was one of the very first available in Apple’s App Store in 2008.
It makes sense then that this is where Major League Baseball is finally making some headway in finding a new partner to carry national coverage of weekday games. The league has reportedly held talks with Barstool Sports and Amazon about the package.
ESPN gave up the games last year. The network reworked its deal with Major League Baseball to include only Sunday night games and major events like the Little League Classic, MLB’s Opening Night, and the Home Run Derby as well as Wild Card games.
