Apple and MLB May Part Ways
Christopher Campbell
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What a difference a few days can make when it comes to high-stakes sports negotiations. After several sources confirmed Apple was a serious contender to pick up MLB Sunday Night Baseball rights, it now looks like it has not only lost the bid to expand its MLB offerings, but that it might pull out of Major League Baseball entirely.
At least that’s the word from Yahoo Sports writer Kendall Baker, who shared a scoop last night that the entire MLB package is nearly a done deal.
From what Baker has heard, “Apple is fully out.” Not only is NBC/Peacock getting the nod for Sunday Night Baseball, but it’s expected to take over Friday Night Baseball as well. While that’s a huge bombshell, the other news is perhaps less surprising: Netflix will get Home Run Derby, as expected, and ESPN is picking up the weekday games, but it’s reportedly doing so in a deal to acquire MLB TV for a “boatload” of money.
In a follow-up post on X, Baker emphasized that “nothing is finalized,” but this is the direction the wind is blowing in, and he expects to have more information soon. He clarified this morning that the Friday Night Baseball situation remains up in the air.
Apple’s deal runs through 2028 and they may not be going anywhere; the Friday night package is the part I’ve gotten the least clarity on. But sources say the MLB.TV and Netflix deals are all but certain and could be announced in the coming days.
Kendall Baker, Yahoo Sports
Baker also doesn’t sound as certain on the Sunday Night Baseball situation as he was last night, although he still adds that his “trusted sources” are telling him that Apple could ultimately be “getting out of the MLB business.” If NBC adds Sunday Night Baseball to its roster, it will effectively have a trifecta of Sunday night sports entertainment, with MLB games joining its Sunday Night Football and Sunday Night Basketball packages.
The Sunday Night Baseball deal is also expected to include first-round playoff games as part of the package. Baker hasn’t said anything about those, but they’d presumably end up going to NBC also. There’s also no word on how long the arrangement would run, but several other sources have said that MLB is only offering a three-year deal so it can line up everything for renewal in 2028 — the same year Apple’s Friday Night Baseball deal is set to expire.
In another follow-up tweet, Baker backpedaled a bit, saying that it’s still “more up in the air” and “Apple is a bit of a mystery.”
Other industry pundits don’t seem to have any more insights into the situation, which appears to be fluid. However, Ryan Glasspiegel and Eric Fisher note at Front Office Sports that an immediate divorce between Apple and MLB for Friday Night Baseball could get a bit messy:
For Apple to be out after this season, there would have to be some extra maneuvering, as the tech giant signed a seven-year deal reportedly worth $85 million per year in early 2022, taking the partnership through the 2028 season. Sources, however, cautioned that none of the potential partners is entirely out of the mix at this point.
Ryan Glasspiegel and Eric Fisher, Front Office Sports
While ESPN was the prior home for Sunday Night Baseball, the Disney-owned sports network announced it was bowing out of the deal earlier this year, which was what put the rights on the table for Apple and NBC to vie for. ESPN threw its hat back into the negotiations, but sources indicate it’s primarily interested in weekday games and local rights. It will reportedly obtain these by acquiring MLB TV, a subscription service that Baker describes as “MLB’s version of NFL Sunday Ticket.”
Meanwhile, Home Run Derby, which is going to Netflix, is “pure entertainment.” The streaming giant’s global audience likely aligns with the MLB’s stated goals to reach a broader international audience — the same thing that led it to get into bed with Apple for Friday Night Baseball and push for it to be offered at no additional charge.
While only Apple and MLB know for sure how well Friday Night Baseball has performed, its global reach hasn’t diminished in any way. That can’t be said for NBC’s Peacock, which is strictly a US-only streaming service. This is why many folks believed Apple was the frontrunner to add Sunday Night Baseball to the mix; however, NBC is undoubtedly better positioned to deliver more domestic eyeballs to the MLB, and the league may consider it more important to keep those viewers than it does to court new fans on the international stage.
