Peacock wants to steal MLB streaming away from Apple TV+
What you need to know
Peacock is fighting to get streaming rights for the next MLB season.
Apple TV+ may have to share streaming rights with its competitor.
The MLB and Players Association will have to agree to a new contract first.
Peacock is trying to win away MLB streaming from its competitors.
According to a new report from the New York Post, the MLB and NBC Sports have had “serious talks” about broadcasting this season’s games on its network. In addition, the company is looking to bring most of the games to its streaming service, Peacock, as well.
The news comes as previous reports indicated Apple TV+ might be looking to bring the MLB to its streaming service as an exclusive offering. Today’s report indicates that, while games might still come to Apple TV+, the company may have to share them with a competitor like Peacock.
The Post has previously reported that Apple and MLB had held serious talks. While no deals are yet official, the expectation is that Apple and NBC would both be involved this year.
MLB has been looking for a $100 million to $150 million total payout for these games, according to sources. The amount NBC and Apple could pay is not yet known, but Apple is expected to pay the majority of it.
The previous report said that Apple may grab Monday and Wednesday games as ESPN’s contract is set to expire.
The package MLB has been attempting to sell is weekday national games that ESPN recently relinquished. ESPN will no longer have regular Monday and Wednesday games. The ESPN games were not exclusive in local markets. It is unclear at this point if Apple would be allowed to wall off these select games from regional sports network coverage or not.
The one thing that needs to happen, if any of this is to occur, is for the MLB and its players to agree on a new contract. The MLB has currently locked the players out during negotiations, so the season can not kick off until the agreement is made between them.
Apple has also been rumored to be working on new sports features to bring to the Apple TV app, like team preferences and live score updates.
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