Apple TV+ rumoured to be planning bid for rights to the English Premier League

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According to The Daily Mail, Apple is looking to beef up its Apple TV+ sports offering by working on a bid for the rights to show the English Prmier League.

Now, before you get too excited, Apple is only bidding for the domestic TV rights not the international one – meaning only the rights to show them in the United Kingdom.

Locally, the rights to the English Premier League lies with StarHub, who won them last year from Singtel. Their contract will last for the next six year.

The current UK rights lie with Sky Sports and BT Sport but will expire in 2025. The tender process will start later this year. Club owners reportedly believe that the rights are currently undervalued at £5.1 billion (~S$8.23 billion).

Sky Sports has had exclusive rights to the Premier League since 1992 but a serious bid from Apple could break that streak as Apple is one of the few companies with the financial clout to seriously threaten Sky Sports' grip on the league.

Apple has identified sports as one of the ways it can attract more viewers to its Apple TV+ service. The company already has a deal for MLB Friday Night Baseball and reportedly tried to get the streaming rights to the Dutch Eredivisie last year.

Source: AppleInsider, The Daily Mail