The Ligue 1 broadcast rights saga continues. The latest news is that the prizes offered by the Professional Football League (LFP) have not found any takers among broadcasters. The time has now come for negotiations, with a new player who would be well placed in the games for the 2024-2029 period: Apple. It must be said that Apple TV+ already has a foot in the broadcasting of live sports content.
Apple TV+ could win Ligue 1
Tuesday November 7, 2023, Arthur Perrot, football cell journalist at RMC Sport, published a brief entitled “Apple discusses with the LFP for Ligue 1“.
We learn that Apple is testing the waters with the LFP around Ligue 1. The article indicates in particular that “several telephone meetings were set up between the two parties” over the last few days.
RMC Sport adds that no offer has been made by the Apple firm for the moment regarding international rights. “But market reality seems to have reversed the trend. Few sports rights are on sale today and Apple is attracted by the French championship“, explains the media.
As a reminder, the sum requested by the LFP for the rights to the League amounts to 800 million euros. While Amazon Prime Video attracts sports fans with L1, the Premier League and the NFL, Apple is still shy in broadcasting live sports content.
Indeed, Apple TV+ is limited to Major League Soccer and Major League Baseball. Several rumors still tend to show Apple’s growing interest in the distribution of new content. The magazine BusinessF1 recently mentioned that the American company wanted to invest 2 billion per year for 7 years for international broadcast rights to F1.
And it must be recognized, the arrival of L1-type sporting competitions would be a real Holy Grail for the streaming service, which is still far from the number of subscribers of Netflix, Prime Video or even Disney+.