Did MLS & Apple change the game? Not yet!

IN THIS ISSUE:

  • MLS & Apple didn’t change the game; they’re playing a different one

  • DAZN is making more of a name for itself; how do you pronounce it again?

  • Which current NFL players would make the best MMA fighters?

The Main Event: Did MLS & Apple change the game?

The new streaming sports deal between Major League Soccer (MLS) and Apple has gotten tons of attention, along with praise for changing the streaming sports game forever. But have things really changed as much as they seem?

Let’s take a closer look at how this could change things for fans, leagues, and streamers.

1. Fans win (at least the ones who care… with cash)

The basics of the deal between MLS and Apple is a big boon for fans of the league mainly for what it doesn’t have. There are no regional or national blackouts. So big time MLS fans have one simple place to go to get every game, including their local club.

Are there enough MLS fans to justify all the excitement about this deal? Eventually, but probably not right away. The ratings for the most recent season have been up, but still only at an average of 292,500 viewers. I know a few soccer loving friends who watch any international league, but ignore the MLS.

Even more importantly for fans, they’ll only get all the games if they pay for a new premium service, and the price for that hasn’t been announced yet. Variety expects the premium service to cost between $20-30 a month. ESPN+ may not have had local games, but $7 a month for nearly every game was a lot cheaper.

At least fans get an excellent model of what the future of streaming sports will be, right? Well….

2. The league is gambling (and MLS isn’t like other leagues)

This streaming deal isn’t so different from others because of Apple, but instead because MLS is a unique league willing to gamble. MLS is a single entity league, which is a fancy way of saying the league owns every team and every player contract. The so-called team owners are actually investors in the league, so they’re mainly focused on the health of the league. Can the same be said for the owners in the NFL, MLB or NBA?

Even before the Apple deal, only about one third of teams had a broadcast deal with a regional sports network (RSN). Under their old deal, MLS teams each received $2.3 million for local and national broadcast rights combined. The top six MLB teams are estimated to make over $100 million each year just from RSNs. This Apple deal will deliver $10 million per year to each MLS team, but that’s before costs come out.

Speaking of costs, that is another of MLS's gambles. Apple isn’t a broadcaster like ESPN or Fox, and MLS is taking on all of the production costs and responsibilities as part of this deal. UFC is an example of how in-house production can work, but they’ve been at it for years. How much will this eat into the profits of this deal? Can their sport grow if local games cost big bucks to watch? MLS is desperate for a big score, so these are gambles they must be willing to take.

3. Streamers first, but More Bidders = More Problems

Apple reinforces the trend of streamers first for sports rights. As more leagues come up for bid, expect streamers like Apple, Amazon, Google or maybe Netflix to be involved. Apple did do one very unique thing here, which was push off the risks of production costs and revenue sharing off onto MLS. I doubt that bigger leagues will give up their big guaranteed money so easily.

But more bidders also means more problems for every broadcaster, because it’s going to drive the already high costs up more. ESPN, NBC and CBS all have streaming services, and they’re not going to let tech companies take what they want without a fight.

In fact, ESPN declined to bid on the streaming rights that Apple landed after already having it on ESPN+. I doubt they’d do the same for rights that they think are valuable. That’s why the Stanley Cup Finals are on ESPN+ this year.

The biggest model for the future that streamers can take from this deal is that the RSN has no future in streaming. Leagues and broadcasters need to get together on plans that make better sense for viewers and let them “Leave the RSN… take the money”.

Streaming Sports News of the Week:

The Streaming Cup. The Stanley Cup Finals dropped the puck this week, and every minute of Colorado Avalanche and Tampa Bay Lightning will be streaming on ESPN+. This is the first time a championship from the NHL, MLB, or NBA has been available on a paid sports streaming service, but it won’t be the last.

I predict we will see the Stanley Cup Finals next year on HBO Max, when Turner has the rights. I also predict that, within a few years, the World Series and NBA Finals will also find streaming homes. The exposure just makes sense.

More in The Zone. DAZN {pronouced Da’ Zone} has made several sports rights deals this week, making the sports streaming platform much more diverse. In big news, they signed former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua to an exclusive deal ahead of his rematch against three belt champ Oleksandr Usyk. They also added Ice Cube’s Big 3 basketball league, along with Blast Premier CSGO ESports.

Over the last few months, DAZN has also added LIV Golf, Brave CF mixed martial arts, and extreme sports with the live 24-7 channel Red Bull TV. When they launched in 2018, DAZN tried to target broadcast rights for MLB, NFL and more but their big money investments came up empty. This shows a real shift in strategy for the streaming service, and it’s clear that their global focus is helping them carve out a niche for now.

Jiminy Cricket! Disney+ loses Indian Premier Cricket streaming to Paramount+ in India. Cricket is a huge sport in India, and the previous deal helped the Disney+ Hotstar service push to a huge 50 million subscriber base. Now as Paramount+ prepares to launch in India, they’ve snagged these streaming rights for $2.6 billion and hope to take many millions of those subscribers with them.

Why is this important to us? It shows the worldwide focus on sports streaming rights first, with TV secondary. And it also shows that cricket is a sport with massive appeal, and I predict we’ll see more big money spent on cricket even here in the US.

Watch. Learn. Stream.

What I Watched:

I watched more NBA Finals, and enjoyed a really fun and unique game 5. Andrew Wiggins put his stamp on this series and his legacy with a 26 point, 13 rebound performance. I also watched the awful Berlanga vs. Angulo fight with a sub par effort by Berlanga and unfair judging. Also Berlanga went full Mike Tyson by trying to bite Angulo’s ear, and reportedly will be suspended for six months as a result.

What I Learned:

The skills that pay the bills in the NFL can translate into combat sports. We’ve already seen some other athletes become boxers, and an NFL burnout and all around bad guy Greg Hardy had a short UFC career. This week, Pro Football Network’s Adam Beasley explores eight current NFL players that could wreck fighters in the Octagon.

What I Will Be Streaming: 

I will be streaming the Stanley Cup Finals on ESPN+ throughout the week. I’ll also stream the Beterbiev vs. Smith championship unification boxing match, and maybe look in on the U.S. Open Championship golf on Father’s Day. But I’m sure to take some time to unplug with my kids, as long as I can pry them away from their own streaming shows and games.

The Streaming Sports Schedule: June 17-23

Select key events shown. All dates and times are subject to change. (* if necessary)

NHL Stanley Cup Finals:

Colorado Avalanche vs Tampa Bay Lightning

All games available on ESPN+ and ABC

Game 2: Saturday June 18 at 8 pm

Game 3: Monday June 20 at 8 pm

Game 4: Wednesday June 22 at 8 pm

Golf:

Thursday June 16 - Sunday June 19

The U.S. Open

Featured Groups and Holes all four days on Peacock Premium

Main Broadcasts on USA and NBC

NBC and USA available on Sling TV Blue ($35 / month), YouTube TV ($65 / month), FuboTV ($70 / month), Hulu with Live TV ($70 / month) & DirecTV Stream ($75 / month)

MLB:

Friday June 17

Chicago White Sox vs Houston Astros 8 pm on Apple TV+

Los Angeles Dodgers vs Cleveland Guardians 10 pm on Apple TV+

Sunday June 19

Philadelphia Phillies vs Washington Nationals Noon on Peacock

Combat Sports:

June 18

Boxing: Artur Beterbiev vs. Joe Smith Jr. for unified Light-Heavyweight Championships on ESPN+ and ESPN

Gratitude

Thank you for reading this week’s Streaming Sports Newsletter. It is wonderful to be able to welcome in new subscribers, and I hope you all have enjoyed reading it. If you haven’t joined in yet, please subscribe so you won’t miss an issue. Also, take a moment to share this issue with anyone you think might enjoy it.

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