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Apple Interested in Bidding for English Premier League Streaming Rights?

Tuesday January 3, 2012 3:47 pm PST by Jordan Golson
Apple is considering bidding for the rights to stream English Premier League (EPL) football matches, according to the Daily Mail. The EPL is the top football league in England, and one of the premiere football leagues in the world and the bidding for the television rights is expected to generate billions of dollars in revenue for the teams and the league.
The Premier League is seen as the type of premium content that will help establish Apple TV in the UK and boost iPad sales, while the iTunes subscription service infrastructure is already in place.

The involvement of Apple - and their great multimedia rivals Google are also expected to make similar soundings - would give the PL a hugely competitive market at a time when the price of other TV sports rights are in decline.
The Daily Mail notes that Sky, the current holder of the Premier League broadcast license, ESPN, and Al Jazeera are also expected to bid on the rights.

Thanks Dean!
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uknowimright
19 months ago

89.5 minutes of comatose boredom.


a baseball game lasts longer than that...
Rating: 12 Positives
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daveishere
19 months ago
can't see this happening to be honest, apple would have to take a big chunk out of their $80b cash reserve to take the rights off Sky.

Also, bearing in mind i can get all Sky Sports channels and therefore a lot of EPL games on Sky Go (an iPad/iPhone app) I cant see what else apple can offer?

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This article is about football, not american football :rolleyes:

Also, the Saints are one of the 3-4 best teams this year.


I think he's talking about Southhampton mate, an English championship side looking for promotion to the EPL next season.
Rating: 12 Positives
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pknz
19 months ago
Daily Fail.
Rating: 12 Positives
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WiLLGT09
19 months ago
If Apple does get streaming rights, us EPL fans in the US better get access.
Rating: 12 Positives
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HishamAkhtar
19 months ago
Absolutely unreal. Not sure Murdoch would let go off the EPL without a fight though.

Perhaps they could go for Formula 1 as well? ;)
Rating: 10 Positives
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Tilpots
19 months ago

89.5 seconds of comatose boredom.


...says your girlfriend.

Apple has some sort of content distribution with just about every major sport now. Who cares about the hardware of an AppleTV device anymore. Content is king. This could be part of the first waves of leaking info about Apple's plans.
Rating: 9 Positives
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*LTD*
19 months ago
For a split second I thought they were bidding for an actual team.
Rating: 9 Positives
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whawhat
19 months ago
A lot of people would be interested in paying the $10-$15 a month fee to be able to stream live matches thru Apple TV and other devices legally.
Rating: 8 Positives
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scharf10
19 months ago
If Apple have plans to release a full TV set with a view to do away with set top boxes etc, this is the type of content they would need to make it work. Sky currently have fantastic HD coverage of the Premiership.
Rating: 7 Positives
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RossMc
19 months ago

Why not, no one of any fortitude else cares about this "sport" called football / soccer that was designed by British Colonials intended to avoid teaching effective combat skills to pacify the local population. Get it on the cheap. When you have an optional laugh track when players fake injuries to red card an opposition player, it could be worth it. If Apple could afford Howard Stern to insult the sport as play by play, that is entertainment. When you can pummel opposing players without a red card, then it is a sport.


Yet it's the most popular sport worldwide, Do people outside the US even care about 'American Football' :rolleyes:
Rating: 7 Positives

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