Apple TV+ in 'serious talks' to carry Major League Baseball

Apple TV+ logo
Apple TV+ logo (Image credit: Apple TV+)

What you need to know

  • Apple has reportedly held "serious talks" about bringing Major League Baseball to Apple TV+.
  • Both Apple and MLB declined to comment on the report.

You might be watching Major League Baseball through Apple TV+ in the future.

As reported by the New York Post, Apple has had "substantial talks" with the league to carry MLB games on its streaming service next season. While not the first time Apple has been rumored to be bringing live sports to its streaming service, this might be the biggest one.

If a deal is finalized, it would represent a significant milestone in sports broadcasting since Apple has long been looked upon as a potential stop for major sports TV rights. One of Apple's rival companies, Amazon, has already carved out an important piece of real estate in this space, as it will become the exclusive home of NFL "Thursday Night Football" in the fall.

According to the report, the package that MLB has been looking for a buyer for is its weekday national games that ESPN recently dropped.

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.

Apple has been rumored to be working towards a number of sports-related content for its streaming service, including NFL Sunday Ticket and Pac-12 deals. None have come to fruition yet, but it is clear the company has its eyes on live sports.

Joe Wituschek
Contributor

Joe Wituschek is a Contributor at iMore. With over ten years in the technology industry, one of them being at Apple, Joe now covers the company for the website. In addition to covering breaking news, Joe also writes editorials and reviews for a range of products. He fell in love with Apple products when he got an iPod nano for Christmas almost twenty years ago. Despite being considered a "heavy" user, he has always preferred the consumer-focused products like the MacBook Air, iPad mini, and iPhone 13 mini. He will fight to the death to keep a mini iPhone in the lineup. In his free time, Joe enjoys video games, movies, photography, running, and basically everything outdoors.