Manzana may be about to add another top-tier sporting event to the catalog Apple TV+. Reportedly New York TimesCupertino residents are negotiating with FIFA hand over 2025 Club World Cupwhich will be held in the United States and will be the first to be held with the participation of 32 teams and in a format similar to the World Cup.
According to the above-mentioned media, negotiations between Apple and the parent company of world football for global television rights are in the final stages. To the point that an official statement could be made before the end of April. It remains to be seen whether the 2025 Club World Cup will be broadcast exclusively on Apple TV+ or whether some matches will be available on regular TV channels in different parts of the world.
It appears that this last point will be a point of contention in the decisive part of the negotiations. From what New York TimesFIFA would not welcome being tied to Apple TV+ as the sole global broadcast platform for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup. Not only because the organization usually negotiates television rights for all of its competitions with one or more. broadcasters by country, but also because Apple will pay much less than those headed by Gianni Infantino intended.
FIFA intended to sign an agreement worth about $4 billion. However, the final figure will be much lower. According to available information, The Apple deal could be worth around $1 billion on the smaller side..
Club World Cup 2025 could be on Apple TV+
In accordance with New York TimesThis explains why it can lower its economic expectations enough to sign an agreement with Apple to give it global broadcast rights to Apple TV+.
To add to this, Apple already has a track record of providing high-quality football broadcasts through its streaming platform. In 2022, Tim Cook’s team signed a 10-year exclusive deal with Major League Soccer to broadcast all American professional soccer games live. In principle, the agreement did not cause much international fuss, but the arrival Lionel Messi Inter Miami has made a splash in terms of MLS season ticket sign-ups.
If Apple and FIFA end their broadcast deal for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, it remains to be seen how content distribution will work. The first thing that needs to be clarified is whether the matches will be broadcast only through Apple TV+. Once this issue is resolved we will have to see if there will be subscribers they will have to pay extra – as has already happened with the MLS Season Pass – or if the broadcast of the tournament is included in the total fee.
The 2025 Club World Cup will be the first Club World Cup to be organized in a 32-team format. These competitions will replace the tournament of the same name, which was held from 2005 to 2023 with seven participants. Previously, only the continental champions plus the champion of the organizing country competed in the competition, which was held annually. Starting from the next edition, 12 European clubs will be represented: 4 from Asia, 4 from Africa, 1 from Oceania, 6 from South America, 4 from Central and North America and one from the host country.
Bet on the NBA?
In addition to the 2025 Club World Cup, Apple would consider an agreement with the NBA. The window for exclusive negotiations between the league, ESPN and TNT Sports in the US will close this Monday. This means USA Basketball executives will be able to negotiate various agreements with other partners starting tomorrow.
The NBA’s idea would presumably be to sign with a platform that operates exclusively through streaming. It seems Amazon Prime Video may have an advantage. However, Apple would also be interested in holding any negotiations through Apple TV+. In accordance with AthleticCupertino residents do not have priority, but they are not completely excluded.
Recall that Apple was also rumored as a potential candidate in the fight for television rights Formula 1. As published last October, block participants were willing to spend up to $2 billion a year. However, this was never spoken about again. At the moment, the most firm question is the 2025 Club World Cup and confirmation could come very soon.
Source: Hiper Textual
I’m Ben Stock, a highly experienced and passionate journalist with a career in the news industry spanning more than 10 years. I specialize in writing content for websites, including researching and interviewing sources to produce engaging articles. My current role is as an author at Gadget Onus, where I mainly cover the mobile section.
