With Messi in the MLS, all those games are likely to draw more eyeballs from all around the world. And Apple TV+ would stand to benefit.
“The real story here is that it’s essentially Apple TV that’s acquiring the world’s superstar in our default global sport,” said Andrés Martinez, a professor at Arizona State University’s Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
Andrés Martinez: The real story here is that it’s essentially Apple TV that’s acquiring the world’s superstar in our default global sport. Apple signed a 10-year deal with the MLS for global TV rights, and it is going to give revenue-sharing participation to Messi. This is the rise of of media within sports as the driving purpose. There was a study of Nielsen ratings done by Sportico that showed that 94 [out of 100] of the most-watched telecasts in the U.S. were live sporting events. And I think that’s what Apple has seen, that if you want to drive subscriptions, you have to offer compelling live sport.