Apple Ups Its Sports Game

There’s been lots of news about Apple’s media operations in recent weeks. Much of it concerns sports coverage.

We’ve had a standoff with the New York Yankees over who would commentate on last Friday’s matchup with the Red Sox at which it was thought/hoped that Aaron Judge would hit his historic 61st and 62nd home runs of the season. YES Network, owned by the Yankees, wanted their commentators to be there if Judge equalled and/or beat the longstanding record held by Roger Maris. Apple owned the rights to the game and was not prepared to give them up as it looks to make its mark in sports media.

Then it emerged that Apple Music is going to be the new sponsor of the Super Bowl halftime show, in a multi-year deal. The first show is going to be in February 2023 and feature Rihanna. It’s a huge moment and it will work very nicely indeed if Apple gets the rights to NFL Sunday Ticket too…

Elsewhere, Ted Lasso is dominating the world. Or at least FIFA 23 which is out on Friday. Oprah, however, is leaving the Apple TV+ family. We may still get output from her on the platform, but her overall deal has come to an end and a new one has not been struck.

Discussing all this with host Charlotte Henry is podcaster Kelly Guimont.

* Lights, iPhone 14, Action

* Hands-on With The iPhone 14 Pro

* Apple TV+ Takes a Swing at Live Sport

* MLB won’t move Yankees’ Apple TV+ game over Aaron Judge home run chaseNew York Post

* Yankees floating Michael Kay in trade push for Apple’s historic Aaron Judge gameNew York Post

* NFL introduces the Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show – NFL

* Rihanna to headline Super Bowl half-time showBBC News

* How Ted Lasso Changed The Game for Apple TV+

* I Want My MCU TV

* The Slice

* Kelly Guimont on Twitter

* Charlotte Henry on Twitter

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theaddition.substack.com

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