4 ms·

Interesting. I wonder, though, how many of those demands were hard requirements and how many were setting up to move towards what they ultimately want. Apple is

Interesting. I wonder, though, how many of those demands were hard requirements and how many were setting up to move towards what they ultimately want. Apple is a long-term investment type company. Keep in mind —- all contracts are re-negotiable.

mixdup 4y ago
Sure, all contracts are re-negotiable in theory, but think about the reality of the situation. CBS and Fox's deals combined are $4.3 Billion a year. Do you really think Apple would have paid what it would've taken to get CBS and Fox to agree to the things Apple wanted to do? At $2 billion a year, Sunday Ticket would've been a huge loss leader. At $8-10b it'd take to get the kind of deal they wanted, Tim Cook would've been looking for another job And, the NFL also has non-monetary targets. They want to keep the games on broadcast TV to maximize the reach. They are not a niche league like MLS that's willing to be 100% on streaming. The prestige of the NFL is going to keep it out of a purely streaming product as long as there are TV stations broadcasting free over the air
- 33955985 4y ago
  > The prestige of the NFL is going to keep it out of a purely streaming product as long as there are TV stations broadcasting free over the air This is a good point and I suspect that was why Apple left the table. There’s no way they’d spend $2B/year (their entire original content spend in 2022 is estimated at 6.5B) to not have it Apple exclusive. Especially when TV+ is a loss leader already.
- rhaway84773 4y ago
  The NFL is smart. They have not ruined their product chasing short term money. You can see this in a whole lot of sports. NHL has destroyed their long term standing because they’re basically unavailable to watch for most people. The same is true of Cricket in England, as another completely different example. The NFL isn’t willing to do that. They know they have a unique product so they don’t try to maximize short term revenues by sacrificing long term strength.

mixdup 4y ago

Sure, all contracts are re-negotiable in theory, but think about the reality of the situation. CBS and Fox's deals combined are $4.3 Billion a year. Do you really think Apple would have paid what it would've taken to get CBS and Fox to agree to the things Apple wanted to do? At $2 billion a year, Sunday Ticket would've been a huge loss leader. At $8-10b it'd take to get the kind of deal they wanted, Tim Cook would've been looking for another job And, the NFL also has non-monetary targets. They want to keep the games on broadcast TV to maximize the reach. They are not a niche league like MLS that's willing to be 100% on streaming. The prestige of the NFL is going to keep it out of a purely streaming product as long as there are TV stations broadcasting free over the air

33955985 4y ago
> The prestige of the NFL is going to keep it out of a purely streaming product as long as there are TV stations broadcasting free over the air This is a good point and I suspect that was why Apple left the table. There’s no way they’d spend $2B/year (their entire original content spend in 2022 is estimated at 6.5B) to not have it Apple exclusive. Especially when TV+ is a loss leader already.
rhaway84773 4y ago
The NFL is smart. They have not ruined their product chasing short term money. You can see this in a whole lot of sports. NHL has destroyed their long term standing because they’re basically unavailable to watch for most people. The same is true of Cricket in England, as another completely different example. The NFL isn’t willing to do that. They know they have a unique product so they don’t try to maximize short term revenues by sacrificing long term strength.