Michael Boxall of Minnesota United (rear) is one of two Kiwis in MLS. Photo / Getty Images
Michael Boxall of Minnesota United (rear) is one of two Kiwis in MLS. Photo / Getty Images
After a pandemic lull, Big Tech has reanimated its interest in major sports rights.
Apple today revealed NZ pricing for its MLS Season Pass, which will launch in 100 countries, including New Zealand on February 1 - $27.99 per month, or $24.99 per month for Apple TV+ subscribers - withthe option to share with up to six other people with Family Sharing.
MLS stands for Major League Soccer - the top-tier American competition in what most of the rest of the world calls “football”.
There are a couple of All Whites in the MLS - Michael Boxall, who plays for Minnesota United, and Bill Tuiloma is with the Portland Timbers - but it’s fair to say the US league has a niche following here.
Kiwi defender Bill Tuiloma (left) plays for the Portland Timbers. Photo / Getty Images
Nevertheless, the likes of NZ Rugby, its new shareholder Silver Lake and Sky TV, will have noted the MLS Season Pass development - and how it serves as a template, or showcase, for the way sport is heading.
Sky might have seen off Spark Sport, but Amazon and other Big Tech firms could be interested next time All Blacks rights come up for grabs (and Big Tech has big money. Apple paid US$2.5 billion or around $4b for 10 years’ streaming rights to MLS, while Google’s YouTube recently paid a stunning US$14b for seven years’ streaming rights to NFL “Sunday Ticket” games, starting this year, while Amazon has spent more than US$1b building a sports portfolio for its Prime Video that includes rights to a selection of English Premier League and Champions League games in the UK, and US Open rights in the UK, and a sub-set of NFL games in the US).
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady warms up before a game. Google's YouTube paid US$14 billion for seven years' streaming rights to NFL "Sunday Ticket" games. Photo / AP
And, on the flipside, the various global streaming platforms offer potential avenues for the All Blacks to reach the global audience beyond NZ in a world where traditional, country-by-country broadcast deals have yielded diminishing returns in recent years.
Sports bodies or competitions creating their own streaming apps is the other disruptive factor.
For example, when Spark Sport’s Formula 1 rights expired at the end of last year, Sky grabbed NZ exclusive broadcast rights for F1 races - but only non-exclusive streaming rights. When the new Formula 1 season starts in March, Kiwi motorsports fans will have the option to shun Sky and watch races through the official F1 app.
Such cut-out-the-middleman apps are increasingly common for US or European sports with global followings, and there’s potential for others to expand. Fifa says its Fifa+ app, currently limited to library content, could one day be used for pay-per-view live games, while last August English Premier League CEO Richard Masters reanimated talk of a global “Premflix” service (which would not appear here for a while - at least in exclusive form; Sky has just begun a new six-season EPL deal).
Netflix is also looking to get in on the action.
The firm, looking to build on the success of its Drive to Survive docuseries, attempted to secure US live streaming rights to live Formula 1 races - only to be outbid by Disney-owned ESPN+, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Netflix bids for ATP tennis and cycling competitions also came up short.
The streaming giant has changed tack for 2023, and now wants to buy a lower-tier sport to avoid bidding wars every few years. The Journal says late last year, Netflix was in talks to buy the World Surf League, but the two sides could not agree on a price.
For Netflix - whose subscriber numbers stalled in 2022, after years of growth - it’s about finding a new audience.
For the other contenders, live sport is one of the last bastions of hard-to-pirate, easy-to-monetise appointment viewing - even if the way most of the world watches it is changing, fast. In the immediate future, however, NZ will get a bit more old-school, with most of Spark Sport’s content shifting to the free-to-air TVNZ mid-year.
