Apple’s Soccer Deal Might Ask Too Much of Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi, his holiness, has arrived to play soccer in Miami. The only thing bigger than the crowds to greet him are the dollar signs bulging, like Looney Toons, from the eyes of the business magnates who made it happen. Awooga! It's payday!
His signing to Inter Miami, completed earlier this month, was unlike any other in the history of the sport, in that success will be measured not by the number of trophies he can win but by how many streaming subscription signups he can inspire.
Last year, Apple agreed a $2.5 billion deal to acquire the global rights to broadcast the US's Major League Soccer exclusively for 10 years, via a dedicated app that costs $14.99 per month or $49 for the season. Or, existing subscribers to Apple's TV service can get a discount, which is what this is all about: Apple, along with rivals like Amazon, sees live sports as the gateway to long-term subscriber loyalty, reducing the rate at which viewers chop-and-change their streaming platform choices.
According to Antenna, a measurement company for the subscription business, the number of consumers considered “serial churners” — those who cancel three or more subscriptions in a two-year span — has increased from 3% of all streaming customers in 2019 to 16% in 2022. In an effort to reverse this, streaming companies will spend $6 billion on major sports rights in 2023, according to Deloitte, an amount that can be expected to rise considerably as more lucrative legacy sports deals come up for renewal.
Until then, deep-pocketed tech giants are taking whatever rights are available. Apple's MLS deal is in addition to its existing rights to show some Major League Baseball. Amazon is furnishing its Prime Video platform by spending $1.2 billion per season to
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