Apple’s Soccer TV Push Comes With No Guarantees for Advertisers
Apple Inc. will launch its new streaming service for Major League Soccer this week with a lot of the traditional practices of TV advertising kicked to the sidelines.
The Cupertino, California-based technology giant hasn't been looking for buyers of individual ads during the games, asking marketers instead to buy a season-long series of spots that will run during the games, according to people familiar with the company's sales efforts.
Apple hasn't been guaranteeing advertisers they'll reach a certain number of viewers, a standard practice in TV. It's also not accepting ads from sports-betting companies, at least initially, according to two of the people.
MLS Season Pass, which debuts Feb. 1, marks Apple's first major push into the $68 billion US TV ad market. The company reached a 10-year deal last year to stream the men's professional soccer league, which aired previously on ESPN, Fox and Univision, in a deal worth at least $250 million annually. Fans can buy MLS Season Pass for $15 a month, or $99 per season, through the Apple TV app.
Apple's sports ambitions have been growing. Last year, the company streamed Major League Baseball on Friday nights, but MLB sold the ads to those games. For MLS, Apple assembled its own sales team, led by Todd Teresi, the company's vice president of advertising platforms, and has spent weeks meeting with ad buyers about sponsorships.
Apple didn't respond to requests for comment. Fox Corp. is also airing some MLS games this year.
MLS has not been a particularly big draw on television. Its regular season audience on ABC and ESPN averaged 343,000 viewers per game last year. But live sports, especially soccer, have been attracting new subscribers to streaming services.
Apple has been
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