May 10, 2024
FIFA is close to a deal with Apple to create a new global football tournament, the New York Times has learned. The Club World Championship, which would feature the best clubs in the world, would last a month and be available on Apple TV+ streaming platform.
The tournament, which could be played in the US from 15 June to 13 July 2025, would cost the tech giant one billion dollars. The tournament would feature 63 matches between the 32 best football clubs in the world. 12 of them would be from Europe. On that evening, we would most likely see, for example Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Inter Milan, FC Porto, Benfica Lisbon, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Manchester City.
FIFA has concerns about the reach of the event. Apple TV+ is not a top streaming platform in many countries. More sponsors would be interested in showing at least some of the matches on unencrypted TV. The idea is also criticized by the players' unions.
Streaming services are investing more in sport. Although Viaplay, which focuses on sports, will withdraw from the Polish market by mid-2025, other platforms are investing more and more in sports licenses in developed markets. Apple TV+ has a 10-year license to broadcast Major League Soccer and Major League Baseball.
Amazon Prime Video in Italy, for example, has acquired the UEFA Champions League license. Netflix bid for the rights to broadcast Formula One in the United States, but ESPN (Disney Group) paid more. Disney+ will also stream the European Football League and the European Conference League in Sweden and Denmark for the next three seasons.
Netflix has also experimented with streaming sports events for the first time in its history. The Netflix Cup pitted drivers from Formula One: Drive to Survive against golfers from Full Swing. The experience gained with this production could be useful for the streaming giant when it comes to obtaining more attractive sports broadcasting licenses.
I wonder if the idea of a new global football tournament available on Apple TV+ will be a success? After all, licenses to broadcast major sporting events are always a 'sure thing' for broadcasters and attract huge audiences around the world.
But as we know, the world's top clubs' players' calendars are full and I wonder if they can find room for extra games?
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