Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) recently made a splash by announcing its latest plans for Friday Night Baseball coverage coming back. Though it wasn’t universally well-received, there were definitely plenty of takers. Now, Apple may have plans to branch out into a less familiar sport: soccer. The move was at least modestly welcomed by investors, who sent Apple stock slightly higher in Thursday afternoon’s trading.
Apple’s move into soccer isn’t new. It’s already been working to set up connections in Major League Soccer, so a branch into Premier League won’t be too much different. Reports suggest that Apple wants streaming rights to Premier League games and that those rights would start up in 2024. Apple may have some trouble getting those rights, however, as several major competitors already have them in place. Premier League in the UK is partly controlled by Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), and in the U.S., it’s Comcast’s (NASDAQ:CMCSA) ball.
Interestingly, Apple is now the fourth major player to try and land broadcasting rights for soccer—or football—games. Such an increasingly competitive pool is likely to increase the prices for streaming rights. Domestic Premier League rights are already valued at $6.23 billion, reports note, so getting in on that action now might make some company a good slug of money. Not to mention the leagues themselves.
Regardless, Apple still stands as a favorite among analysts. Analyst consensus calls Apple stock a Moderate Buy. Further, Apple stock boasts 6.5% upside potential thanks to its average price target of $170.18.
