Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images
Apple iPhone 15 series devices are on display for sale as a customer buys an iPhone at Apple's retail store The Grove on launch day in Los Angeles, California, September 22, 2023.
CNN
—
Apple is making even bigger moves in sports.
The company on Wednesday released Apple Sports, a free app for iPhone that offers real-time scores, key statistics and live betting odds.
At launch, users will be able to access live data from leagues such as the NBA, NHL, and MLS. The app, Apple's first in sports, was released ahead of March Madness and provides real-time data for both men's and women's NCAA basketball. Other leagues will be added over time, including the NFL and MLB.
“We created Apple Sports to give sports fans what they wanted: an app that gave them incredibly fast access to scores and stats,” said Apple, who oversaw the app and its creation. said Eddie Cue, Apple's senior vice president of services, who was personally involved in the.
apple
On Wednesday, Apple is scheduled to release a new app.
The app will contain no ads at launch, but it represents Apple's latest entry into the world of sports, a multibillion-dollar business that tech companies have recently entered, and traditionally lucrative broadcasting. It is challenging traditional media companies that have held the rights. It also threatens to completely change the mobile sports app space, which has long been dominated by ad-supported apps like ESPN.
Apple has signed deals in recent years with various sports leagues, including MLB and MLS, to stream games on its Apple TV+ streaming service. Amazon, its biggest rival in the technology and streaming industry, launched exclusive broadcasts of “Thursday Night Football” and NFL games on Black Friday.
Apple Sports can alert users where a game is being broadcast, but it won't stream the game directly within the app, instead directing users to the appropriate app to watch the action.
Technology and media companies are increasingly turning to sports rights to capture paying viewers for their streaming services. In recent months, the NFL playoffs and Super Bowl have broken viewership records, with NBCUniversal's exclusive Peacock broadcast of the wild-card game leading to the biggest single-day streaming record in history, according to Nielsen.
