Update: Apple didn’t secure the rights. They were sold to Fox, CBS, NBC for $7B.
The Big Ten is one of the most prominent conferences in the United States for college athletics. In fact, the Big Ten got a major boost earlier this summer with the addition of USC and UCLA, turning it into a potential “super conference.”
As we’ve seen throughout the coverage of Apple’s interest in obtaining NFL Sunday Ticket streaming rights, the world of sports licensing and media rights is incredibly complex. As it stands right now, Fox has locked up a portion of the Big Ten broadcast rights.
CBS and NBC are also both likely to obtain broadcast rights as well, according to today’s report. This would end a 40-year partnership between the Big Ten and ESPN, which is “not expected to land” a package this year according to The Athletic.
Similar to the broadcast TV rights, it seems that this streaming package wouldn’t include every single Big Ten sporting event, but only certain ones on certain days of the week.
Whether or not Apple ultimately prevails in its quest to acquire a Big Ten streaming package remains to be seen. Nonetheless, it’s clear that the company views live sports as an important part of the future of Apple TV.
