In the midst of a war for rights, Tim Cook has an ace up his sleeve

The fact that Javier Tebas, president of the Spanish La Liga, has a problem with football hacking has been a reality for years. However, in recent weeks the controversy has intensified more than ever after a misinterpretation of a judge’s order that revealed the identification of those accessing football illegally.

The thing is, on a personal note (and I know I’m not the only one), I’ve been thinking seriously for some time about what Apple TV+ could end many of these problems. And where I say Apple, I also say Amazon Prime Video or even Netflix, even if I have some reason to believe that Californians are the main unofficial candidates.

An overview of football league prices in other neighboring countries

Everyone is responsible for their own actions and has their own reasons, although in general it is usually the price set by the platforms that own the rights (currently Movistar Plus+ and DAZN).

If we look at how much a football contract costs on average here and how much it costs in other European countries that own the rest of the major leagues, we see that there is a clear difference that puts the Spanish wallet at a disadvantage. Up to 75% difference compared to countries like Germany.

This is how other additions including European competitions such as the Champions League, the Europa League or the Conference League are left aside.

It must be said that in the case of USA, the rights are divided between Movistar Plus+ and DAZN, each having half of the matches every day except two. One of these is also broadcast free-to-air via GOL PLAY, although this never corresponds to a team playing in European competitions.

Therefore, if you want to have access to all the matches, just one is not enough and you must subscribe to a Movistar pack which also includes the DAZN LaLiga channels.

Likewise, it should be clarified that only La Liga would be included in this pack that we have highlighted, given that if we want to add the Champions League and the Europa League, the price rises to 116.90 dollars. Even more so if we add other sports, even if as we are only talking about football and the first division of each country, this is what we find.

Another alternative is in USA, we find it with Orange TV, to whom Movistar gives its football channels and offers packs similar to those offered by Movistar itself. In this case the price is a little higher, you have to pay 105 dollars for the most basic pack, but which includes all the football.

Price is not the only obstacle to hiring football in USA

Montilivi Municipal Stadium, where Girona FC play their home matches

The key to making the price of football higher in our country lies in need to rent a football package plus a mobile rate and fiber at home. You can add more phone lines, higher speed or, as we already said, other sports. However, there is no possibility of contracting football with them and having Internet or a mobile line with another operator.

Movistar, owner of Telefónica, is one of the main operators in our country, but what happens if we don’t want to be with them? Well, we also have Orange, as we said before, another large telecommunications company present in our country, but which again forces us to have to contract with them for home Internet and mobile lines.

In my personal case, I have reasons to prefer to hire another operator and having to be tied to Movistar or Orange to watch football makes me powerless. I understand that this is completely legal on the part of these operators, given that ultimately their interests are not so much in gaining customers through football, but rather in strengthening them with their main services, which are telephone lines and fiber.

Apple TV+ bids for La Liga rights, a not-so-impossible dream

The first thing to note is that We still have at least three seasons left with Movistar and DAZN, since they own the rights to La Liga until 2027 (in the case of Movistar it will also have the Champions League until that year). During these years they may later transfer the rights to Orange and others, but yes or yes, it will be these two who will have the empire of our national league.

In the United States, Apple TV+ holds the rights to its premier soccer division (MLS) until 2030

Yet, we would not see any changes until the 2027-2028 season. As of yet, neither the current platforms nor others have officially expressed interest in bidding for them. Basically because in the end it is La Liga which distributes these rights and an auction price has not yet been estimated.

For 2027-2028 and beyond, Other streaming majors could bid. And before moving on to Apple, I want to stop at Amazon Prime Video, because its commitment to live sports in general and football in particular is evident with what has been seen in countries like Germany or France , but also in our country. broadcast rights of the second division. Its participation in this future auction cannot therefore be excluded.

On Apple TV+, we also see a a very clear commitment to sport in recent years. From the last launch of the “Apple Sports” application to what was his first bet with the NFL. In the meantime, it has acquired the rights to the American MLS until 2030 in the United States.

There are also signs of interest in European sport and in Europe. Some time ago we became aware of the leaked plans to also acquire rights in the Netherlands and now they already have the Premier League broadcast license for the United States. And as far as USA is concerned, there is nothing firm, although there is a lot of back and forth and clues left by Apple’s own CEO.

Tim Cook during his visit to USA with the presidents of Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid, Florentino Pérez and Enrique Cerezo (Images: Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid)

Tim Cook went to USA last September, constituting a stopover on his European tour which would end with a meeting at the highest level with Margrethe Vestager to elucidate the terms of the application of the DMA (which we have already seen in iOS 17.4). As the Apple boss’s visits to our country are so rare, his entire schedule is very measured. And despite everything, he had time to visit the facilities of Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid.

It’s obvious that if you want to put Apple TV+ in the running, you’ll need to negotiate with Javier Tebas and LaLiga, but getting in touch with some club presidents isn’t far from that negotiation at all. And even less when we know the serious intentions of Florentino Pérez, president of Real Madrid, to create a new European competition.

Streaming does not guarantee a price reduction, even if it is relatively cheaper

It must be said that watching football on streaming platforms or decoders that do not depend on an operator It’s not cheap either., although it is possible to contract these additional services separately, this may prove more practical. What will happen in USA from 2027 is a mystery, given that it could perfectly continue with Movistar and DAZN if they recover the rights.

If it reaches Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video or something similar, It is assumed that there will be an additional cost compared to what the platform already has.. We are already seeing this in countries like France where, in addition to having to subscribe to Amazon Prime, an additional payment of 14.99 dollars per month is required. Only the United Kingdom is an exception, although in this case Prime Video does not broadcast all the matches.

If we want to be realistic and take the example of Apple TV+, It doesn’t look like the 9.99 dollars per month of your current plan will be what it costs to watch football if they finally bet on it and win the broadcast rights. In any case, we will have to see how much, since it would include advertising in intermissions as is already the case with the MLS, which allows us to obtain more income, but certainly not enough to not require additional payment of subscribers. In any case, this suggests that by detaching ourselves from additional services like now, we will be able to make a better combo with the one that is most profitable.

We must also take into account Some possible downsides of moving all football to streaming and especially among older audiences and/or less inclined to use platforms. Watching Apple TV+ or any other streaming service on a television requires either having a television compatible with these applications or, failing that, a player like Apple TV, Fire Stick or Chromecast.

In any case, personally, I believe that it is a necessary step to distance ourselves from the operators. Not because I have anything against them, since I insist that Movistar and Orange are precisely two of the companies that have the most customers in our country. The problem arises when football becomes a service inseparable from other products, which was not the case a few years ago.

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