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BFD Expert Voices - Media Deals

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Apple is getting into live sports via a deal with Major League Baseball that will make two weekly Friday night games exclusive to Apple TV+.

Why it matters: It's Apple's first foray into live sports and marks a continued shift of making games available to those without a paid subscription. 

The tech giant has been rumored for several years to be making a sports play and had been in talks with multiple leagues and college conferences.

"The most important thing from our standpoint right now is reach," MLB's chief revenue officer Noah Garden tells Tim.

Garden declined to comment on the deal terms, but it had been previously reported that MLB was looking for as much as $150 million a year for its weeknight inventory.

Yes, but: The timing of the announcement couldn't be worse. The sport is mired in a nasty lockout that has already delayed the start of the season and threatens to cancel games. (Editor's note: Negotiations are ongoing this morning. Baseball fans report twinges of hope.)

Details: The multiyear deal starts this season (assuming there is a season).

Apple has full exclusivity on the games, so they will not air on teams' local regional sports networks. However, they will be in front of the paywall, at least initially. 

The deal includes a live weeknight show, "MLB Big Inning," that will feature highlights and look-ins. 

Additionally, those in the U.S. and Canada get access to a 24/7 livestream featuring game replays, news, analysis and classic games. 

Between the lines: MLB has a history of being early Apple adopters.

When Apple first launched its app store in 2008, MLB was the first sports app. The league was also the first to allow its games to be streamed on the iPad.

"We've had an amazingly close relationship with Apple. You see Apple iPads in the dugout. This deal is one that comes from those years of working together," Garden said.

This is not the first time MLB has put games exclusively on digital: The league experimented with putting games on Facebook and YouTube in recent years.  

The big picture: There's a growing consensus among the top sports leagues that they need to cater to fans who only use streaming.

The NFL's new rights deals, which began in 2023, will make more games available on Peacock, Paramount+, ESPN+ and Amazon Prime Video, along with traditional TV networks.

Amazon is paying about $1 billion a year over an 11-year span to carry "Thursday Night Football" exclusively (except in participating teams' home markets) starting this fall.

"That's something that everybody's struggling with in our space: How do you start to reach the fans that are falling off the bundle?" Garden said.

What's next: This could just be the start for Apple. Along with Amazon and Disney, the tech giant is vying to acquire the NFL's Sunday Ticket package, which becomes available next year. 

The Apple deal does not mean MLB is done selling weeknight games. "We have more inventory available. I think we're always in the market looking for opportunities that present themselves," Garden said.

NBCUniversal and Peacock have been reported to be in talks for weeknight games. 

1 big thing: Apple finally takes the field

Illustration of a baseball in the shape of an Apple logo.

The Justice Department and the SEC are investigating Barry Diller, Alexander von Fürstenberg and David Geffen for options trades made on Activision Blizzard shares shortly before the Microsoft deal was announced.

Citing people familiar with the matter, WSJ reported that the three men "have an unrealized profit of about $60 million on the options trade, based on the recent Activision share price of around $80."

Why it matters: The media moguls are under investigation for insider trading. 

Details: They reportedly spent about $108 million for the right to buy 4.12 million Activision shares — which are now valued at $168 million — on Jan. 14. 

Activision's board approved the deal on Jan. 17 and announced it the next day.

JPMorgan reported the transactions to authorities after the deal was announced, according to WSJ.

What they're saying: "It was simply a lucky bet. We acted on no information of any kind from anyone. It is one of those coincidences," Diller told WSJ.

2. The BFD: Trading on Activision 

Chairman and Senior Executive of IAC/InterActiveCorp and Expedia Group Barry Diller walks to a morning session at the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference on July 07, 2021 in Sun Valley, Idaho.

Barry Diller at Sun Valley on July 7, 2021. Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

The annual conference has been filled with a solid mix of forward-looking analysis and quips. For example, Warner Music's CEO finds Peloton "without music" to be "just a lot of people sweating and doing painful exercise on a bike."

On ads: "It's not like we have religion against advertising, to be clear. What we're focused is on building, optimizing for long-term revenue, big profit pools. … Never say never, but it's not in our plans."

On gaming: "I hope it's a big part of our business in a decade. ... We've put 14 games, I think, on the service. There'll be, we expect, a multiple of that by the end of this year."

On streaming: "The music services are beginning to realize they can uplift prices, that music represents enormous value relative to services that provide long-term video. ... There's still a boatload of runway."

On Web3: "I wish I could size [the opportunities], and I wish I had a better handle on timing. What we are sure of is it's coming, and it will be big."

On investor day: "We didn't necessarily get the market reaction we would have hoped for. But nonetheless, it is a powerful story, and we're feeling very good about it."

On differentiation: "We are not a pure play streamer. And when you look at, forget about growth for a second, but when you look at margins, that's a very good thing because we are able to leverage content costs across platforms."

On M&A: "What we have paused is really very significant, large-scale M&A right now. ... We want to make sure we're really focused on organic growth during this time, as well."

3. Overheard: Morgan Stanley TMT conference

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Tegna is expected to borrow about $6.8 billion in the junk bond and leveraged loan markets to help fund its buyout, Bloomberg reports. Royal Bank of Canada is leading the process with participation from Goldman Sachs and Bank of America. http://axios.link/3a7r

Kobalt Music Group has raised $550 million in debt financing for the acquisition of music copyrights, Bloomberg reports. JPMorgan and HPS Investment Partners contributed. http://axios.link/yYR4

Sendinblue, a Paris-based digital marketing platform that's raised $175m in VC funding, acquired MeetFox, a New York-based scheduling and video conferencing software provider. http://axios.link/ZMgV

Mojo, a "stock market" app for trading professional athletes, has raised $75 million. Thrive Capital led the round, with Tiger Global Management, Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore participating. http://axios.link/rIpx 

Former MGM Motion Picture Group president Jonathan Glickman is launching his own production banner, Panoramic Media. It has investments from Spyglass Media Group's Gary Barber, Eagle Pictures, Lantern Entertainment, Pinky Promise and United Talent Agency. http://axios.link/8tir

Games Global, an Isle of Man-based gaming firm, is in talks to go public via Tailwind International Acquisition Corp (NYSE: TWNI), a tech SPAC led by Pierre Denis (ex- CEO of Jimmy Choo Group), at an implied valuation north of $3 billion, Bloomberg reports. http://axios.link/blwf

Ligue de Football Professionnel, the top French pro soccer league, reportedly received binding bids for a slice of its media rights business from CVC Capital Partners, Silver Lake, Hellman & Friedman and Oaktree Capital. http://axios.link/znw7

4. Deal flow

Paramount Players will merge under Paramount Pictures' motion picture group. As a result, Paramount Players president Jeremy Kramer will be stepping down. http://axios.link/xwAd

Twitter hired Michael Sayman, the tech world's teen savant, to build experimental features. http://axios.link/jmhw

ESPN re-signed analyst Doris Burke to cover regular season NBA games and NBA Playoffs on ESPN and ABC; NBA Finals on ESPN Radio; and NBA Sunday Showcase on ABC. http://axios.link/xZOo

Sam Sanders, formerly of NPR, is joining Vox Media to host a new podcast for Vulture. http://axios.link/xCht

Jared Carrabis is leaving Barstool for DraftKings. http://axios.link/Zv2q

5. Movin' on up (or out)

USA Today owner Gannett Co. gave advertisers inaccurate information for nine months (WSJ)

Gannett misrepresented where billions of ads were placed, meaning the ads appeared on the wrong sites and the wrong articles, according to research by Braedon Vickers and Adalytics. Gannett execs said the company is considering whether to issue refunds to advertisers. 

Networks ask Nielsen to delay 'big data' releases until after Upfronts (Adweek)

"The Video Advertising Bureau is asking the Nielsen to delay its new 'big data' monthly impact releases ... until after this year's upfront, calling the current data 'unusable,'" Jason Lynch writes. 

HBO accused of sharing subscriber data with Facebook in class action lawsuit (Variety)

The suit alleges HBO provides Facebook with customer lists and violates the Video Privacy Protection Act by never receiving consent from subscribers. 

6. Channel surfing

Illustration of a pair of sunglasses with lenses that look like tv screens.

🚨 Situational awareness: Amazon's acquisition of MGM is expected to win unconditional EU antitrust approval, Reuters reports.

🗓️ Disney's annual meeting is today at 1pm ET. It comes amid controversy over CEO Bob Chapek's decision for the company not to speak out publicly against Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bill. Go deeper. 

@tim_bays: "Pam & Tommy" on Hulu. We all owe Pamela Anderson an apology (and that Jay Leno interview was just as cringeworthy in real life).

@kerrymflynn: "Euphoria" on HBO Max. I was waiting for all of season 2 to drop. No spoilers, but Sunday night Twitter assured me Zendaya is amazing.

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March 09, 2022

1 big thing: Apple finally takes the field