Apple Hits $83B in Revenue, Eyes NFL Rights

Apple notched a record June quarter as it looks to make Apple TV+ an essential property for sports fans.

The $2.6 trillion market cap company brought in $83 billion in fiscal third quarter revenue, up 1.9% year-over-year. The growth was driven by a 10.8% rise to $19.6 billion in the company’s services sector, which includes Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, and Apple Fitness+.

• CEO Tim Cook touted Apple’s rights deal for Friday Night Baseball in a call following the earnings release, saying it’s “already delighting baseball fans.” Apple has sought to integrate innovations such as predictive stats into its MLB broadcasts.
• In June, Apple inked a 10-year, $2.5 billion streaming deal with MLS, “giving global soccer fans a whole new way of enjoying their favorite sport,” per Cook.
• The MLS deal, which starts next year, avoids any blackouts or restrictions.

The company’s stock rose around 3.2% after market.

Apple TV Big-Ticket Item

After taking a back seat on sports rights for years, Apple has been moving quickly to carve out its space in sports media. 

The biggest domino will fall in the coming months: The NFL is taking bids for NFL Sunday Ticket, which it intends to sell to a streaming service. Google and Amazon are reportedly jockeying with Apple for the out-of-market game package.

A report from April said that Apple may already have a deal in place for Sunday Ticket that could also see the company take a 49% stake in NFL Media.