Stepping up its ambitions, Apple eyes English football streaming rights

Apple Inc. is considering bidding for the streaming rights to a range of English football games, according to people familiar with the situation, a move that would step up its sports ambitions and increase competition with Amazon.com Inc.’s Prime Video.

The rights under consideration would allow Apple to show Premier League games in the UK, as well as lower league matches run by the English Football League, said two of the people, who asked not to be identified because the deliberations are private.

Such a move would build on Apple’s recent expansion into live sports in the US, where it forged a $2.5 billion 10-year deal with Major League Soccer to show games on its TV+ platform.