Here's Why Analyst Sees Rumored MLB deal As 'Ideal Opportunity' For Apple

Amid rumors that Apple Inc. AAPL is in talks with Major League Baseball to stream the mid-week games, Loup Ventures analyst Gene Munster believes a deal would be an “ideal opportunity” for the tech giant’s Apple TV+ streaming service.

What Happened: “From my perspective, this makes a ton of sense. I think it gets them into live sports,” Munster said in a discussion with Loup’s Doug Clinton.

Munster added that the deal would be one of the continued steps forward for Apple TV as MLB is probably the second largest sport in the world in terms of revenue.

Clinton agreed with Munster, noting that the deal would be a “really smart use” of cash on Apple’s balance sheet to make a statement in sports.

See Also: Apple Services Business Flourishes In 2021: Record High App Store Developer Revenues, Launch Of Apple TV 4K, Apple Pay Expands To New Markets And More

Why It Matters: The New York Post reported earlier this week that Apple has held substantial talks about streaming MLB games starting with the 2022 season.

A deal would mark the Tim Cook-led company’s foray into streaming live sports and provide a major content boost for Apple TV+. The $5 per month subscription streaming service was launched by Apple in 2019.

Apple rival Amazon.com Inc.’s AMZN streaming video service has signed a ten-year deal to be the exclusive home of NFL “Thursday Night Football,” starting with the 2022-23 season. Amazon paid $1 billion a year for those rights.

Price Action: Apple shares closed almost 0.3% higher in Wednesday’s regular trading session at $175.53, but lost almost 0.3% in the after-hours session to $175.08.

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