Game on! Apple launched a free standalone app for sports fans, Apple Sports, which is engineered to fire scores and stats to your iPhone as quickly as possible.
The business case? The app also is designed to drive viewership to the Apple TV app to watch live sports — including all Major League Soccer matches, which are available through Apple TV’s MLS Season Pass subscription add-on under an exclusive 10-year worldwide deal the tech company struck with the league. Apple Sports includes a “Watch on Apple TV” button for each game (if applicable), which kicks open the Apple TV app to the service that’s livestreaming the event and where you can subscribe, if you don’t already.
Apple Sports is available free to download now in the App Store in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. with support for English, as well as French and Spanish where available. The initial version works only on iPhones (running iOS 17.2 or later). Apple is releasing Apple Sports as a standalone app (rather than as a feature in, say, Apple News) in order to deliver real-time scores and updates as rapidly as possible.
The Apple Sports app also displays live betting odds for each game, although users can turn those off if they don’t want to see them, as well as current game clock, play-by-play information, team stats and lineup details. Users can customize their scoreboards on Apple Sports by following their favorite teams, tournaments and leagues, and Apple Sports will sync users’ favorites with the Apple TV app and Apple News.
At launch, Apple Sports provides scores and stats for the following leagues currently in season: MLS, NBA, NCAA basketball (men’s and women’s), NHL, Bundesliga, LaLiga, Liga MX, Ligue 1, Premier League and Italy’s Serie A. According to the company, additional leagues will become available on Apple Sports over time, including MLB, NFL, NCAAF, NWSL and WNBA for their upcoming seasons.
“We created Apple Sports to give sports fans what they want — an app that delivers incredibly fast access to scores and stats,” Eddy Cue, Apple’s SVP of Services, said in a statement. “Apple Sports is available for free in the App Store, and makes it easy for users to stay up to date with their favorite teams and leagues.”
The tech giant is launching Apple Sports on the same day MLS kicks off its 29th season, the earliest season kickoff in league history. On Feb. 21, Lionel Messi and Inter Miami CF, the reigning Leagues Cup champion, host Real Salt Lake at Miami’s Chase Stadium (formerly DRV PNK Stadium) starting at 8 p.m. ET.
Clearly, a big reason for the existence of Apple Sports is to push soccer fans to the MLS subscription package. Apple’s MLS Season Pass includes access to every match of the league’s regular season, the MLS All-Star Game, the MLS Cup playoffs and the Leagues Cup — with no blackouts. In the U.S., MLS Season Pass is available on the Apple TV app for $14.99 per month or $99 per season; Apple TV+ subscribers can sign up at a discounted price of $12.99 per month or $79 per season.
In addition, Apple has a deal with Major League baseball to stream two “Friday Night baseball” games during the regular season, available to Apple TV+ subscribers. “Friday Night baseball” will be coming back in April to Apple TV+.
