(Bloomberg Opinion) -- At the start of a new Major League Soccer season, Apple has released a new sports app. “We created Apple Sports to give sports fans what they want — an app that delivers incredibly fast access to scores and stats,” executive Eddy Cue said in a press statement.
Cue is right: Sports fans do indeed want that. But they already have it through the many other sports apps that have been providing this information already. In fact, against competing apps like ESPN, Apple's app looks comparatively primitive. Soccer fans will find little use for an app that doesn't count the UEFA Champions League, English FA Cup or several other top competitions among its data.
For the American sports fan, the app currently lacks the NFL and MLB — though Apple has insisted they will be in place in good time for each sport's next season (MLB's spring training starts on Thursday).
So what's this really about, then? Why, after more than 17 years of the iPhone, and eight years of having a news app, does Apple feel now is the time to release a bare-bones sports app, one without some of the biggest competitions in the world?
One theory is that it's to draw more interest to the MLS, aka the Lionel Messi show. The league has experienced a boost in viewership, attendance and merchandise sales since the Argentine became involved last year. But it still languishes as a boring alternative to the higher-tempo offerings from Europe. The Apple Sports app can be used as a reminder that MLS matches are A) happening and B) happening on Apple TV.
At least, that's what you'd assume. Yet looking at the entry for the MLS opening match — Messi's Inter Miami vs. Real Salt Lake — there is no mention in the Apple app that it's on Apple TV, no link to sign up, no additional rich content.
Indeed, none of the sporting events in the app so far contain any clues as to how a fan might actually view them, which would be one obvious utility that might make Apple's app worth downloading. Being a soccer fan in the streaming era is to be constantly Googling to find out which of the at least five different streaming services might be offering a particular match. Fans of American sports are slowly learning this, too, with various NFL games becoming spread out across traditional cable, NBC's Peacock app and Amazon's Prime Video.
This confusion (and expense) is only going to get worse — a planned joint venture among ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery could cost in the area of $50 a month, according to reports, if the plans can get past an antitrust lawsuit. But Apple's app, in its current form at least, doesn't seem to inclined to help viewers navigate their options or simplify their payments.
So that leaves one final theory that has me more than a little surprised. It's a betting app.
When you tap on each match within the app, before you receive any other detail — such as when it starts or any information on the team's form — you see a panel of betting odds. Right now, this panel is display only — you can't place a bet within the app, nor does it link to anywhere where you can. The odds are provided by DraftKings, though any reference to the company is buried in the settings.
Why would DraftKings enter such a deal? It's a baby step toward a bigger partnership that could see the millions of iPhone-owning sports fans funneled toward the booming online sports betting industry, finally unleashed now that US gambling laws are being brought line with other countries.
Apple, looking at a possible future where it is prevented from taking such a big cut of App Store sales, spies a potential gold mine: In 2024, online betting apps in the US are projected to bring in revenue — the total value of bets placed, minus winnings paid out — of just over $14 billion, according to Insider Intelligence.
I call it surprising as such a move would seem to run counter to the brand image Apple has painstakingly built over the past several decades. There's a big risk here — even if Apple keeps the actual business of taking bets at arm's-length. Growing up in Britain, I saw as friend after friend suffered mounting losses as betting on just about every aspect of a match became possible with a tap of a screen. Lives will be ruined, there's no avoiding that. I guess some opportunities are just too lucrative to miss.
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- Sports Bets and Financial Disasters Share Traits: Aaron Brown
- Sports Betting Is Great for Women Athletes: Adam Minter
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.
Dave Lee is Bloomberg Opinion's US technology columnist. He was previously a correspondent for the Financial Times and BBC News.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion
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