Apple launches free sports app in US/CA/UK

[Bob Jersey]

Not the same as AppleTV+... it's more an information source than one for actual content...

https://deadline.com/2024/02/apple-launching-new-free-sports-app-for-iphone-1235832759/ (link)

B

[Adam Bowie]

I've just been playing with this and it's insanely basic. They've launched it in the UK but only have the EPL in there. No EFL for fans of the other 72 football clubs. And no Scottish football at all. And there's no Champions' League in there either. And there is zero consideration for any other sport in the UK at all. So for many British sports fans, it's next to useless right now. It feels like a placeholder app.

More than that, I'm really surprised how much they're leaning into gambling on the app. Pull a fixture up, and you get a load of odds information right up top, before you get to anything else. That really seems off-brand for a company like Apple considering all the banned categories they have in their app store and other places. I know sports gambling is exploding in the US (gambling was loosened earlier here in the UK, so we've been through this explosion already), but it won't all be pretty when more people get more addicted to it. 

Yes, you can turn off odds in the Settings, but it's on by default, and you know that 99% of users will not play around in the Settings.

I guess that maybe Apple thinks that their app won't stand a chance in the marketplace without having gambling odds built in. But you do begin to wonder whether the next step is affiliate links to gambling sites that take Apple Pay...

As I say, this doesn't feel on-brand to me. 

[Yes, I know  that Disney has licenced its ESPN brand to a gambling company, but they haven't yet opened sportsbooks in the Magic Kingdom, or started allowing bets on what colour the fireworks will be over Cinderella's castle, or who will win a footrace between Goofy and Donald. Maybe that'll come alongside live lootboxes for the kindergartens! :-)  ]

Adam

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to tvornottv+...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/2c564390-f2c5-4aac-9f71-44c844792947n%40googlegroups.com.