🍎 Apple Is Coming For The English Premier League

Sky Sports Faces a Big Threat, AI Might Replace GMs and Coaches in Sports, Jaguars Improbable Comeback Smacks One Bettor Hard

We hope you enjoyed the three-day weekend. If you observed the holiday by performing service, we're sure it felt good to give back.

To us, the underrated, sneaky best part of the three-day weekend is the four-day workweek that follows it. We will be on the grind extra hard trying to make the most of the short week.

In the email today:

1) Apple may take on Sky Sports in a battle for English Premier League broadcast rights 🍎

2) Artificial intelligence could make general managers and coaches in professional sports obsolete 💻

3) Jaguars epic comeback cost one sports bettor trying to win $11K via live bet over $1.4 million 😳

It's good to be back.

1) APPLE POSES SIGNIFICANT THREAT TO SKY SPORTS AS THEY CONSIDER TAKING OVER ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE BROADCASTING AND STREAMING 🍎

Fresh off its acquisition of Major League Soccer broadcast rights, Apple may be hunting bigger game in the world of soccer.

The English Premier League is to England what the NFL is to the United States. The Premier League just topped the "British Icon Index" for the third time.

The Premier League is a crown jewel for Sky Sports. Apple might be in the jewelry market.

Phillip Bupp has the details for Awful Announcing citing a Daily Mail report:

  • According to the Daily Mail, Apple TV is potentially preparing a bid for domestic Premier League rights currently held by Sky Sports, BT Sport, and Amazon Prime.

  • Negotiations for the deal beginning in the summer of 2025 will likely happen later this year.

  • This could be a significant shift in how the Premier League is seen in the UK, as Sky Sports has been the primary rights holder since the Premier League launched in 1992.

  • If Apple succeeds here, it would mark the Premier League's widening embrace of streaming.

  • Putting the Premier League on Apple's platforms would earn worldwide attention for their streaming service and further distinguish Apple in the crowded streaming market.

  • Even if Apple does not end up with the Premier League rights, this story signals a likelihood that Apple will be a player for rights deals of other major European soccer leagues.

We would welcome this development, though it would have no immediate impact on Premier League broadcasts in the United States. Sadly, NBC Sports has the U.S. rights through the 2027-2028 season. So much Peacock. Way too much Peacock.

But if Apple grabs the UK rights, it stands to reason that Apple would try to secure the U.S. rights in 2028. Isn't it lovely to think so?

2) ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE COULD KEEP YOUR FAVORITE TEAM FROM CONSTANTLY STEPPING ON ITS OWN JUNK 💻

Egregious errors by general managers in professional sports are the stuff of legend. Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan. Tim Couch taken number one overall. To say nothing of the horrific, franchise-crippling contracts signed every year.

Coaches and managers are often no better if not worse. Throwing at the goal line instead of giving the ball to Marshawn Lynch. Leaving a limping Bill Buckner in.

What if there was a way to keep these disasters from happening? There might just be one.

Armato's story for Forbes really grabbed us. The strongest points from the story:

  • AI is already impacting various industries, including the sports business, as it is essential to predicting future outcomes in sports.

  • Major sports leagues are incorporating AI into everything they are doing, particularly from a fan engagement perspective.

  • The NFL has partnered with Amazon to gather AI insights and has launched an AI tool to evaluate quarterback passing performance.

  • The NBA is incorporating AI into an engagement tool to provide fans with a deep analysis of the performance of teams and players in nearly every conceivable situation.

  • AI can gather massive amounts of data to lead to better decision-making in player and game time decisions, with implications for scouts, coaches, and general managers.

  • AI can predict everything from expected performance if a player is inserted in the lineup or game, to a player's career expectancy and likelihood of injury.

  • With advanced AI, decisions such as who to draft or trade for, when to substitute, and what plays to call can be made based on data rather than intuition or scouting reports.

  • This may ultimately lead to a reduction in the need for general managers, scouts and coaches.

As you might imagine, we are in love with this idea. We wonder, though, how players and fans would feel about it.

Players would probably hate it because the optimized decision-making would sharply expose their failings.

Fans would definitely miss having coaches and GM's to blame when their teams lose. There can't be any satisfaction calling into a sports talk radio show to complain about a computer.

If winning is the goal, though, it is difficult to argue the premise here. And the computers can't possibly do worse than so many of the humans have.

3) "GREED IS GOOD. GREED WORKS." UNTIL IT DOESN'T. THE BETTOR WHO LOST $1.4M TRYING TO WIN $11.2K IS THE PROOF 🤮

The Los Angeles Charges led the Jacksonville Jaguars 27-0 late in the first half of their Super Wild Card Weekend playoff game. Many fans saw that score as an invitation to watch something else. One bettor, though, saw opportunity.

Regrettably, the opportunity turned sour.

David Payne Purdum's story for ESPN.com broke it down.

  • An unidentified bettor placed a $1.4 million money-line bet on the Los Angeles Chargers to win at -12,500 odds during the wild-card nightcap against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

  • If the Chargers had won, the bettor would have won a net $11,200.

  • However, the Jaguars rallied back in the second half for a 31-30 win, and the bettor lost $1.4 million.

  • Large money-line bets to win smaller amounts are not uncommon, but this bet is one of the most extreme examples on record.

  • The bet became controversial on Twitter, with industry stakeholders and competing bookmakers questioning whether individual wagers should be publicized.

  • DraftKings confirmed the bet was placed but declined to offer further details.

"Bet with your head, not over it," they say. We aren't likely to find out the financial holdings of this bettor, but for that person's sake we hope losing $1.4M isn't a difference maker.

We also think that this sort of bet was more likely made by a deep-pocketed betting consortium than by an individual. There is plenty of money to win picking off short odds situations like this every day as long as there is bankroll to support the bets.

Losing one of these bets is notable. But we'll never hear about the hundreds or thousands of times that the $1.4M bet won, turning a VERY short-term loan of that capital into a five-figure return.

That said...we can think of many better things to do with $1.4M if you want to spot us.

JOB LEAD OF THE DAY 💰

The NFL playoffs are off and running, so there is no better time than the present to hop on this job posting.

We can agree that writing for Sports Illustrated is not the plum gig it once was. That doesn't make this job unattractive.

"The ideal candidate will be responsible for covering the league with breadth and depth on all platforms (print, digital, video, social)." It's a remote position with a $95,000 salary and an above-average array of benefits.

This might be one to go after quickly, because there are probably going to be a lot of applicants.

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON? 😎

WHAT TO KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR BEFORE THE NEXT SEND 👁️

  • The Premier League generally and Tottenham Hotspur specifically should probably start spending more money on security to keep fans from attacking players. ⚽️

  • Jerry Jones wants sports betting in Texas. 💵

  • Kliff Kingsbury is living our dream, taking the Arizona Cardinals' money, going to Thailand, and (maybe) never looking back. 🌴

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