APPLE TV have effectively ruled themselves out of a bid for the next round of Prem TV rights – in a major blow for League chiefs.
The next three-year bid tender for domestic rights, currently worth around £3billion per season, will go out to broadcasters before the end of the year.
League bosses are ready to green light an extension to 270 live TV matches each campaign in a bid to push up the total price.
But expectations that Apple TV would be interested in taking one of the smaller packages as a gateway into the Prem were scotched by Apple’s senior vice-president Eddie Cue.
And Cue signalled the company would not be interested in investing in the Prem unless it was a deal that mirrored the new £1.95bn exclusive global partnership with Major League Soccer.