Like the clean, ad-free interface, but it'd be nice to be able to check the standings for a league.
You can. It's the first thing that pops up when you click on a game that hasn't happened yet and it's below the info for an in-progress or played game.
Thanks. I had only tapped on finished games, where you need to scroll down to see them. Normally standings are done separately from games since, from there, one might want to delve into details about the teams (news, players, injuries, etc) and so they warrant a separate section IMO.
Apple likely has several justifications for releasing a first party sports score app.
The most obvious one would be an easy way for them to promote paid services like the MLS Season Pass. As we know by now, Apple's gross margins on Services is far higher than their hardware GM.
The second most obvious one would be better integration: iPhone widgets, Apple Watch, Apple TV, etc.
Another would be to get people off of third party apps like Yahoo Sports. This was one of the very first news apps on iOS (it was called Sportacular before Yahoo acquired the company). Apple would prefer if people were looking at their own content first. Apple knows what people do with their phones and looking at sports scores is likely very, Very, VERY high on the list now that fantasy sports leagues have really changed the concept of the modern sports spectator.
There are people cheering for teams they hate only because a certain player is on their fantasy team. That's more engagement and Apple would rather have people do it on their services.
If Apple Sports can gain a substantial audience this may give Apple leverage in negotiating content deals, contracts, etc. with sports leagues perhaps beyond what they have negotiated with MLS.
There's also a little more flexibility with their own app. Could they have regional variants? Maybe offer cricket coverage to British commonwealth nations?
Apple today is not Apple 25 years ago. As the #2 company by market capitalization they have a lot of clout that they did not when the iPhone launched in 2007.
Remember that sports are a really big business now. How much was a 30 second TV commercial spot during the Super Bowl? Was it $7 million? There are strong tie-ins between sports and entertainment these days, not just Taylor Swift dating Travis Kelce.
Comments
The most obvious one would be an easy way for them to promote paid services like the MLS Season Pass. As we know by now, Apple's gross margins on Services is far higher than their hardware GM.
The second most obvious one would be better integration: iPhone widgets, Apple Watch, Apple TV, etc.
Another would be to get people off of third party apps like Yahoo Sports. This was one of the very first news apps on iOS (it was called Sportacular before Yahoo acquired the company). Apple would prefer if people were looking at their own content first. Apple knows what people do with their phones and looking at sports scores is likely very, Very, VERY high on the list now that fantasy sports leagues have really changed the concept of the modern sports spectator.
There are people cheering for teams they hate only because a certain player is on their fantasy team. That's more engagement and Apple would rather have people do it on their services.
If Apple Sports can gain a substantial audience this may give Apple leverage in negotiating content deals, contracts, etc. with sports leagues perhaps beyond what they have negotiated with MLS.
There's also a little more flexibility with their own app. Could they have regional variants? Maybe offer cricket coverage to British commonwealth nations?
Apple today is not Apple 25 years ago. As the #2 company by market capitalization they have a lot of clout that they did not when the iPhone launched in 2007.
Remember that sports are a really big business now. How much was a 30 second TV commercial spot during the Super Bowl? Was it $7 million? There are strong tie-ins between sports and entertainment these days, not just Taylor Swift dating Travis Kelce.