Live sports is ‘key to streaming’ amid Apple’s sponsorship of Super Bowl Halftime show: Analyst

Wedbush Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst Dan Ives talks about the value of Apple's sponsorship of the Super Bowl halftime show.

Video transcript

[AUDIO LOGO]

SEANA SMITH: Well, Apple, like we've been talking about, replacing Pepsi as the official sponsor for this year's Super Bowl halftime show. $250 million deal spans five years. This is according to the "Sports Business Journal." Let's discuss what this means for the tech giant. For that, we want to bring back Dan Ives, Wedbush Managing Director and senior equity analyst.

Dan, it's great to see you here. So clearly a huge move for Apple, now being the sponsor of the halftime show. How big of a win do you think it is for the company? Dan, I think you're muted. And we love the Eagles jersey, by the way. Got it?

DAN IVES: OK.

SEANA SMITH: There we go.

DAN IVES: So part of what Cook and Cupertino are focused on, is really on the NFL and live sports. And this is an important part of ultimately what we see Apple doing more and more of over the coming years. I think it's a huge win, and especially in this macro period, Apple doing this further flex the muscles.

SEANA SMITH: Dan, when it talks about Apple here going forward, I think lots of questions just about the amount of money that they have spent or are going to spend on the halftime shows over the next several years. When you see that, does that make sense for them, given the fact that there's no guaranteed return on this type of investment?

DAN IVES: But Apple, they're tacticians in terms of how they spend. And this is something they don't just do quickly. And if you look at the history, I mean, they have basically made big bets that have been home run successes.

And also, I think at this juncture, it's very important that they're investing at a time where some others maybe are pulling back. And I think that's an important time, especially going into more iPhone launches, as well as some other technologies I'd expect them to introduce over the coming months.

DAVE BRIGGS: You thought they were going to take a big swing at the Sunday NFL Ticket Package. What happened there? Did they end up making a bid? Did it just get out of the range they wanted to spend? And do you think they'll take another pass at an NBA, NFL type of property?

DAN IVES: Yeah. And look, I think they were significant involved in that. I think some reports have talked about it. I just think it got to a point where they're only going to spend a certain amount. Ultimately, they were not going to go to that level. But live sports is the key to streaming. I mean, that is one of the keys for Apple when it comes to the streaming piece.

I don't think they're stopping here. I think they're going to go after major sports over the coming years. And you look at that content strategy, I mean, it just further highlights, whether it's streaming in terms of on TV or what we see with Apple music, services under the radar has actually morphed into a pretty massive business.

DAVE BRIGGS: How much will live sports mean for this tech battle? We just discussed Apple. You've got Google, who made the big play for Sunday NFL Ticket, $2.5 billion a year, rumored to be per year. And then Amazon, of course, already in with Thursday Tonight Football. Or is it not that important in terms of the overall growth investor story?

DAN IVES: I think it's a golden jewel. I mean, in terms of what big tech's focused on with streaming. Live sports is what is ultimately, and that's why the value continues to go up, because it's not just traditional media. And I think big tech, it's going to take significant bets on live sports over the coming year, especially as you look into '23, '24, '25, '26, a lot sort of come up for renewal. And I think streaming is going to be a big part of that over the coming years.

SEANA SMITH: Dan, we don't have to ask you who you're rooting for, very clear. Got to ask you about the score. What do you think it's going to be on Sunday?

DAN IVES: I see Eagles by 10.

SEANA SMITH: OK.

DAN IVES: I think ultimately, yeah, I think between Hurts and that defense, I think, I see a lot of happy fans in the 215 area code.

SEANA SMITH: I hope you are right. 215 area code is my hometown. Dan Ives, great to see you, thanks so much.

DAN IVES: Thank you.