Apple TV Targets The Open Championship Rights to Expand Sports Portfolio

The streaming platform is positioning itself as a serious contender in the next US media-rights cycle, with the formal tender process expected to open at the start of next year — a direct challenge to incumbent NBC, whose current 12-year deal expires in 2028. The move reflects a broader industry logic: live sports rights have become the central lever streamers pull to deepen subscriber lock-in and justify premium pricing.

A changing field for the Open

NBC has held live US rights to the championship since 2017, when it outbid ESPN for a 12-year package. Those rights are now shared with Versant, the media company that operates the Golf Channel, creating a two-partner distribution structure the R&A appears ready to revisit. An R&A spokesman told The Guardian that the governing body expects to enter discussions with its incumbent partners in due course, while also continuing to "monitor the evolving broadcast landscape and the wider interest in our rights." That phrasing signals openness to non-traditional bidders — and the Guardian's reporting indicates Netflix and Amazon are also expected to register interest once the formal process begins.

Apple's uneven sports playbook

Apple's push into the Open would extend an already active — if mixed — portfolio. The company's 10-year, $2.5 billion MLS rights deal is being terminated three years early after disappointing viewership, a rare public retreat from a streamer of its scale. Yet Apple has not paused its sports ambitions: it secured a five-year, $750 million exclusive US package for Formula One last year. A source familiar with Apple's plans told the Guardian the company "remains committed to investing in sports rights" and intends to keep evaluating properties. For the R&A, that persistence — combined with the financial capacity behind it — makes Apple a credible bidder even as the MLS outcome tempers expectations.

What to watch before the next swing

For US viewers, the next eighteen months will determine where the Open lands and through which subscription it is reachable. A shift to a streamer-exclusive arrangement would likely push the championship behind a paywall rather than a traditional cable bundle, reshaping how audiences access one of golf's four majors. Keep an eye on the R&A's formal tender announcement, the response from NBC and Versant, and whether Netflix or Amazon surface concrete bids. The Open's eventual home — broadcast network, cable channel, or streaming app — will signal which distribution model the broader sports-rights market is converging on next.