Apple TV tried being a sports hub, but now ESPN’s launching a competitor

Apple’s TV app is one of the few places trying to aggregate sports in the streaming age. But today, ESPN announced the launch of a similar effort. ESPN’s app and ESPN.com now offer a ‘Where to Watch’ feature, making it easy to follow your favorite sports by letting ESPN tell you where each game can be watched.

Solving sports’ streaming problem

ESPN’s ‘Where to Watch’ feature does exactly what Apple has been trying to do with its TV app. It aims to solve the modern problem of fragmented programming.

In the days of linear, your favorite team’s games might be on one of a few different channels.

Today, you often have to navigate not only several linear channels, but also a variety of streaming services—which you may or may not be subscribed to.

ESPN’s ‘Where to Watch’ won’t provide access to games for you, but it will at least tell you where each game is available.

ESPN is one of the partners of the upcoming Venu Sports bundle, which is currently delayed due to legal troubles. But when it launches, it will undoubtedly feature prominently in ‘Where to Watch’ and make the feature more valuable.

Apple’s missed opportunity with sports

Apple’s TV app has had basically the same ‘Where to Watch’ feature for years. The problem is, Apple isn’t a leader in sports. Sports fans don’t think of Apple when they think about where to find sports info. Instead, they think of a brand like ESPN.

It doesn’t help that Apple launched a dedicated Sports app this year, but that app focuses only on scores.

• If you want to watch a game, you have to tap a link and jump into the TV app to view all available options.
• And if you’re looking for sports news, that’s not inside the Sports app either—instead you have to open Apple News.

Apple’s own fragmented sports strategy has made it a weaker player in the race to aggregate sports for streaming. ESPN, meanwhile, stands poised for greater success.

Are you interested in ESPN’s new ‘Where to Watch’ feature? How could Apple find more success with sports? Let us know in the comments.