ESPN's network executive Sean Bratches said on Tuesday that the sports network would be interested in working with Apple to bring a version of the WatchESPN app to ESPN subscribers with the Apple TV. ESPN is the most-watched sports network in America, and a deal with the company could bring more users to one of Apple's more timid products.
ESPN already allows users of Microsoft's Xbox to stream WatchESPN content if they subscribe to a participating television package that includes the sports network. Today, Bratches declared that ESPN (which is owned by the Walt Disney company), is "platform agnostic."
“To the extent that in the future there’s an opportunity with Apple to authenticate through the pay-TV food chain as we’re doing with Microsoft, that’s something that we will participate in,” Bratches told Bloomberg.
Users can already access the WatchESPN app through iOS devices, but a native app on Apple TV would compete with Microsoft's Xbox and expand the entertainment set's appeal to a wide variety of users that may not own an iPad or iPhone.
The Apple TV currently has MLB, NHL, and NBA channels, but an ESPN partnership would give sports viewers a much wider range of programming (like football and recap shows). While no deal has been made, we reported in March that Apple was busy negotiating content with major networks for the 2012 holidays, and Disney/ABC has expressed interest as far back as 2009.
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