Apple Sports Expands, Adds World cup Coverage
Apple this week announced it has updated Apple Sports such that the app “adds new markets and expanded coverage.” Apple Sports, still iPhone-only, is now available in more than 90 countries and regions, as well as ready for this year’s FIFA World Cup.
The World Cup begins on June 11. It will be jointly held in 16 cities, 11 in the United States.
“Apple Sports is helping fans get ready for the World Cup by allowing them to explore tournament groupings and customize their scoreboards simply by following the entire tournament or their favorite national teams—making it easier to stay on top of key moments when the tournament kicks off in June,” Apple wrote in its announcement posted on Tuesday. “Following a team also enables Live Activities on a user’s iPhone Lock Screen or Apple Watch, letting them follow every moment of a match with just a quick glance. Fans can also add widgets to their iPhone, iPad, and MacBook Home Screens to track the progress of the tournament in real time. With Apple Sports, fans can easily jump to the Apple TV app with a single tap to find live matches on connected streaming services throughout the tournament.”
This week’s software update brings with it features like a “clean [and] scrollable” tournament bracket view, “enhanced game cards” which enable users to view their favorite team(s) strategic decisions, and one-tap access to Apple News to what Apple is calling “comprehensive editorial coverage” of all the action on the pitch.
“The World Cup unites fans across the globe, making it the ideal moment to bring Apple Sports to even more users,” Oliver Schusser, Apple’s vice president of Music, Sports, Apple TV, and Beats, said in a statement included with the announcement. “Apple Sports was designed to be fast and simple, giving fans an easy way to stay on top of scores, stats, and the action that matters most in real time.”
As a diehard sports fan, I love Apple Sports; it’s one of my favorite, most-used apps and has entrenched itself on my iPhone Air’s Home Screen. I have most of the local teams, in men’s and women’s leagues, favorited in the app, and use Live Activities almost on a daily basis to follow, say, a Giants or Valkyries game, depending on the season. My only real gripe about Apple Sports is it’s not yet on iPad, and I watch these update stories like a hawk only because I dream of the day Apple says Apple Sports has come to iPadOS. I have zero little birdies, but I can’t imagine Apple Sports for iPad isn’t being worked on somewhere in Apple Park. For now, however, I like to think Apple Sports on iPad is the new Calculator on iPad, which finally appeared in 2024 after a 14-year wait. Let’s hope Apple Sports needn’t wait that long—that would be a true travesty for me.
In other soccer (or fútbol) news, John Voorhees at MacStories reports Apple has announced a documentary shot in Apple Immersive for Vision Pro, called Real Madrid: The Weight of Greatness, that’s set to debut this Friday. There’s a trailer on YouTube.
Speaking of FIFA, I posted an interview with its accessibility coordinator last July about how soccer’s governing body was making the Club World Cup accessible to everyone.
