Friday Night Baseball Coming to Apple TV+ on April 8

[MacRumors]

Friday Night Baseball games are set to premiere on Apple TV+ on April 8, Apple said today. Apple earlier this month announced a deal with Major League Baseball for the 2022 season. At the time, the season was postponed due to a labor dispute between the MLB and the MLB Players Association, but it has now been resolved.

MLB fans will be able to watch two consecutive games on Friday nights each week during the season, with pregame and postgame shows included. The games will be available for anyone through the Apple TV app or website, no Apple TV+ subscription required. Apple TV+ subscribers located in the United States and Canada will also be able to access a 24/7 livestream that features MLB game replays, news and analysis, highlights, classic games, and MLB-themed original content and programming on demand.

On April 8, Apple will broadcast the New York Mets versus the Washington Nationals at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time, and after that, it will show the Houston Astros versus the Los Angeles Angels at 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time. The games will be available to fans in eight countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. The full schedule through June is available on Apple's website.

Article Link: Friday Night Baseball Coming to Apple TV+ on April 8

 

[syklee26]

Is this US only or worldwide?

 

[mlody]

Apple should invest in rights to broadcast Formula 1 to increase a worldwide appeal of ATV+. That would be something.

 

[ericg301]

Who’s producing these games?

 

[Boatboy24]

Is this US only or worldwide?

"The games will be available to fans in eight countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico, South Korea, and the United Kingdom."

 

[Givn2Fly13]

Who’s producing these games?

Taken from MLB feed, so, MLB

 

[bsbeamer]

Who’s producing these games?

At the time of announcement it was MLB Network producing with Apple just "airing" it, but cannot find a report to 100% confirm this.

 

[Karma*Police]

Why Apple? What value are you providing with ATV+ that I can’t get anywhere else? Ditch ATV+ and focus the billions you’re wasting on mostly mediocre content towards making insanely great products again.

 

[HiVolt]

Nope, not interested. Will not sign up just for this. ATV+ is not something i subscribe to anyway, there's not enough content on it.

I only really follow my own baseball team, so the one game that's on the schedule I will listen to on the radio.

Besides its weird, why does the schedule end in June? August & September baseball with the playoff races is when it's the most exciting.

 

[mnsportsgeek]

More value added to my Apple One subscription.

 

[icanhazmac]

I'm really confused as to what Apple thinks they will get out of this investment. MLB viewership is down and only having Friday night games isn't going to help Apple's cause.

https://sportsnaut.com/mlb-ratings-tv-viewership-numbers/

IMHO this investment could have been better used in other places.

 

[DesertNomad]

This seems like an odd choice. We subscribe to MLB.tv so we can see the Tigers games, so showing two random games just seems weird.

 

[reallynotnick]

Nope, not interested. Will not sign up just for this. ATV+ is not something i subscribe to anyway, there's not enough content on it.

You don't need to sign up for this, it says right in the post... "The games will be available for anyone through the Apple TV app or website, no ‌Apple TV+‌ subscription required."

 

[dannyyankou]

I have lots of questions about this. Will there be blackout restrictions? Will they do their own broadcast or just pickup the broadcast of local networks? Will it be in 4K?

 

[dannyyankou]

I'm really confused as to what Apple thinks they will get out of this investment. MLB viewership is down and only having Friday night games isn't going to help Apple's cause.

https://sportsnaut.com/mlb-ratings-tv-viewership-numbers/

IMHO this investment could have been better used in other places.

Maybe casual viewership is down, but I don't think you find as loyal fanbases in other sports as baseball. Other than soccer, but I'm talking American sports.

 

[A_A]

Nope, not interested. Will not sign up just for this. ATV+ is not something i subscribe to anyway, there's not enough content on it.

I only really follow my own baseball team, so the one game that's on the schedule I will listen to on the radio.

Besides its weird, why does the schedule end in June? August & September baseball with the playoff races is when it's the most exciting.

It says no subscription needed to watch the games, just something that can access Apple TV+

 

[travoose]

What will happen to my local feed, will I not be able to watch a game (traditionally) if my team's game is on AppleTV+ on that Friday night?

 

[A_A]

I have lots of questions about this. Will there be blackout restrictions? Will they do their own broadcast or just pickup the broadcast of local networks? Will it be in 4K?

Most likely will still have blackout restrictions for your local team. Don't think it will be an ESPN competitor, as we haven't heard about them hiring any announcers, so it will likely use the home team feed.

 

[Elcuria]

I have lots of questions about this. Will there be blackout restrictions? Will they do their own broadcast or just pickup the broadcast of local networks? Will it be in 4K?

I would be surprised if there are not blackout restrictions. Big market teams and MLB don't want to lose any revenue that they believe no blackouts would lead to.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

The only way this makes sense to me, is if MLB is paying Apple for it. Who knows, maybe they are? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

What will happen to my local feed, will I not be able to watch a game (traditionally) if my team's game is on AppleTV+ on that Friday night?

If it follows what is typically done, your local channel will display the game and this option will display text on a screen about blackout restrictions in your area. In other words, when it is a local team, watch it on the local channel if available (or go see the game in person). When it is out of market teams, you can tune in and watch via AppleTV+.

I don't know that's how it will work for sure but that's generally how any of this kind of thing works.

 

[Elcuria]

Most likely will still have blackout restrictions for your local team. Don't think it will be an ESPN competitor, as we haven't heard about them hiring and announcers, so it will likely use the home team feed.

That sounds pretty reasonable. Which means that if the Orioles are on Apple TV and they have the home team feed, I need to listen to the visitor's team feed - announcers are so bad.

But then, why WOULD the Orioles ever be on a Game of the Week!

Update - I see the Orioles are on a GOTW. Well, wow!

 

[oneMadRssn]

The games will be available for anyone through the Apple TV app or website, no Apple TV+ subscription required.

My biggest question was whether, as a premium subscription service, the Apple games would come ad-free? If they're freely available to non-subscribers, it seems they will have ads. Dang.

 

[HiVolt]

It says no subscription needed to watch the games, just something that can access Apple TV+

Oh, my bad. But I'm sure the plan is to eventually charge for it. They are still doing freebies to get people to join it.

 

[jdclifford]

Is this US only or worldwide?

The games will be available to fans in eight countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico, South Korea, and the United Kingdom.