Batter Up! It’s almost Baseball season folks, and this year Apple continues their commitment to sports streaming with their coverage of “Friday Night Baseball” kicking off in just a few weeks from now.
In what is “Saturday Morning” Baseball in Australia considering the timezone, Apple has the exclusive rights to two games every week.
The coverage this year is expanding from 12 to 60 countries and comes after the company expanded it’s sports offering with Major League Soccer the US football league which is also available on Apple TV, though the MLS is offered as a separate season long subscription called “MLS Season Pass”
Unlike the 2022 season, you will need to be an Apple TV+ subscriber to access the live games. Casual fans of Baseball or a team in particular will though be able to watch “condensed games” or “minis” as we know them without an Apple TV+ subscription.
Because of the power of the Apple Ecosystem, there’s also great integration with the Apple News app, so if you favourite a sports team, you’ll get notifications of live games because Apple TV knows that too.
And I can’t wait for the season to start to see the live score and game updates on my home screen using Live Activities which was new in iOS 16.
“We can’t wait for ‘Friday Night Baseball’ to start up again, and we’re excited for fans to experience everything new we’re bringing this season,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Services. “Apple TV+ truly has something for everyone, from two live baseball games every Friday night, to an incredible slate of award-winning original films and series — there’s never been a better time to sign up.”
It all kicks off on Saturday April 8th, with the Texas Rangers at the Chicago Cubs, and the San Diego Padres at the Atlanta Braves.
Strangely, opening weekend is missed by Apple, but we couldn’t get to the bottom of why that is – we assume it’s something to do with the broadcast rights.
The Friday Night baseball commentary team includs Wayne Randazzo (play-by-play), Dontrelle Willis (analyst), Heidi Watney (sideline reporter), Alex Faust (play-by-play), Ryan Spilborghs (analyst), and Tricia Whitaker (sideline reporter).
Here’s the first half of the 2023 “Friday Night Baseball” season schedule on Apple TV+
All dates and times are listed in US Eastern Daylight Time
- Friday, 7 April
- Texas Rangers at Chicago Cubs
- 2 p.m. ET
- San Diego Padres at Atlanta Braves
- 7 p.m. ET
- Friday, 14 April
- San Francisco Giants at Detroit Tigers
- 6:30 p.m. ET
- Los Angeles Angels at Boston Red Sox
- 7 p.m. ET
- Friday, 21 April
- Toronto Blue Jays at New York Yankees
- 7 p.m. ET
- Houston Astros at Atlanta Braves
- 7 p.m. ET
- Friday, 28 April
- Philadelphia Phillies at Houston Astros
- 8 p.m. ET
- St. Louis Cardinals at Los Angeles Dodgers
- 10 p.m. ET
- Friday, 5 May
- Chicago White Sox at Cincinnati Reds
- 6:30 p.m. ET
- Minnesota Twins at Cleveland Guardians
- 7 p.m. ET
- Friday, 12 May
- Kansas City Royals at Milwaukee Brewers
- 8 p.m. ET
- Chicago Cubs at Minnesota Twins
- 8 p.m. ET
- Friday, 19 May
- Baltimore Orioles at Toronto Blue Jays
- 7 p.m. ET
- Seattle Mariners at Atlanta Braves
- 7 p.m. ET
- Friday, 26 May
- San Diego Padres at New York Yankees
- 7 p.m. ET
- Chicago White Sox at Detroit Tigers
- 6:30 p.m. ET
- Friday, 2 June
- Milwaukee Brewers at Cincinnati Reds
- 5 p.m. ET
- Cleveland Guardians at Minnesota Twins
- 8 p.m. ET
- Friday, 9 June
- Kansas City Royals at Baltimore Orioles
- 7 p.m. ET
- Seattle Mariners at Los Angeles Angels
- 9:30 p.m. ET
- Friday, 16 June
- Pittsburgh Pirates at Milwaukee Brewers
- 8 p.m. ET
- Chicago White Sox at Seattle Mariners
- 10 p.m. ET
- Friday, 23 June
- Pittsburgh Pirates at Miami Marlins
- 6:30 p.m. ET
- New York Mets at Philadelphia Phillies
- 7 p.m. ET
- Friday, 30 June
- Milwaukee Brewers at Pittsburgh Pirates
- 7 p.m. ET
- Arizona Diamondbacks at Los Angeles Angels
- 9:30 p.m. ET
