Apple announced Tuesday that its streaming service, Apple TV+, will carry an exclusive weekly Major League Baseball doubleheader called “Friday Night Baseball” beginning with the 2022 season.
The doubleheaders will include pregame and postgame shows and be available in eight countries around the world, not subject to local blackout restrictions. The games chosen for each doubleheader won’t be on local TV broadcasts.
Apple said that the games initially will be available without an Apple TV+ subscription for a limited time.
The announcement comes amid the second-longest work stoppage in MLB history. MLB players have been locked out since Dec. 2 as the owners and players’ union work through a bitter collective bargaining agreement negotiation.
It is Apple’s first foray into live professional sports. The tech giant followed Amazon, which landed the NFL’s “Thursday Night Football” package for its Amazon Prime Video service beginning next season.
“Apple is the ideal partner to bring ‘Friday Night Baseball’ to fans around the world,” MLB’s chief revenue officer, Noah Garden, said in a statement. “Following milestones like the launch of At Bat on day one of the App Store in 2008 to the integration of Apple technology in ballparks across the country, this robust new game package is the perfect next collaboration in our long history of offering quality and innovative content to our fans.”
–Field Level Media