Tim Cook CEO of Apple | Apple
Apple and Major League Baseball (MLB) have announced the July schedule for "Friday Night Baseball," a weekly doubleheader available to Apple TV+ subscribers on Fridays throughout the 2024 regular season. Fans in 60 countries and regions can enjoy two marquee matchups over 26 weeks with no local broadcast restrictions.
"Friday Night Baseball" features a notable group of broadcast talent, including 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). Ted Barrett, Brian Gorman, and Dale Scott — all former MLB umpires — will analyze rules and calls each week. Game assignments for announcers will be shared on a weekly basis.
Lauren Gardner hosts live pre- and postgame coverage along with former MLB player and analyst Xavier Scruggs, and baseball journalist Russell Dorsey. On July 26, the "Friday Night Baseball" pregame show previewing the Rangers vs. Blue Jays and Dodgers vs. Astros games will be hosted live from Minute Maid Park in Houston, featuring exclusive player interviews.
"Friday Night Baseball" is produced by MLB Network’s Emmy Award-winning production team in partnership with Apple’s live sports production team. Each game features state-of-the-art cameras to present vivid live-action shots, along with immersive sound in 5.1 with Spatial Audio enabled. The broadcasts utilize drone cameras for aerial stadium shots, as well as player mics and field-level mics to immerse fans in the gameplay and stadium atmosphere. Fans in the U.S. and Canada have the option to listen to audio from home and away teams’ local radio broadcasts during games.
In Apple Sports, fans can follow MLB and their favorite teams to access full stats and scores through a new free app for iPhone that provides real-time scores, stats, and more. Designed for speed and simplicity, the app offers a personalized experience featuring users’ favorite leagues and teams.
Fans in the U.S. can also enjoy the MLB Big Inning whip-around show featuring live look-ins and in-game highlights every weeknight, along with other MLB-related content on Apple TV+, including Countdown to First Pitch, MLB Daily Recap, and MLB This Week. Additional programming such as condensed game recaps after live broadcasts of "Friday Night Baseball," classic games, highlights, interviews, and more are accessible for free via the Apple TV app.
This season, DIRECTV FOR BUSINESS remains the exclusive national home of "Friday Night Baseball" for commercial establishments in the U.S., delivering action to its network of over 300,000 venues throughout the regular season on existing satellite equipment.
In Apple News, fans can follow league updates through an MLB feed that includes personalized highlights within the News app. Each Friday features curated stories from around the league with direct access to watch "Friday Night Baseball" via subscription.
Apple Music offers exclusive official playlists featuring walk-up songs from each week’s teams alongside classic baseball-themed songs.
Apple TV+ subscribers can watch "Friday Night Baseball" on various devices including iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Mac, online at tv.apple.com; select smart TVs; Amazon Fire TV; Roku devices; PlayStation; Xbox gaming consoles; Chromecast with Google TV; Sky Q; SK Broadband; Comcast Xfinity among others. More information is available at apple.com/apple-tv-app.
Fans can follow every game this MLB season right on their iPhone Lock Screen with Live Activities or use multiview features on Apple TV 4K devices or iPads to watch up to four simultaneous streams including MLS matches.