MLB and the Players Association may be locked out at the moment, but that hasn’t stopped the news cycle from chugging along. Apple CEO Tim Cook announced during today’s Apple event that the company has reached an agreement with MLB to stream Friday Night Baseball doubleheaders exclusively on Apple TV+. According to Sports Business Journal, its a multiyear deal that will begin as soon as the 2022 MLB season officially begins. As of now, the baseball owners and players are locked out, which has delayed the start of the season. Both sides are still having ongoing discussions, but for now, it’s a waiting game to see when America’s pastime will return.
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One interesting tidbit about the deal between MLB and Apple is these Friday night games will be exclusive to the latter. Local regional sports networks like Bally won’t be able to show the games, which could frustrate loyal fans that enjoy keeping up with their local teams. MLB is reportedly also negotiating with Peacock on another package of games to stream.
“We’re prioritizing reach — we need to reach our next generation of fans and people that find themselves outside of the bundle,” said MLB Chief Revenue Officer Noah Garden. “That is the most important aspect of this deal.”
Along with the Friday Night Baseball doubleheaders, Apple is also putting together a live highlight show every weeknight titled MLB Big Inning. The show will consist of live game look-ins; a 24/7 livestream with game replays, news, highlights and classic games; and the opportunity to watch highlights in the Apple News app. “This is sort of like an all-in deal that allows us to harness everything that people have assumed is powerful about the streaming space and even more importantly, the power of our partner, Apple, here,” Garden said.
This marks Apple’s first foray into live sports. Apple is also in talks to pick up the rights for the NFL’s Sunday Ticket package. Amazon is already going to be the new home for Thursday Night NFL games, and has reportedly signed FOX NFL analyst Troy Aikman to call games.
“This is going to provide validation for what we’ve all been talking about for quite some time,” Garden added. “Immerse yourself in all the way Apple reaches people. That’s going to provide an amazing amount of data as we move forward and hopefully will validate that you can reach fans that are outside the bundle.”
Will you be tuning into Apple TV+ this baseball season to watch some MLB games? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
