Friday Night Baseball is returning to Apple TV Plus for its second season starting April 7, the company and MLB announced today.
Starting with the Texas Rangers at the Chicago Cubs, and the San Diego Padres at the Atlanta Braves, April 7 will kick off another season of weekly doubleheaders for Apple TV Plus subscribers throughout the regular seasons.
Apple first announced its MLB partnership last year, however, coverage was met with a mixed response from fans. Apple offered a cool minimalist coverage format and excellent streaming quality. However, fans did not welcome its choice of relatively inexperienced announcing teams and lamented the poor quality of the commentary.
Friday Night Baseball: Back, bigger than ever.
This year, Friday Night Baseball will feature a weekly doubleheader every Friday on Apple TV Plus over 25 weeks, with no local broadcast restrictions. In addition, fans will be able to watch in 60 countries, up from just 12 last year. Apple has put out the schedule for the first half of the season through June 30.
As noted, the big news is a swathe of new talent coming to the announcer booths. 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) will all feature, with assignments announced on a weekly basis.
Apple's pre- and postgame coverage will see the return of Lauren Gardner, as well as former MBL players Xavier Scruggs and Matt Joyce, journalist Russell Dorsey, and two former MLB umpires Brian Gorman and Dale Scott. The latter join as the MLB introduces several new rules this season.
The broadcasts will be produced by MLB, featuring 5.1 spatial audio, drone camera shots, and player and field-level mics. The MLB Big inning whip-around show is also kicking off on March 30. Other MLB-related content includes Countdown to First Pitch and MLB Daily Recap.
Friday Night Baseball is also coming to more than 300,000 restaurants, bars, hotels, and more through DIRECTV for Business so fans can watch Apple TV Plus exclusive games outside of the home.
Last year, Friday Night Baseball was free for the duration of the season, even if you didn't have Apple TV+. However, this year the games will only be available to Apple TV Plus subscribers at the usual cost of $6.99 (US) a month.
2023 “Friday Night Baseball” Schedule on Apple TV+
Friday, April 7
Texas Rangers at Chicago Cubs
2 p.m. ET
San Diego Padres at Atlanta Braves
7 p.m. ET
Friday, April 14
San Francisco Giants at Detroit Tigers
6:30 p.m. ET
Los Angeles Angels at Boston Red Sox
7 p.m. ET
Friday, April 21
Toronto Blue Jays at New York Yankees
7 p.m. ET
Houston Astros at Atlanta Braves
7 p.m. ET
Friday, April 28
Philadelphia Phillies at Houston Astros
8 p.m. ET
St. Louis Cardinals at Los Angeles Dodgers
10 p.m. ET
Friday, May 5
Chicago White Sox at Cincinnati Reds
6:30 p.m. ET
Minnesota Twins at Cleveland Guardians
7 p.m. ET
Friday, May 12
Kansas City Royals at Milwaukee Brewers
8 p.m. ET
Chicago Cubs at Minnesota Twins
8 p.m. ET
Friday, May 19
Baltimore Orioles at Toronto Blue Jays
7 p.m. ET
Seattle Mariners at Atlanta Braves
7 p.m. ET
Friday, May 26
San Diego Padres at New York Yankees
7 p.m. ET
Chicago White Sox at Detroit Tigers
6:30 p.m. ET
Friday, June 2
Milwaukee Brewers at Cincinnati Reds
5 p.m. ET
Cleveland Guardians at Minnesota Twins
8 p.m. ET
Friday, June 9
Kansas City Royals at Baltimore Orioles
7 p.m. ET
Seattle Mariners at Los Angeles Angels
9:30 p.m. ET
Friday, June 16
Pittsburgh Pirates at Milwaukee Brewers
8 p.m. ET
Chicago White Sox at Seattle Mariners
10 p.m. ET
Friday, June 23
Pittsburgh Pirates at Miami Marlins
6:30 p.m. ET
New York Mets at Philadelphia Phillies
7 p.m. ET
Friday, June 30
Milwaukee Brewers at Pittsburgh Pirates
7 p.m. ET
Arizona Diamondbacks at Los Angeles Angels
9:30 p.m. ET
