Starting on Friday, April 7, Apple TV+ will begin streaming the second season of Friday Night Baseball, a weekly doubleheader of Major League Baseball games. If you watched the first season, then you need to know about one major change for the upcoming season: an Apple TV+ subscription is required to watch the games. Here’s how to watch Friday Night Baseball.
We also run through all the ways you can get Apple TV+ for free in a separate article.
Apple TV+ Friday Night Baseball: How to watch
Friday Night Baseball requires an Apple TV+ subscription. An Apple TV+ subscription costs $6.99/£6.99 per month, and there are numerous ways to get Apple TV+ for free for a few months. You can also sign up for Apple One, which is a package of Apple services that includes Apple TV+. The prices for Apple One range from $16.95/£16.95 per month for an individual plan to $32.95/£32.95 per month for family plans.
Once you sign up for Apple TV+, here’s how to watch Friday Night Baseball.
On Mac, iPhone, and iPad: Friday Night Baseball will be available through the TV app. Click on the Originals tab and then scroll down to Major League Baseball.
On Apple TV 4K and HD: Go to the Sports tab and scroll down to Major League Baseball. From there, you can see the schedule and add games to your Up Next queue.
On the web: Apple TV+ is available through a browser at tv.apple.com. If Friday Night Baseball isn’t appearing in the marquee spot at the top of the page, scroll down and look for the Major League Baseball section.
On a smart TV or set-top box: Many smart TVs and set-top boxes come with the Apple TV app installed. If not, you can search for it through the App Store on your device (Amazon, Google, Roku, etc.). If you can’t find the Apple TV app, check your device for a software update.
If you have a business in the U.S., Friday Night Baseball will be available on DirectTV for Business, which caters to bars, restaurants, and other venues. In Canada, Friday Night Baseball will be available through several different providers.
Apple TV+ Friday Night Baseball: Schedule for the first half of the season
Apple has posted the Friday Night Baseball schedule through June 30. The two games will air on separate streams, so the length of the first game will not affect the start time of the second game. These are the upcoming games on the schedule:
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
Apple TV+ Friday Night Baseball: Where to watch
Friday Night Baseball games are available in 60 countries and regions, including:
- Australia
- Brazil
- Canada
- Columbia
- Dominican Republic
- Germany
- Italy
- Japan
- Mexico
- Puerto Rico
- South Korea
- United Kingdom
- United States
Besides the games, Apple offers baseball shows that are available only in the U.S. and Canada. Those shows include “MLB Big Inning,” “Countdown to First Pitch,” “MLB Daily Recap,” and “MLB This Week.”
Apple TV+ Friday Night Baseball: Streaming quality
While games will not be shown in 4K, Apple announced that game broadcasts will employ “state-of-the-art cameras, including high-speed Phantoms, the high-resolution Megalodon, and more throughout the season to present vivid, live-action shots.” Additionally, audio will be presented in 5.1 with spatial audio enabled. “Friday Night Baseball” will also use “new on-screen graphics that include innovative new probabilities-based forecasts of different situational outcomes, plus highlights and live look-ins from around the league integrated right into the broadcast,” according to Apple.
Apple TV+ Friday Night Baseball: Expanded coverage
Apple announced that the games will include pre- and post-game coverage hosted by Lauren Gardner with a rotating group of analysts and former players, including Carlos Peña, Cliff Floyd, and Yonder Alonso. For the 2023 season, Apple added Wayne Randazzo, Dontrelle Willis, Heidi Watney, Alex Faust, Ryan Spilborghs, and Tricia Whitaker to the game broadcast team. Broadcast teams for each game will be announced on a weekly basis.
The broadcast teams are all MLB Network personalities, and Apple is relying on the MLB Network for its telecast production. In a press release, Apple stated that the production involves high-speed Phantom and high-resolution Megalodon cameras, immersive sound in 5.1 with spatial audio enabled, new on-screen graphics that include probabilities-based forecasts, and highlights and live look-ins from around the league integrated right into the broadcast.
Games also display on-screen callouts about batters’ walk-up songs from Apple Music, Siri-based baseball trivia, and more.
Apple will also offer shows with more baseball coverage. On Thursdays, “Countdown to First Pitch” previews the week’s upcoming games. Every morning, “MLB Daily Recap” shows highlights from the previous night. Every weeknight, “MLB Big Inning,” features highlights and coverage of the games in progress. In the U.S. and Canada, viewers can watch a livestream of highlights, analysis, classic games and shows, and more, in addition to on-demand programming. However, access to this content will require an Apple TV+ subscription.
MLB in Apple News and Apple Music
On Fridays, Apple News will have curated highlights and stories from around MLB, and you can get personalized MLB highlights in the News app.
Apple Music has playlists of batters’ walk-up songs from teams featured on Friday Night Baseball. There are also collections of songs with the theme of baseball.
Author: Roman Loyola, Senior Editor
Roman has covered technology since the early 1990s. His career started at MacUser, and he's worked for MacAddict, Mac|Life, and TechTV.