Apple and Major League Baseball announced Tuesday that Apple TV+ will carry a weekly doubleheader on Friday nights in eight countries when the regular season begins.
since owners locked out players at the end of the collective bargaining agreement. At 97 days, it is the second-longest work stoppage in baseball history.
The broadcasts on Apple TV+ will include pregame and postgame shows and will not be subject to local broadcast blackout restrictions. They will be produced by MLB Network.At the company's event today, it announced a deal with the league to carry a Friday Night Baseball doubleheader on Apple TV+ starting this season. Games will be exclusively broadcast on the streaming service.
MLB has been exploring selling a weeknight package of games with ESPN reducing its coverage of the regular season to 30 games, mostly on Sunday nights. Turner Sports will have games on Tuesday nights under a new rights deal that begins this season. Apple and MLB have been closely aligned for years. MLB At Bat was one of the first apps to go live on the Apple app store in 2008.
The deal also comes as Apple is looking to expand to other leagues. The company has been pursuing streaming of NFL games when the league’s “Sunday Ticket” expires at the end of the upcoming season.