Earlier today, Apple announced a deal with the MLB to carry a Friday Night Baseball doubleheader on Apple TV+ starting this season. These games will broadcast exclusively on Apple’s streaming service.

“Friday Night Baseball” will kick off at the start of the 2022 season, and will be available on Apple TV+ in the US, Canada, Australia, Mexico, Puerto Rico, South Korea, United Kingdom, Brazil, and Japan.

Along with full-game broadcasts, the newest baseball broadcast will offer “MLB Big Inning” as well, which will take place during the week, offering highlights, stats, and more on weeknights.

Major League Baseball continues to make a splash throughout different streaming platforms

The MLB has increased its options to broadcast games throughout the last two years. They originally started with Facebook and YouTube, and are now jumping into Apple TV+.

Apple TV has to be the best option to date, but still, if the team you root for is the one stuck on a streaming platform, that sucks. For regular fans of Major League Baseball, assuming there are still some of us left, having “Friday Night Baseball” is honestly not the worst idea out there.

Still, although streaming sports has gained steam over the years, it’s the more complicated option. Creating an AppleTV account, hooking it up to your TV, and finding the game you want to watch is a lot harder than turning on your cable box and flicking to one channel, especially for the game of baseball which typically relies on an older generation of fans.

Read more: A 162-game Major League Baseball season can still be saved

As I mentioned before, losing games on NBC Sports Philadelphia, and local broadcasts around the country is a no for me. Getting to listen to Tom McCarthy and John Kruk on a Friday night is simply too good to pass up for whatever Apple TV+ has to offer.

It’s obvious that the MLB has its sights set on expanding its accessibility to more viewers, which is the right move from a numbers perspective but having to pay exclusively to watch the Phillies blow a 6-run lead in the 9th inning isn’t something that anyone wants to do. 

Major League Baseball isn’t the only sport that’s moved into streaming. Times change, and league’s need to do what’s best for themselves. The NFL landed a huge deal with Amazon in recent years, and other services like Hulu Live, Peacock, and more, are all starting to get into the sports world as well.

“Apple is the ideal partner to bring ‘Friday Night Baseball’ to fans around the world. Following milestones like the launch of At Bat on day one of the App Store in 2008 to the integration of Apple technology in ballparks across the country, this robust new game package is the perfect next collaboration in our long history of offering quality and innovative content to our fans. With national availability and international reach, MLB on Apple TV+ offers an exciting new platform to fans that allowed a wider audience to connect with the game”- MLB Chief Revenue Officer Noah Garden

Major League Baseball’s newest deal will benefit some, but will also hurt others. It has been hinted that the first few games on Apple TV+ will be offered for free, so keep an eye out for that. But like everything else going on across baseball, none of this matters unless the two sides come to an agreement on a new CBA.

Mandatory Credit: Apple