Macworld
Opening Day is Thursday, March 27, and Apple TV+’s Friday Night Baseball weekly of Major League Baseball doubleheaders has returned. As with last season, an Apple TV+ subscription is required to watch the games, but there are lots of ways to get Apple TV+ for free.
Updated March 26, 2025: The fourth season of Friday Night Baseball will begin Friday, March 28, 2025.
Apple TV+ Friday Night Baseball: Schedule
Apple has posted the Friday Night Baseball schedule through June. The two games will air on separate streams, so if games overlap, you’ll be able to watch both at the same time using the multiview feature on Apple TV 4K devices. These are the upcoming games on the schedule:
Friday, March 28
Baltimore Orioles at Toronto Blue Jays
7:00 p.m. ET
New York Mets at Houston Astros
8:00 p.m. ET
Friday, April 4
Los Angeles Dodgers at Philadelphia Phillies
6:30 p.m. ET
Tampa Bay Rays at Texas Rangers
8:00 p.m. ET
Friday, April 11
Pittsburgh Pirates at Cincinnati Reds
6:30 p.m. ET
Detroit Tigers at Minnesota Twins
8:00 p.m. ET
Friday, April 18
Minnesota Twins at Atlanta Braves
7:00 p.m. ET
Seattle Mariners at Toronto Blue Jays
7:00 p.m. ET
Friday, April 25
Boston Red Sox at Cleveland Guardians
7:00 p.m. ET
Texas Rangers at San Francisco Giants
10:00 p.m. ET
Friday, May 2
San Diego Padres at Pittsburgh Pirates
6:30 p.m. ET
Chicago Cubs at Milwaukee Brewers
8:00 p.m. ET
Friday, May 9
St. Louis Cardinals at Washington Nationals
6:30 p.m. ET
San Francisco Giants at Minnesota Twins
8:00 p.m. ET
Friday, May 16
Houston Astros at Texas Rangers
8:00 p.m. ET
Seattle Mariners at San Diego Padres
9:30 p.m. ET
Friday, May 23
Los Angeles Dodgers at New York Mets
7:00 p.m. ET
Arizona Diamondbacks at St. Louis Cardinals
8:00 p.m. ET
Friday, May 30
Boston Red Sox at Atlanta Braves
7:00 p.m. ET
New York Yankees at Los Angeles Dodgers
10:00 p.m. ET
Friday, June 6
Arizona Diamondbacks at Cincinnati Reds
7:00 p.m. ET
Chicago Cubs at Detroit Tigers
7:00 p.m. ET
Friday, June 13
Los Angeles Angels at Baltimore Orioles
7:00 p.m. ET
San Diego Padres at Arizona Diamondbacks
9:30 p.m. ET
Friday, June 20
New York Mets at Philadelphia Phillies
7:00 p.m. ET
Kansas City Royals at San Diego Padres
9:30 pm. ET
Friday, June 27
Tampa Bay Rays at Baltimore Orioles
7:00 p.m. ET
St. Louis Cardinals at Cleveland Guardians
7:00 p.m. ET
Apple TV+ Friday Night Baseball: How to watch
Friday Night Baseball requires an Apple TV+ subscription. An Apple TV+ subscription costs $9.99/£9.99 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 $19.95/£19.95 per month for an individual plan to $37.95/£37.95 per month for family plans.
Once you have an Apple TV+ subscription, here’s how to watch Friday Night Baseball.
On Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Vision Pro: 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: 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: Vision Pro Immersive Video
While baseball fans subscribing to MLB.TV can enjoy a “fully immersive, three-dimensional viewing environment within a digitally rendered MLB ballpark with interactive statistics, play-by-play and other features that can be fully controlled by the user, including enhanced data visualizations powered by Statcast,” Apple has yet to implement any Immersive Video for watching Friday Night Baseball on Vision Pro. Apple previewed MLB games during its demos of VIsion Pro, however, so they may be coming later this season.
‘Fight for Glory: 2024 World Series’
Also on March 28, Apple TV+ will debut Fight For Glory: 2024 World Series, “the first all-access docuseries exploring the dramatic, high-stakes world of the World Series where the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers battle to capture the most storied trophy in American sports.” The three-part documentary was directed by R.J. Cutler and produced in partnership with MLB.
Apple TV+: How to listen to home team audio
After getting a lot of criticism for its broadcasters last season, Apple switched up its broadcasters this year with a new team including 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). But fans in the U.S. and Canada (only Blue Jays games) also have the option to listen to the audio of the home and away teams’ local radio broadcasts during “Friday Night Baseball” games. To find it, click, the three-dot button on iPhone and iPad or the sound icon on Mac and Apple TV, then select audio and change to the home or away broadcast.
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 third straight season, “Friday Night Baseball” games will be called by three-member broadcast teams” Wayne Randazzo (play-by-play), Dontrelle Willis (analyst), and Heidi Watney (sideline reporter)l and Alex Faust (play-by-play), Ryan Spilborghs (analyst), and Tricia Whitaker (sideline reporter).
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 live stream 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.
Source : Macworld
