Apple TV’s 2026 ‘Friday Night Baseball’ Opener Slated for March 27

Apple has just announced this year’s Friday Night Baseball lineup, marking a return of the weekly double-headers for Apple TV subscribers for a fifth year.

The opening pitch for the 2026 season on Apple TV will come on Friday, March 27, as the Los Angeles Angels play the Houston Astros in game one, followed by the Cleveland Guardians at the Seattle Mariners to round out Apple’s “opening day.”

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As in previous years, Friday Night Baseball will stream two marquee matchups on Apple TV in 60 countries and regions every Friday throughout the 25-week MLB regular season. That’s a much broader reach than usual for MLB — and the primary reason the league signed the deal with Apple four years ago.

Apple and MLB have also published the Friday Night Baseball schedule for the first half of the season, through June 26, highlighting “the storied New York Subway Series matchup between the Yankees and Mets, plus multiple appearances by reigning National League MVP Shohei Ohtani and the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.”

Broadcasters Wayne Randazzo (play-by-play), Dontrelle Willis (analyst), and Heidi Watney (sideline reporter) will rejoin the booth for the fifth season. Rounding out the lineup are Alex Faust (play-by-play), Ryan Spilborghs (analyst), and Tricia Whitaker (sideline reporter), with Rich Waltz also joining to call select games.

Friday Night Baseball was Apple’s first big sports deal, signed in early March 2022 for a reported $85 million annually for a seven-year option. However, an August 2025 report suggested the deal was being renegotiated, with some believing that NBC/Peacock could get the nod to take over Friday Night Baseball along with its Sunday Night Baseball deal. That cast some uncertainty over whether we’d see it return for the 2026 season, but by the time the dust settled, Apple had secured a save in the final innings, despite other players like ESPN, Netflix, and NBCUniversal significantly shifting bases.

Ultimately, the sense among pundits was that MLB wanted to spread things around as much as possible, leaving Friday Night Baseball with Apple for its broad international reach while also ensuring it didn’t put too many eggs in that basket. Netflix also promised more eyeballs by hosting the World Baseball Classic and Home Run Derby for its global audience.

Apple has also brought more to the game than just an expanded audience. Apple TV hosts the MLB Big Inning whip-around show with live look-ins and game highlights every weeknight, and promotes a full slate of other MLB-related content, including Countdown to First Pitch, MLB Daily Recap, and MLB This Week. It also features enhanced production quality, with a high-end modern aesthetic that uses 5.1 surround sound with immersive field-level microphones and advanced camera work, although games continue to be broadcast in 1080p rather than 4K.

Last fall, Apple added another twist when it put the iPhone 17 Pro into Fenway Park in places where traditional broadcast sports cameras can’t tread, capturing live game footage from unique angles, including the iconic Green Monster and Red Sox dugout. “Those four iPhone cameras will be used to capture ballpark moments throughout the night,” the MLB’s David Adler said at the time, “including batting practice, player intros, dugout shots, the fan atmosphere, and live gameplay between Boston and Detroit.”

That was a milestone broadcast that was later recognized by the National Baseball Hall of Fame, which added one of the authenticated iPhones to its permanent collection in Cooperstown, New York. In today’s announcement, Apple says it plans to further integrate the iPhone into this season’s broadcast camera lineup.

Friday Night Baseball will stream live on Apple TV every Friday from March 27 until the end of the 2026 season, with the first game typically starting around 7 p.m. (see Apple’s announcement for the full schedule). Games are available to all Apple TV subscribers on any device where the streaming service is supported, including the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV set-top box, plus a broad array of popular smart TVs, Roku and Amazon Fire TV devices, Chromecast with Google TV, PlayStation, and Xbox gaming consoles, or using any modern web browser at tv.apple.com.

2026 Friday Night Baseball Schedule