Apple Sports Adds Deeper MLB Info and NCAA March Madness

Last month, Apple surprised us with Apple Sports, a rare first-party app from the iPhone maker designed to give fans “incredibly fast access to scores and stats.” Now, it’s already releasing its first significant update to roll in more detail for Major League Baseball (MLB) and NCAA Basketball.

While there’s no shortage of sports apps on the App Store, many of them are cluttered with ads and other excessive or irrelevant information. Apple Sports is naturally ad-free, and Apple has carefully designed it to focus on letting sports fans get the scores and stats they need to stay up to date on their favorite leagues and teams.

The expansion of MLB and NCAA isn’t a big surprise; Apple noted that these were included in version 1.0 of the app. However, according to today’s release notes, the Men’s and Women’s NCAA Basketball Tournaments will now offer real-time updates, and final scores in the app will be sorted by league.

When you first open the app after the update, you should see two banners allowing you to follow the NCAA March Madness men’s and women’s leagues with a single tap. Doing so will immediately add them to your following list, but you can also dismiss them if you’re not interested by tapping the small “X” in the top-right corner of each.

For MLB fans, Apple Sports offers the ability to “go deep with play-by-play updates, betting odds, box scores, and more.”

While it was possible to follow MLB teams or the league as a whole in version 1.0 of Apple Sports, the update is now ready for Opening Day, with next Wednesday’s Dodgers vs. Padres game on deck in the “Upcoming” section, complete with betting odds. Spring Training games aren’t included here, and there’s no sign of Apple’s first Friday Night Baseball doubleheader yet, but that will undoubtedly show up once we get closer to its March 29 debut.

Apple Sports also naturally includes Major League Soccer (MLS) (which Apple is also offering free this weekend), plus Bundesliga, LaLiga, Liga MX, Ligue 1, Premier League, and Serie A soccer. The NBA and NHL are also here as they’re still in season, and the NFL should arrive in time for its fall season.

Although the release notes don’t mention it, Apple has quietly added the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), which is expected to kick off its 12th season tomorrow. There’s also an entry for the WNBA, with its 2024 WNBA season opening on May 14, 2024. We may see another Apple Sports update to refine things before then, but the entry is there. A bigger update will undoubtedly arrive later this year to add the NFL and NCAAF to the mix.

The Apple Sports app is a free download from the App Store. While it’s focused on providing only scores, stats, and betting odds (the last of which can be turned off in Settings > Sports), it also integrates tightly with the sports experience in Apple’s other apps, offering quick links to watch games in the Apple TV app or read more details news in the sports section of Apple News. Favorites also sync across all three apps, and while Apple Sports doesn’t offer Live Activities, that’s likely because Apple felt it was redundant; these can still be initiated from the TV app with only an extra tap or two.