Apple Unveils Early 2024 Lineup for ‘Friday Night Baseball’

As expected, Apple is continuing its Friday Night Baseball series this year in partnership with Major League Baseball (MLB). It’s just announced the details for the first half of the 2024 season schedule, kicking off on March 29 on Apple TV+ with a doubleheader between the New York Yankees at the Houston Astros and the St. Louis Cardinals at the Los Angeles Dodgers.

However, in a slightly surprising omission, it doesn’t look like Apple will have anything special to offer Vision Pro owners.

Although folks with a Vision Pro can watch the games like any other Apple TV+ program, Apple’s headset gets only a passing mention in the announcement, which merely lists it as one of the five Apple devices on which the Apple TV app comes preinstalled.

That’s in contrast to Apple’s big 2024 MLS announcement, where it kicked off the new season with an immersive video experience for fans. While it’s not quite ready to broadcast the games in full 3D video, it put together a highlight reel of the 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs in Apple Immersive Video to give viewers a “feel [of\ every heart-pounding moment in 8K 3D.”

Of course, Apple’s MLS partnership is a much bigger deal — literally and figuratively. The 10-year arrangement between Apple and MLS is reportedly worth $2.5 billion and gives Apple exclusive broadcast rights to all things MLS.

Compared to that, Friday Night Baseball is small potatoes, with Apple paying an estimated $85 million annually just to broadcast a doubleheader each Friday, plus some ancillary content. It was still a sweet way for Apple to dip its toes into live sports on Apple TV+, but it’s not where the company is now planting its flag.

After all, Friday Night Baseball is free to all Apple TV+ subscribers, while MLS Season Pass is a separate $100/year or $15/month subscription. It’s not surprising that Apple promotes MLS much more heavily, with tie-ins to Apple Podcasts, special playlists in Apple Music, and even a guide for Lionel Messi fans on the App Store.

That doesn’t mean baseball fans will be left entirely in the cold. Apple is promoting its new Sports app as a key part of the experience; although that’s not necessarily unique to Friday Night Baseball, MLB fans tend to be far more focused on stats, which Apple’s app puts front and center in a clean and uncluttered app that’s free of ads.

We’re so excited to bring fans another great season of ‘Friday Night Baseball’ on Apple TV+. We have an outstanding lineup of games for Apple TV+ subscribers to watch across all their favorite devices, and an incredible group of talented broadcasters returning to bring fans closer to the games every week.

Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior VP of Services

Apple is also continuing to broadcast its MLB Big Inning whip-around show, which will start this year on March 28 with live look-ins and in-game highlights every weeknight. That will be joined by the usual slate of MLB-related Apple TV+ content, including Countdown to First Pitch, MLB Daily Recap, and MLB This Week, plus game recaps, classic games, highlights and interviews, and more.

While there’s no immersive video yet, Friday Night Baseball is still being filmed using state-of-the-art cameras with 5.1 Spatial Audio, drone cameras for aerial shots, and player- and field-level mics. Apple is also continuing to offer an audio feed of the home and away teams’ local radio broadcasts for fans in the US and Canada.

Friday Night Baseball will continue with a new doubleheader each Friday throughout the regular MLB season. Apple has posted the schedule from March 29 through June 28, with the second half likely to follow later in the spring.