The iPhone 17 Pro Makes Its Broadcast Debut Tonight in Friday Night Baseball
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Apple is about to add a history-making twist to its Friday Night Baseball schedule, with tonight’s Tigers at Red Sox game being partly “Shot on iPhone.”
This will mark the first time that a professional live sports broadcast has used iPhones to capture some of the action. While we haven’t yet reached the point where the entire game will be filmed using iPhones, the first game in tonight’s Apple TV+ double-header will showcase several new camera angles at Fenway Park thanks to strategically placed iPhone 17 Pro models.
The MLB shared news of the plan this morning, suggesting fans take a closer look, as some of the shots will be tagged with a special overlay to indicate they were shot using an iPhone 17 Pro.
For the final Friday Night Baseball showdown of the year on Apple TV+, the broadcast will feature live game footage captured on the new iPhone 17 Pro. It will be the first time an iPhone will be used publicly in the live broadcast of a professional sporting event.
David Adler, MLB
Specifically, Apple has set up four iPhone 17 Pro devices around Fenway Park in spots where normal cameras fear to tread — including one inside the iconic Green Monster and one in the Red Sox dugout. “Those four iPhone cameras will be used to capture ballpark moments throughout the night,” the MLB’s David Adler says, “including batting practice, player intros, dugout shots, the fan atmosphere, and live gameplay between Boston and Detroit.”
Hints of the move appeared on social media last week when the iPhone 17 Pro was seen on the field at Dodger Stadium during Clayton Kershaw’s final career regular-season start. It turns out that this was a test for tonight’s big game, and it went over so well that nobody on the receiving end of the footage could tell the difference between what was being captured by the iPhone 17 Pro and the footage coming from the more typical broadcast sports cams.
“It was just another camera shot to me,” Apple TV+ executive producer Royce Dickerson told Sportico. “That’s how great it is.” Apple’s live sports producer even added that ESPN used some of the shots in its recap later on, and no one noticed anything different about them. Lead director John Moore said that he ended up switching to them like any of the other cameras, and found that he used them more often than he thought he would.
I’ve never been necessarily surprised by the advance in the technology of broadcasting sports. On the one hand it was what I expected; on the other hand, I really was blown away by the quality of the picture.
John Moore, lead director, Friday Night Baseball, to Sportico
Tonight’s game will tag those as “Shot on iPhone” in some way. It’s not clear if that’s the exact phrasing that will be used, but this is as much of a marketing thing for Apple as it is a proof of concept that the iPhone 17 Pro can truly hold its own on the field.
The use of the iPhone 17 Pro during Friday’s broadcast at Fenway will be the latest innovation introduced through Friday Night Baseball in 2025. This year, fans watching on Apple TV+ have seen in-stadium drone shots, ump and helmet cams, mic’d-up players, cinematic-style shots from “Megalodon” cameras and more.
David Adler, MLB
In fact, some would argue that the iPhone 17 Pro has its own unique place. An iPhone can go places where larger studio camera rigs can’t, providing unique viewing angles, but also creating more natural moments due to its less invasive nature. Many athletes are sick of having big cameras shoved in their faces, but almost nobody thinks twice about being filmed with a smartphone camera these days.
According to Sportico’s Jacob Feldman, MLB authenticated the iPhones used for last week’s broadcast, and after tonight’s game, they could be shipped to the Hall of Fame, having made history by capturing Kershaw’s farewell game and being the first iPhones to be used in a live sports broadcast.
First pitch in tonight’s Tigers-Red Sox matchup is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET. As with all other Friday Night Baseball matches, the game will be streamed on Apple TV+, where it’s included in the subscription package.
