The “Friday Night Baseball” announcement at the start of Apple’s March event probably ignored most local Apple users. Baseball is not particularly popular in this country, nor was Germany among the eight countries in which the new content is offered. Nevertheless, the announcement is remarkable, as this is Apple’s first streaming offer from the sports sector.
With Friday Night Baseball, Apple TV+ subscribers in the United States, Canada, Australia, Brazil, United Kingdom, Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico and South Korea can watch the top Friday night MLB baseball games live. In addition, accompanying live shows are broadcast before and after the games via Apple TV+, and with “MLB Big Inning” an additional show with highlights and background reports is broadcast every evening during the regular season.
Apple customers in the US and Canada receive an additional bonus. A wide range of on-demand content will also be available here around the clock via Apple TV+, as well as a live stream with replays of MLB games, news and analysis, highlights and classics.
“Friday Night Baseball” is only temporarily free
The comprehensive range of sports offered Apple a lot of money. one Forbes report According to Apple, MLB has signed a 7-year deal for $85 million per year to broadcast.
So it will come as no surprise that Apple sees its MLB commitment as an additional source of income in the long term in the Services division and will under no circumstances offer the service permanently without additional fees for Apple TV+ subscribers. An indication of this can already be found if you follow the announcement of the new offer carefully. Apple mentions that Friday Night Baseball is only available “for a limited time” without a subscription.
What Apple understands by “limited time” may also depend to some extent on the direct success and number of users of the offer. There is no question that Apple’s “MLB project” can be seen as a test balloon, if not a direct entry into the world of commercial sports broadcasts via Apple TV+.
