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The initial airing of “Friday Night Baseball” on Apple TV+ wasn’t smooth sailing as fans encountered teething problems when they first got started with the sports stream.
The first streams of “Friday Night Baseball” on Apple TV+ took place on Friday when the New York Mets took on the Washington Nationals and the Houston Astros took on the Los Angeles Angels. However, fans complained on Twitter that the opening event underperformed.
Complaints have affected a number of areas of the show, with arguably the biggest being connectivity. Some fans who tuned in to watch the games were unable to watch the stream or had it interrupted.
As well as social media complaints, like reported by me morestatus website DownDetector reportedly saw a spate of reports during the Nationals-Mets game.
Beyond connectivity issues, the complaints extended to the show itself.
Apple’s decision to use clean and minimalist graphics in keeping with the tech giant’s signature design language has been largely welcomed by fans, in part because it’s free from distracting on-screen ads. However, the graphics package was also the source of online mockery due to its sometimes seemingly simple nature.
These angels/astros #FridayNightBaseball is like the movie Space Camp, but instead of students being accidentally thrown into orbit, three random people are thrown into a broadcast booth when the door locks.
– Andy Shapiro (@andyshapiro) 9. April 2022
The commentary team also came under fire from social media critics, with many saying the announcers were terrible. Complaints included how the announcers talked about topics other than the baseball game itself, as well as an apparent lack of enthusiasm for events on the field.
While the issues could stem from “first night nerves” for the broadcast, it’s highly likely that Apple’s broadcast and technical teams will learn from the experience for the next stream.
The next “Friday Night Baseball” will be held on April 15 and will feature the Tampa Bay Rays versus the Chicago White Sox and the Cincinnati Reds versus the Los Angeles Dodgers.
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