skip to main content
We may earn money when you click our links.

How To Watch Friday Night Baseball 2023

Apple TV+ is home to Friday Night Baseball, and we’ve checked all the bases to determine if the streaming service is worth it for MLB fans.

50 Friday night MLB games

Apple TV+

Price: $6.99/mo.

Free trial: 7 days

MLB content: 50 live games, full-game replays, 20+ MLB shows.

Data effective as of post date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.

Friday Night Baseball is a weekly Major League Baseball (MLB) doubleheader available to watch across 25 Friday nights during the MLB regular season. Produced by MLB Network, the live broadcast streams exclusively on Apple TV+.

Before you step up to the plate with Apple TV+, we’ll explain what MLB content the service offers—including an up-to-date Friday Night Baseball schedule.

Pros

  • Inexpensive pricing
  • In-game statistical overlays
  • Around 50 exclusive MLB games

Cons

  • Small on-demand library of TV shows and movies
  • Confusing interface

Looking for complete MLB coverage?

Enter your zip code below to check out TV providers available in your area.

Please enter a valid zip code.

Is Apple TV Plus worth it for MLB fans?

Apple TV+ is the perfect streaming service for casual baseball fans. For only $6.99 a month, you’ll get two live games each week on top of a sizeable collection of on-demand MLB content.

The in-game experience on Apple TV+ is more unique than your average MLB broadcast. Every Friday Night Baseball game comes equipped with advanced statistical overlays with on-screen graphics that match the visual design of Apple’s widely familiar branding—including Apple Music pop-up boxes that show batters’ walk-up songs.

A screenshot of the Apple TV+ media player showing a Friday Night Baseball game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Chicago White Sox.
The Apple TV+ media player during a Friday Night Baseball game as seen on a Google Chrome web browser.

On top of its MLB offerings, Apple TV+ has MLS games and a diverse library of on-demand movies and TV shows. Its quantity of content is nowhere near what you would see on Netflix or HBO Max, but there are many quality series like Severance, Ted Lasso, and Servant.

2023 Friday Night Baseball schedule

Here’s a look at every Friday Night Baseball matchup during the final quarter of the 2023 MLB season.

Game Date Time (ET)
Toronto Blue Jays at Cincinnati Reds August 18 6:30 p.m.
Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees August 18 7 p.m.
Los Angeles Dodgers at Boston Red Sox August 25 7 p.m.
Kansas City Royals at Seattle Mariners August 25 10 p.m.
Tampa Bay Rays at Cleveland Guardians September 1 7 p.m.
Seattle Mariners at New York Mets September 1 7 p.m.
St. Louis Cardinals at Cincinnati Reds September 8 6:30 p.m.
San Diego Padres at Houston Astros September 8 8 p.m.
Tampa Bay Rays at Baltimore Orioles September 15 7 p.m.
Philadelphia Phillies at St. Louis Cardinals September 15 8 p.m.
New York Mets at Philadelphia Phillies September 22 7 p.m.
San Francisco Giants at Los Angeles Dodgers September 22 10 p.m.

Data effective as of post date.

MLB content on Apple TV Plus

In addition to live Friday Night Baseball broadcasts, Apple TV+ is home to several on-demand MLB Network programs. It’s all available on the Apple TV+ Major League Baseball hub page, which you can access by scrolling down on the app’s Originals tab or the website’s home page.

The MLB Hub on Apple TV Plus displays rows of featured videos and full match replays.
The Apple TV+ MLB hub as seen on a Google Chrome web browser.

Two great offerings for MLB fans on Apple TV+ are All MLB, All Day and MLB Big Inning. All MLB, All Day is a 24/7 channel that plays various MLB Network series, game replays, and news updates, while MLB Big Inning is a nightly show that provides live look-ins and highlights from around the league.

If you prefer to watch things on your own schedule, you can still tune in to all recaps and Friday Night Baseball game replays at any time on demand. There are also a lot of docuseries and studio shows available to watch as you wait for the next Friday night matchups to come around.

MLB shows on Apple TV+

  • All-Century Team
  • All-Star Highlights
  • Baseball’s Seasons
  • Cathedrals of the Game
  • Countdown to First Pitch
  • Epic Moments
  • Fenway Park 100 Years
  • Great Games
  • Inside the Moments
  • MLB 25: Greatest Postseason Home Runs
  • MLB Network Countdown
  • MLB This Week
  • MLB Ultimate Lineup
  • Outta Here
  • Play Ball
  • Prime 9
  • This Week in Baseball
  • Top of the Order
  • World Series Film
  • Wrigley Field 100 Years

Other options for watching MLB games

Live MLB games are scattered across several different viewing options. It’s an unfortunately daunting fact, which we explain in more detail on our How To Watch MLB Games page.

If you want access to the most MLB games possible, we recommend DIRECTV. The satellite TV service carries all the necessary MLB channels and offers one of the largest assortments of regional sports networks (RSNs)—which you’ll need for locally televised games. Plus, you can add MLB EXTRA INNINGS® to your DIRECTV plan for complete out-of-market coverage.

Pro tip: Nationally televised MLB games air on FOX, FS1, TBS, ESPN, and MLB Network. These are also the same channels that will air the entire MLB Playoffs.

While Apple TV+ is a cheap way to watch MLB games online, it’s not the only streaming option. Peacock offers MLB game access for as low as $5.99 a month with its MLB Sunday Leadoff programming. Plus, MLB.TV exists for cord-cutters who want the same out-of-market game count as MLB EXTRA INNINGS.

Final take

Apple TV+ is one of the most inexpensive ways to stream live MLB games during the regular season. At $6.99 a month, the streaming service hosts every Friday Night Baseball matchup. It also offers a wide selection of MLB Network–produced content—including the nightly MLB Big Inning whip-around show.

Friday Night Baseball was the first live sport to join Apple TV+. But now you can watch select MLS games through the service or upgrade your plan with the MLS Season Pass add-on for more sports action.

If soccer isn’t your thing, Apple TV+ is still one of the best streaming services because of its content quality. That alone is worth a look—even if you only use a free trial at first.

MLB on Apple TV Plus FAQ

Are MLB games free on Apple TV+?

No, Friday Night Baseball games aren’t free on Apple TV+ during the 2023 MLB season. While Apple TV+ may decide to offer select games for free like it did in 2022, a subscription only costs $6.99 a month if you want complete access.

Is Friday Night Baseball only on Apple TV+?

Yes, Friday Night Baseball programming is exclusive to Apple TV+. But like Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime Video, commercial venues like bars and restaurants can still show Friday Night Baseball games with a DIRECTV FOR BUSINESS satellite subscription.

Who is calling Friday Night Baseball?

Lauren Gardner returns in 2023 to host pregame and postgame Friday Night Baseball coverage with Siera Santos. This season, Wayne Randazzo and Alex Faust will split play-by-play duties.

Methodology

Our sports experts spent over 12 hours researching and streaming MLB content on Apple TV+ to determine the streaming service’s worth for baseball fans. We examined Apple TV+ alongside comparable services that offer live MLB games—like Peacock and MLB.TV—by looking at pricing, MLB game count, and on-demand content quantity.

Check out our How We Rank page to learn more about our methods.

Don't miss an update

Stay updated on the latest products and services anytime anywhere.