We’re Going Streaming!

Earlier this season, MLB made the announcement that it had partnered with several streaming services, like Apple, YouTube, and Peacock to broadcast games throughout the 2022 season.

This is in addition to the regular broadcast partners teams and Major League Baseball already have: the local regional networks rights (Bally’s, NBC Sports, etc.), Fox Sports (Fox and FS1), ESPN, and TBS. But the main difference with these new partnerships – they’re strictly streaming and some require subscriptions.

For 2022 –

• Apple TV+: two games on Friday nights and you don’t need to have an account to watch.
• YouTube: one game a week on sporadic days and you don’t need YouTubeTV to watch these games.
• Peacock: Sunday “mornings” – aka the broadcast starts at 11:30am eastern but the games start around 12noon but you need a Peacock Premium subscription or higher to watch. Premium starts at $4.99 but Xfinity customers already get Peacock Premium through their cable.

Each platform has a play-by-play announcer and a combination of color commentators from both teams.

But here’s the thing…

If you’re not tech savvy and you’re a baseball traditionalist – you’re going to have a hard time finding these games, even if you have a smart TV and will yell and scream in the process.

Philadelphia Phillies fans were audibly outraged on Father’s Day when MLB and NBC Sports chose their game against the Washington Nationals to be broadcasted on Peacock – being that it’s a BBQ day and many people wanted to watch the game despite not having Peacock. Philadelphians took it as a slight to their team, not realizing it wasn’t the first week Peacock covered a game.

Well Philadelphians and those on the north side of Chicago – prepare for a double whammy this weekend. Apple has Friday’s game and Peacock has Sunday’s game. NBC Sports Philadelphia and Marquee Sports Network will have Saturday’s game, like normal.

Consumers can whine and scream all they want, but this is only the beginning. NHL Center Ice was folded into ESPN+, Apple TV+ bought the rights to all Major League Soccer matches starting in 2022, and the NFL Sunday Ticket is also up for a new host soon.

Luckily, Apple TV+ is available on all Apple products, their website, smart TVs, and an extension on an Xfinity set-top box. Peacock is available via app, via Xfinity, and also their website. YouTube also is available on smart TVs, the web, and apps across all devices.

When you pay for cable, you’re already paying a monthly regional sports fee – whether you watch sports or not. Even if some of the platforms are free, some fans just don’t want to pay ANOTHER fee to be forced to watch a sport they love.

MLB Streaming Schedule For The Remainder of the Season

• Apple has been announcing their schedules month by month, click here for the schedule for August.
• YouTube games restart with the Twins vs. the Brewers on July 27th, and then Rangers vs the Astros on August 11th.
• Peacock’s schedule for the remainder of the season is here. (no team has more than one appearance left but San Diego and Los Angeles Dodgers fans will have a game at 9am local time).

So as Will Ferrell says in Old School, “we’re going streaking streaming…!”