What you need to know
- Apple TV+ will pay $85 million annually to bring "Friday Night Baseball" to the streaming service.
- The agreement has Apple paying that amount over seven years.
- Apple TV+ will stream two games on Friday night across nine countries.
Apple is putting its money where its mouth is when it comes to sports.
Yesterday, at the company's "Peek Performance" event, Apple announced "Friday Night Baseball" for its streaming service. The new agreement will bring two MLB games to Apple TV+ every Friday night.
We now know how much Apple paid to make "Friday Night Baseball" a reality. As reported by Forbes, Apple has agreed to pay $85 million annually for seven years in order to stream two MLB games on its streaming service each Friday during the regular season.
Under the new pact, Apple will pay a $55 million rights fee and $30 million worth of advertising. Apple gets the exclusive rights to telecast two Friday Night Baseball games each week (about 50 a season) in the U.S. and in eight countries overseas via Apple TV+. Apple has the right to exit the agreement after the first or second year.
If you're familiar with sports in the United States, you're well aware that broadcasting is a complicated mess that has made it difficult (or expensive) for anyone to stream their favorite teams. While two games might not seem like much, the fact that Apple has managed to get two MLB games to viewers in nine countries without any blackouts is a historic achievement in sports streaming.
One of the remaining questions for "Friday Night Baseball" on Apple TV+ is if the games will stream in 60 frames per second. High Frame Rate was one of the major features added to the latest Apple TV 4K and sports is a perfect candidate to take advantage of the technology.
It's still unclear when "Friday Night Baseball" will begin streaming on Apple TV+ as the league and players have still not reached an agreement to start the season. If you want to watch the new offering in the best quality possible, check out our review of the new Apple TV 4K.
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