‘Friday Night Baseball’ Returns to AppleTV+ and DirecTV for Business in 2024

This baseball season, DIRECTV FOR BUSINESS will again be the exclusive national home of “Friday Night Baseball” for commercial establishments in the U.S. DIRECTV will deliver all the action to its network of more than 300,000 restaurants, bars, hotel lounges, retail shops and other venues throughout the regular season on existing satellite equipment.

“Friday Night Baseball” will be on DIRECTV Channels 9528-9529. 

Apple and Major League Baseball (MLB) announced that “Friday Night Baseball,” a weekly doubleheader, will be available to Apple TV+ subscribers on Fridays throughout the 2024 regular season. Fans in 60 countries and regions can enjoy two marquee matchups over 26 weeks with no local broadcast restrictions. “Friday Night Baseball” will begin on opening weekend of the 2024 season — Friday, March 29 — with some of the game’s biggest stars taking center stage. Coverage begins at 7:30 p.m. ET with Juan Soto, Aaron Judge, and the new-look New York Yankees lineup taking on the Houston Astros. And beginning at 9:30 p.m. ET, Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, and the Los Angeles Dodgers will host the St. Louis Cardinals.

Apple and MLB also announced the “Friday Night Baseball” game schedule for the first half of the season, through June 28.

“We’re so excited to bring fans another great season of ‘Friday Night Baseball’ on Apple TV+,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Services. “We have an outstanding lineup of games for Apple TV+ subscribers to watch across all their favorite devices, and an incredible group of talented broadcasters returning to bring fans closer to the games every week.”

“Friday Night Baseball” welcomes back the exceptional group of broadcast talent from last season to the announcer booths, including Wayne Randazzo (play-by-play), Dontrelle Willis (analyst), Heidi Watney (sideline reporter), Alex Faust (play-by-play), Ryan Spilborghs (analyst), and Tricia Whitaker (sideline reporter). Ted Barrett, Brian Gorman, and Dale Scott — all former MLB umpires — will break down rules and calls each week. Game assignments for announcers will be shared on a weekly basis.

Lauren Gardner also returns to host live pre- and postgame coverage, along with former MLB player and analyst Xavier Scruggs, and baseball journalist Russell Dorsey. On March 29, the “Friday Night Baseball” pregame show previewing the Cardinals vs. Dodgers and Yankees vs. Astros games will be hosted live from Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, featuring exclusive player interviews and more. Pregame coverage will be hosted live from various games throughout the season.

“Friday Night Baseball” is produced by MLB Network’s Emmy Award-winning production team in partnership with Apple’s live sports production team, bringing viewers an unparalleled viewing experience. Each game will feature state-of-the-art cameras to present vivid live-action shots, and offer immersive sound in 5.1 with Spatial Audio enabled. “Friday Night Baseball” will again utilize drone cameras for beautiful aerial stadium shots, as well as player mics and field-level mics to immerse fans in the gameplay and stadium atmosphere.

2024 “FRIDAY NIGHT BASEBALL” SCHEDULE

FRIDAY, MARCH 29

New York Yankees at Houston Astros at 8 p.m. ET

St. Louis Cardinals at Los Angeles Dodgers at 10 p.m. ET

FRIDAY, APRIL 5 

New York Mets at Cincinnati Reds at 6:30 p.m. ET

Houston Astros at Texas Rangers at 8 p.m. ET

FRIDAY, APRIL 12

Milwaukee Brewers at Baltimore Orioles at 7 p.m. ET

Chicago Cubs at Seattle Mariners at 9:30 p.m. ET

FRIDAY, APRIL 19 

Texas Rangers at Atlanta Braves  at 7 p.m. ET

Arizona Diamondbacks at San Francisco Giants at 10 p.m. ET

FRIDAY, APRIL 26

St. Louis Cardinals at New York Mets at 7 p.m. ET

Tampa Bay Rays at Chicago White Sox at 7:30 p.m. ET

FRIDAY, MAY 3 

San Francisco Giants at Philadelphia Phillies at 6:30 p.m. ET

Toronto Blue Jays at Washington Nationals at 6:30 p.m. ET

FRIDAY, MAY 10

Arizona Diamondbacks at Baltimore Orioles at 7 p.m. ET

Kansas City Royals at Los Angeles Angels at 9:30 p.m. ET

FRIDAY, MAY 17

Tampa Bay Rays at Toronto Blue Jays at 7 p.m. ET

Minnesota Twins at Cleveland Guardians at 7 p.m. ET

FRIDAY, MAY 24

Milwaukee Brewers at Boston Red Sox at 7 p.m. ET

Baltimore Orioles at Chicago White Sox at 7:30 p.m. ET

FRIDAY, MAY 31

Detroit Tigers at Boston Red Sox at 7 p.m. ET

Los Angeles Angels at Seattle Mariners at 10 p.m. ET

FRIDAY, JUNE 7

Minnesota Twins at Pittsburgh Pirates at 6:30 p.m. ET

Los Angeles Dodgers at New York Yankees at 7 p.m. ET

FRIDAY, JUNE 14

Texas Rangers at Seattle Mariners at 10 p.m. ET

Los Angeles Angels at San Francisco Giants at 10 p.m. ET

FRIDAY, JUNE 21

Arizona Diamondbacks at Philadelphia Phillies at 6:30 p.m. ET

Atlanta Braves at New York Yankees at 7 p.m. ET

FRIDAY, JUNE 28

Houston Astros at New York Mets at 7 p.m. ET

San Diego Padres at Boston Red Sox at 7 p.m. ET