MLB Opening Day 2025: For FOX Sports’ 30th Season, Full Onsite Productions for Marquee Matchups and Home Run Productions for Other Games

A historic first MLB game from Tennessee is scheduled for Aug. 2

Over the years, FOX Sports has poured its passion for baseball into MLB on FOX productions. Now, in its 30th season televising professional baseball, the broadcaster is bringing the biggest games to the national audience. That commitment was demonstrated in last week’s two-game MLB Tokyo Series with the Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Chicago Cubs in the Tokyo Dome and will continue with high-profile games throughout the season, but FOX Sports’ traditional weekend schedule will begin with two Home Run Productions (HRP) and a full onsite production on Saturday, March 29.

“During the regular season, we will use the home team’s truck for games on FS1 and a flypack system for our HRPs of nationally televised games,” says Francisco “Paco” Contreras, director, field operations, FOX Sports. “We know how to do these productions now because of the team that we have.”

Hybrid Approach: Bonus Games on FS1, One National Game Get HRP Treatment

With the help of MLB Network and the league’s global events team, FOX Sports began its 2025 MLB regular-season coverage in Japan with play-by-play announcer Jason Benetti and analyst A.J. Pierzynski for Game 1 and analyst Adam Amin for Game 2. The showcase series was an appetizer for the season, but a large number of the games will replicate the Tokyo Series workflow for the broadcaster’s “Bonus Game” coverage on FS1.

Like production of the Tokyo games, these FS1 broadcasts will be HRPs from the FOX Sports facility in Los Angeles and will be based on live video feeds from the home team’s regional sports network or local-media team. For example, Saturday afternoon’s matchup between the Minnesota Twins vs. St. Louis Cardinals at 2 p.m. ET from Busch Stadium will be produced with feeds from FanDuel Sports Network Midwest.

For the bigger games shown nationwide on Baseball Night in America, FOX Sports will vary its approach based on each game’s appeal and interest. This Saturday, the broadcaster will offer regionalized coverage of two games on FOX at 7 p.m.: the Atlanta Braves vs. San Diego Padres from Petco Park and the New York Mets vs. Houston Astros from Daikin Park.

The matchup in San Diego will be an HRP with a flypack installed in the broadcast compound. The game in Houston will be a full onsite production, chiefly because of the Mets’ magical postseason run and their acquisition of the coveted Juan Soto in a massive offseason transaction. In addition, Houston’s Daikin Park is one of a handful of MLB venues equipped with a DEFY WireCam, which will enhance production quality.

One regular-season game circled on FOX Sports’ calendar is a 2024 World Series rematch between the New York Yankees and the Dodgers. The two clubs met during the 2024 regular season at Yankee Stadium on June 8, which turned into a stacked day for the broadcaster, offering simultaneous productions of the MLB London Series and the Belmont Stakes, and promises a tantalizing event on May 31. The full onsite production at Dodger Stadium will feature a live edition of the studio show and top-tier technologies, such as shallow–depth-of-field RF Megalodon and drones. Since FOX Sports’ Los Angeles facility is 15 miles from Dodger Stadium, it was only right to increase its onsite presence.

“We’ll look to mirror a lot of what we did last year on June 8,” says Contreras. “Since we’ll be at home, we’re planning on blowing out our coverage a little bit.”

Other notable matchups on Baseball Night in America: an NLCS matchup between the Dodgers and Mets on May 24; the famed rivalry between the Boston Red Sox and Yankees on June 7, June 14, and Aug. 21; a Lone Star State–size contest between the Texas Rangers and Astros on July 12; and a Midwest mashup between the Cubs and Cardinals on Aug. 9.

Gracing the Airwaves: Broadcast Veterans Lead the On-Air Team

Many recognizable voices will be behind the microphone for FOX Sports’ milestone season. The A team of play-by-play announcer Joe Davis and analyst John Smoltz returns for a fourth season, joined by field reporters Ken Rosenthal and Tom Verducci. This weekend, play-by-play announcer Connor Onion and Verducci will call Twins–Cardinals; Benetti and Pierzynski, Braves–Padres. Davis, Smoltz, and Rosenthal will be live in Houston for Mets–Astros. Instead of calling the game from an offsite location, which is standard for Bonus Games on FS1, Onion and Verducci will be onsite at Busch Stadium. This trend will continue in Weeks 2 and 3 of the season.

Other on-air talent includes play-by-play announcers Kevin Kugler, Jeff Levering, and Don Orsillo and analysts Eric Karros and Adam Wainwright. On FOX Deportes, Spanish-language coverage will be led by play-by-play announcer Adrian Garcia-Marquez, analysts Edgar Gonzalez, announcer/reporter Carlos Alvarez, and reporter/analyst Jaime Motta. Play-by-play announcer Rolando Nichols and reporter Michelle Liendo will also drive the coverage.

In the studio, FOX Sports’ team of host Kevin Burkhardt and analysts Derek Jeter, David Ortiz, and Alex Rodriguez will set the table in pregame and break down the action in postgame. Also gracing the studio set will be hosts Chris Myers and Mike Hill and analysts Dontrelle Willis and Karros.

Baseball and Burnouts: Broadcaster Looks Ahead to MLB Speedway Classic

Ahead on FOX Sports’ schedule is the MLB Speedway Classic from Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, TN. After making history in broadcasting the first MLB game in the state of Iowa at MLB at Field of Dreams in 2021 and the first in the state of Alabama at historic Rickwood Field last year, the broadcaster will air the first MLB game in the state of Tennessee when the Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds face off Aug. 2 at 7 p.m. ET on FOX.

FOX Sports’ production and operations team are familiar with Bristol Motor Speedway, having broadcast numerous NASCAR on FOX races. With baseball in play, configuring the field within a gargantuan motorsports facility will present some interesting scenarios.

“We’ll be dealing with cabling used for NASCAR but having to lay it around and inside the track for a baseball game,” says Contreras. “We’ll also need to figure out where we’ll put our studio set to make an amazing backdrop. These are the challenges we’ll have, but it’s going to be a really cool event in Bristol.”

Back in the Ballpark: FOX Sports Gears Up for Another Year of Crown-Jewel Events

Although FOX Sports’ schedule is packed with noteworthy events, there’s nothing quite like Major League Baseball during the summertime. Being at the center of the baseball world for seven months out of the year is an indescribable feeling. To convey that feeling to the masses watching at home throughout the nation, the broadcaster’s operations team plans meticulously and well in advance.

“We start planning by January and go through the whole season,” adds Contreras. “We’re all excited to get started and look forward to having a great season.”

After this weekend, MLB on FOX prepares for a busy April with 12 broadcasts: an FS1 doubleheader of Dodgers vs. Philadelphia Phillies at 4 p.m. ET and Cincinnati Reds vs. Milwaukee Brewers at 7 p.m. on April 5; San Francisco Giants vs. Yankees at 4 p.m. on FS1 on April 12; Seattle Mariners vs. Reds at 6:30 p.m. on FS1 on April 16; Kansas City Royals vs. Detroit Tigers at 6:30 p.m. on FS1 on April 17; a tripleheader on April 19 of Dodgers vs. Rangers at 4 p.m. on FOX, Cardinals vs. Mets at 4 p.m. on FOX and Padres vs. Astros at 7 p.m. on FS1; Padres vs. Tigers at 6:30 p.m. on FS1 on April 21; a doubleheader of Phillies vs. Cubs at 4 p.m. and Rangers vs. Giants at 4 p.m. on FOX on April 26; and Astros vs. Royals at 7 p.m. on FS1 on April 26.