At its Peek Performance event on Tuesday, Apple announced that it will stream live sports for the first time. "Friday Night Baseball," a weekly baseball doubleheader, will step up to the plate once the Major League Baseball season begins. (Owners locked out the players in December and have canceled a week's worth of games so far as a result of the work stoppage.)

Beyond Friday Night Baseball, Apple will offer a 24/7 livestream of highlights, replays, news, and talking heads for subscribers in the US and Canada. Apple TV+ subscribers can also tune into "MLB Big Inning," which Apple describes as a "live show featuring highlights and look-ins airing every weeknight during the regular season."

Most notably, "Friday Night Baseball" will be available in all markets—local broadcast restrictions will not apply to Apple's new service.

For MLB, the deal must have been a no-brainer. Of the major US sports, baseball has by far the oldest audience. Partnering with a company like Apple will give MLB increased access to an audience that skews much younger. (Though whether they tune in is another matter.)

At launch, "Friday Night Baseball" will be available to Apple TV+ subscribers in the US, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico, South Korea, and the UK.

You can see all the latest updates from Apple's "Peek Performance" event in our liveblog.

Source: Ars Technica

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