Apple TV+ aired its first two Major League Baseball games on Friday night. It did not go well. Fans complained about outages, the graphics, and the commentary.
Apple TV+ debuted its first-ever live sports on the platform last night, but its Friday Night Baseball offering has been absolutely slated by fans for a number of unfortunate reasons.
Apple aired two games: the New York Mets at the Washington Nationals at 7 p.m. ET, and the Houston Astros at the Los Angeles Angels at 9:30 p.m. ET.
As you might expect for a completely new platform showing Major League Baseball for the first time, smatterings of the chatter around the overall experience pertain to logging in to Apple TV+, creating an Apple ID, and getting the stream to work on various devices, on the whole, however, there don't seem to have been too many problems with folks finding the games, but it didn't work out for everyone:
I’ve never felt old until I couldn’t figure out how to watch baseball on Apple TV.I’ve never felt old until I couldn’t figure out how to watch baseball on Apple TV.— Jared Carrabis (@Jared_Carrabis) April 9, 2022April 9, 2022
Unfortunately, the problems really seem to have started when the games got going, with fans from every corner of the sport registering complaints about a swathe of different issues.
Outages
Plenty of fans reported outages of the stream during the game, notably during the Nationals Mets game which saw a large spike of reports on Downdetector.
Why @apple shouldn’t do live baseball games ….. pic.twitter.com/6La5t88qCQWhy @apple shouldn’t do live baseball games ….. pic.twitter.com/6La5t88qCQ— David J. Danto (@NJDavidD) April 9, 2022April 9, 2022
Friday Night Baseball just crashed on me.
If Steve Jobs were running Apple, he’d be throwing a tantrum right now pic.twitter.com/UQ6dy3dWB9Friday Night Baseball just crashed on me.
If Steve Jobs were running Apple, he’d be throwing a tantrum right now pic.twitter.com/UQ6dy3dWB9— Kev 💭 (@homebrew_kev) April 9, 2022April 9, 2022
Now I’m having connection problems too?? FantasticNow I’m having connection problems too?? Fantastic— KFC (@KFCBarstool) April 9, 2022April 9, 2022
Graphics
Friday Night Baseball on Apple TV+ has a distinctive graphics look that is very Apple. Some folks including viewers over at r/baseball on Reddit seem to have enjoyed the very minimalist graphics that didn't include a scrolling scoreboard, news, or any commercials plastered on the screen.
The Friday Night Baseball broadcasts on @AppleTV is using its own graphics package. Looks like they are going for a simple and effective look while also looking on-brand with Apple. #Baseball #MLB #Apple #Broadcasting pic.twitter.com/ZT0sTModDUThe Friday Night Baseball broadcasts on @AppleTV is using its own graphics package. Looks like they are going for a simple and effective look while also looking on-brand with Apple. #Baseball #MLB #Apple #Broadcasting pic.twitter.com/ZT0sTModDU— Caleb Bouchy (@CTreySports) April 8, 2022April 8, 2022
Friday Night Baseball on Apple TV+ is already a cleaner experience. No major ad banners and IN YOUR FACE sponsorships, with a rough strike zone and probability stat on the corner.
Can y'all get NBA next! ❤️ THIS! @AppleTVPlus pic.twitter.com/tWIgbgNrvvFriday Night Baseball on Apple TV+ is already a cleaner experience. No major ad banners and IN YOUR FACE sponsorships, with a rough strike zone and probability stat on the corner.
Can y'all get NBA next! ❤️ THIS! @AppleTVPlus pic.twitter.com/tWIgbgNrvv— Brian Tong (@briantong) April 9, 2022April 9, 2022
Not everyone was impressed however, some mocked the seemingly low-effort Mets starting lineup graphic:
Absolutely amazing graphics team over at Apple pic.twitter.com/T2SrWi0NVmAbsolutely amazing graphics team over at Apple pic.twitter.com/T2SrWi0NVm— Mike C (@Canterino82) April 8, 2022April 8, 2022
Interestingly, viewers over on the Apple TV+ Reddit marveled at the graphics, one commenting:
UI looks good. Stream is clean. I like the odds they show on the bottom right. I REALLY enjoy not seeing scrolling scores and news at the bottom.
Quality
Even fans who didn't enjoy the overall experience seemed pretty pleased with Apple's stream quality, lots of viewers over on Twitter were digging the 4K resolution.
MLB on Apple TV proves why not just baseball - but ALL sports should be in 4K full time. This is incredible ⚾️MLB on Apple TV proves why not just baseball - but ALL sports should be in 4K full time. This is incredible ⚾️— Reynold (@PressRey) April 9, 2022April 9, 2022
This is ironic, given it's broadcast in 1080p. According to one Reddit user, developer mode on the Apple TV using a Mac via Xcode reveals the full quality details:
1080p native, 60fps, ~8 mbps (AVC H.264) video bitrate, ~256 kbps (AC3 Dolby Digital) audio bitrate.
Plenty of viewers were likely benefitting from upscaling.
Announcers
Oh boy. Despite some favorable comments on the broadcast graphics and some impressive quality, the overall reaction to Friday Night Baseball was dominated by the response to the commentary on the games, and the verdict was not good.
A huge number of tweets (with plenty of interaction in agreement) absolutely slated the Apple TV+ broadcast teams. One fan wrote:
Nah man I usually give these new booths a chance. But this Apple TV broadcast is basically a non baseball podcast over a baseball game.
Another said:
I'm sorry but these Apple TV plus announcers for Friday night baseball are absolutely terrible
I have never in 45 years watching baseball heard worse announcing than this gabfest on @AppleTV. Absolutely brutal.I have never in 45 years watching baseball heard worse announcing than this gabfest on @AppleTV. Absolutely brutal.— Mike DiMauro (@BCgenius) April 8, 2022April 8, 2022
This Angels/Astros #FridayNightBaseball is like the movie Space Camp but instead of students getting accidentally shot into orbit, it’s three randoms thrown into a broadcast booth as the door is locked.This Angels/Astros #FridayNightBaseball is like the movie Space Camp but instead of students getting accidentally shot into orbit, it’s three randoms thrown into a broadcast booth as the door is locked.— Andy Shapiro (@andyshapiro) April 9, 2022April 9, 2022
If this is how bad the Apple TV+ baseball "announcers" are gonna be just televise the game with no one talking because they've barely talked about this gameIf this is how bad the Apple TV+ baseball "announcers" are gonna be just televise the game with no one talking because they've barely talked about this game— Passionate NY Mets Fan (@PNYMFan534) April 9, 2022April 9, 2022
One viewer quipped "Someone tell the Apple TV announcers that there's a baseball game going on they're supposed to be talking about."
Watchers on Reddit expressed a similar sentiment, with criticism leveled at the announcers of both games. Fans lamented "awful commentary", with criticisms including that announcers were talking too much over the game, and that the levels of excitement didn't seem to match the play on the field. One viewer said a play-by-play announcer was getting too excited about routine events, while KFC Barstool lamented that there was "no enthusiasm" to the commentary, mocking a home run call:
WHAT a home run call by the AppleTV team. Goosebumps. Put it in the pantheon of baseball audioWHAT a home run call by the AppleTV team. Goosebumps. Put it in the pantheon of baseball audio— KFC (@KFCBarstool) April 8, 2022April 8, 2022
Other viewers were angry that the commentators talked extensively about Apple products, food, "their pets for five straight minutes", squirrels, and more. One viewer said, "I just had to listen to a conversation about a great throw by Brantley get broken up by talking about sunglasses."
Can I tell you how bad this AppleTV experience is? Sounds silly but I’ve almost stopped caring about the outcome. Win or lose we’ll always just remember this as the Apple debacle. If we win, great. If we lose, chalk the whole thing up as a failed experiment & move on. 🗑Can I tell you how bad this AppleTV experience is? Sounds silly but I’ve almost stopped caring about the outcome. Win or lose we’ll always just remember this as the Apple debacle. If we win, great. If we lose, chalk the whole thing up as a failed experiment & move on. 🗑— KFC (@KFCBarstool) April 9, 2022April 9, 2022
@KFCBarstool said the last straw came when an announcer said "someone once said…availability…factors into ability," which may have been an attempt at the sports adage "the best ability is availability."
The verdict
As noted, there was and is some promise to broadcasting baseball on Apple TV+, clearly the graphics style and high quality has resonated with some viewers. But the overall consensus is not good. Barstool's @TheClemReport put out a grade poll for the first MLB on Apple TV+ that has almost 4,000 votes, 64.6% of which awarded the broadcast an F. Only 4.3% gave it an A:
How would you grade the first MLB game on Apple TV+?How would you grade the first MLB game on Apple TV+?— Clem (@TheClemReport) April 9, 2022April 9, 2022
This Apple TV MLB experience has been…badThis Apple TV MLB experience has been…bad— B.W. Carlin (@BaileyCarlin) April 9, 2022April 9, 2022
Viewers on Reddit described the broadcast as "nightmarish" and "absolutely brutal to listen to."
Nothing can ruin baseball… and then Apple TV + came alongNothing can ruin baseball… and then Apple TV + came along— Evan Roberts (@EvanRobertsWFAN) April 9, 2022April 9, 2022
There were some bright spots, not least the moment that Jeremy Peña hit his first home run in the 7th while his parents were being interviewed in the stands:
Baseball is the best.
Jeremy Peña hits his first career home run during a live interview with his parents during the at-bat. pic.twitter.com/GWE6IfiIRTBaseball is the best.
Jeremy Peña hits his first career home run during a live interview with his parents during the at-bat. pic.twitter.com/GWE6IfiIRT— Houston Astros (@astros) April 9, 2022April 9, 2022
Hopes were high for Friday Night Baseball on Apple TV+ when it was announced in March, and no doubt Apple will be hoping to draw sports fans to its original Apple TV+ shows and movies who might not otherwise have seen them while shaking up the sports broadcasting space. It's just the first weekend, and Apple has 22 more free games to broadcast over the next 11 weeks, but the initial reaction is clear; Apple has a long way to go in convincing baseball fans that Apple TV+ is worth their money in the long haul.
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