New York Mets fans will be able to watch their team battle the Philadelphia Phillies in a unique and new way. Facebook is now in the baseball business and the Metropolitans will get the first crack at the streaming ball game.
Major League Baseball and Facebook announced a new streaming partnership on Friday. The new service, called Facebook Watch, will now serve as a brand new way to watch live streaming MLB baseball games on Facebook.
The first game to be streamed live will be on April 4, 2018, and will feature the Philadelphia Phillies taking on the New York Mets at Citi Field.
Evan Grossman of the New York Daily News reported that the agreement between MLB and Facebook will include 25 games to be streamed live, mainly on Wednesday afternoons.
“This partnership with Facebook reflects the ongoing commitment of Major League Baseball and our Clubs to connect with people around the world,” Tony Petitti, Deputy Commissioner of Business and Media for Major League Baseball, said in a statement Friday. “It is a major creative step forward in serving our diverse, passionate community of fans, who will enjoy a uniquely interactive experience watching our games on Facebook each week.”
Wednesday afternoons were selected with the thought that many baseball fans would be sitting in front of a computer while at work. Production all around the country and the world may take a hit as fans take to the internet to watch America’s favorite past time. Grossman reported that fans will be able to watch games on their mobile and desktop devices and fans will be able to share information as the game is streaming.
Games will be produced by MLB Network, with the broadcasting teams to be announced at a later date.
MLB will release the broadcast schedule a month at a time, to allow for more flexibility. Every MLB team has a certain number of national broadcasts they must be a part of each season, which will also dictate the rolling schedule.
The schedule for April is available now and includes:
- Wednesday, April 4: Philadelphia Phillies vs. New York Mets, 1:10 pm ET
- Wednesday, April 11: Milwaukee Brewers vs. St. Louis Cardinals, 1:15 pm ET
- Wednesday, April 18: Kansas City Royals vs. Toronto Blue Jays, 4:07 pm ET
- Thursday, April 26: Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Philadelphia Phillies, 1:05 pm ET
“We’re excited to extend our partnership with Major League Baseball to make Facebook Watch a home for exclusive, live games every week this season,” Dan Reed, Facebook’s head of global sports partnerships, said.
The future is here, ladies and gentlemen. Expect more streaming of live sporting events in every arena of sport.
