YouTube To Run MLB Game Of The Week Starting In July

Photo by Jason Schott.

YouTube and Major League Baseball (MLB) announced the first three matchups for their first-ever exclusive live game streaming distribution partnership: The MLB Game of the Week Live on YouTube. The package includes free live broadcasts of 13 games exclusively on YouTube during the second half of the 2019 MLB regular season.



By simply going to YouTube.com/MLB or searching “MLB” in the YouTube app, baseball fans and the global YouTube community can watch their favorite teams and players go head-to-head exclusively on the platform for free from any device without having to log in. The games will also stream live via a forthcoming channel on YouTube TV (subscription required). Fans can subscribe to the official MLB YouTube channel to receive updates.

The full lineup for July includes:
● Week 1: Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Philadelphia Phillies, Thursday July 18 @ 12:30 PM ET
● Week 2: Cleveland Indians vs. Toronto Blue Jays, Tuesday July 23 @ 7:00 PM ET
● Week 3: Detroit Tigers vs. Los Angeles Angels, Monday July 29 @ 10:00 PM ET

Each broadcast will feature a variety of announcers, analysts and reporters. In the booth for the Dodgers at Phillies game on July 18 will be MLB Network play-by-play announcer Scott Braun (@scottbraun), Dodgers legend and SportsNet LA analyst Orel Hershiser (@OrelHershiser) and former Phillies All-Star and NBC Sports Philadelphia analyst John Kruk(@JohnKruk). MLB Network’s Alexa Datt (@AlexaDatt) will serve as a social media reporter capturing the unique elements surrounding the game and fans’ ballpark experiences. Announcing crews for the remaining games will be released at a later date.

Every matchup includes a pregame and postgame show and will contain MLB and YouTube-themed content. Each game will be produced and enhanced exclusively for the YouTube platform by MLB Network’s Emmy Award-winning production team.

The 13-game package will be distributed on YouTube globally (select territories excluded), with exclusive distribution rights in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Games schedule is subject to change. For additional details on how to access The MLB Game of the Week Live on YouTube, please click here.

YouTube has been a long-standing content home for MLB and its 30 clubs, hosting highlights and classic games for more than a decade. Most recently, the relationship has evolved into a groundbreaking partnership with YouTube TV becoming the first-ever presenting sponsor of the World Series (2017-2019), as well as the addition of the award-winning MLB Network to the YouTube TV channel lineup. As the first-ever presenting sponsor of the World Series in 2017, YouTube TV drove awareness of the cable-free TV service’s launch through creative and innovative TV ads, baseball content from YouTube creators and unique integrated marketing campaigns.

MLB, which has been live streaming games since 2002, started its YouTube channel in 2005. The league has built a rabid audience on the platform, generating 1.25B channel views in 2018 alone as an increase of nearly 25% from 2017.