MLB Game of the Week Live on YouTube

MLB Game of the Week Live on YouTube is the presentation of Major League Baseball (MLB) games live on the video sharing and social media platform YouTube. Games are produced by the league owned MLB Network. Games generally air in the afternoon on weekdays.

MLB Game of the Week Live on YouTube
MLB Game of the Week Live on YouTube logo
Also known asMLB on YouTube
GenreBaseball telecasts
Presented byScott Braun
Yonder Alonso
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons3
Production
Production locationsVarious MLB stadiums (game telecasts)
One MLB Network Plaza Secaucus, New Jersey (studio segments, pregame and postgame shows)
Camera setupMulti-camera
Running time180 minutes (varies depending on game length)
Production companiesMLB Network
YouTube
Release
Original networkYouTube
Original releaseJuly 18, 2019 (2019-07-18) –
present

History

On April 30, 2019, Major League Baseball and YouTube agreed to a partnership for 13 exclusive baseball games.[1] The agreement was essentially a replacement to an earlier deal with Facebook Watch, which was criticized for requiring a Facebook account to access and for having too clunky of an interface.[2] The YouTube games would feature a pre and post game show, along side the game, all produced by MLB Network. There was no requirement for a YouTube account to access the game. The first game aired was between the Phillies and the Dodgers on July 18, 2019.[3] After the season, MLB said they averaged 130,000 viewers per telecast. The August 7, Dodgers-Cardinals telcast saw the highest peak of 320,000 live viewers.[4]

Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the resulting reduction of the 2020 MLB season to 60 games. MLB on YouTube only aired 4 games, all in September, during the 2020 season. Two of these games were exclusive to the platform, while two others aired in tandem with local regional sports networks.[5]

For the 2021 MLB season, MLB on YouTube returned with 21 exclusive games. During the season YouTube produced two special broadcasts. On June 30, YouTube featured a special stat focused statcast broadcast between the Mariners and Blue Jays.[6] On July 20, YouTube's game between the Orioles and Rays featured the first all female announcing crew on a MLB broadcast. Melanie Newman, Sarah Langs and Alanna Rizzo were featured as commentators during the actual game while Heidi Watney and Lauren Gardner covered the pre and post game show.[7]

On April 14, 2022, Major League Baseball announced that YouTube would have 15 exclusive games for the 2022 MLB season. Unlike previous years which featured a rotating broadcasting crew, Scott Braun will handle all play by play duties and Yonder Alonso will handle all color commentating.[8]

Commentators

Play-by-play

Color commentators

References
  1. "MLB to exclusively stream 13 live games to YouTube & YouTube TV".
  2. "Observations from MLB's first Facebook stream".
  3. "Complete Schedule of 2019 MLB YouTube Games (Updated)". 9 August 2019.
  4. "Free Global MLB Streams on YouTube Averaged 1.2 Million Live Views in 2019".
  5. "MLB, YouTube to air 4 September games". MLB.com.
  6. "Mariners at Blue Jays | MLB Game of the Week Live on YouTube". YouTube.
  7. "All-women broadcast crew makes history". MLB.com.
  8. "MLB renews YouTube deal, with 15-game slate beginning next month".
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