Friday night’s Phillies-Dodgers game will stream only on Apple TV+, putting the matchup behind a paywall for fans who are used to finding the team on NBC Sports Philadelphia or another network channel. The first pitch is set for 10:15 p.m. ET, and the telecast will not air anywhere on network TV.
That is why Phillies fans are searching now: if they want to watch the game live, Apple TV+ is the only video option. Apple is offering a free one-month trial, but its monthly price has climbed from $6.99 to $12.99, and the game sits inside the service’s Friday Night Baseball doubleheader. The night’s first game features the Minnesota Twins and the Pittsburgh Pirates before the Phillies and Dodgers follow.
For fans who do make the jump, the broadcast has a familiar local thread. Scott Franzke said for him, being on Apple TV+ is “business as usual,” and viewers can switch the audio feed to 94.1 WIP, where Franzke and Kevin Stocker’s call is synchronized with the Apple TV footage. Wayne Randazzo will handle the main Apple TV+ broadcast, with Dontrelle Willis as analyst and Heidi Watney reporting from Dodger Stadium.
The setup lands during a season in which the Phillies have already changed managers and reset the tone in the dugout. After Rob Thomson was fired following a 9-19 start, the club has gone 20-8 under Don Mattingly and won all but two series, a run that has made the team’s latest national appearance feel like part of a larger turnaround rather than a stand-alone event. Franzke said he did not think “the vibe has changed much,” adding that “this is about players playing better.”
There is still a catch for the people who would rather keep the night on radio than deal with another streaming subscription. Apple TV+ offers the audio swap to 94.1 WIP, but the game itself remains exclusive to the service, which is in the fifth season of its seven-year, $595 million deal with MLB that runs through the 2028 season. The Phillies will be back on NBC Sports Philadelphia late Saturday night, with Tom McCarthy and John Kruk in the booth, but Friday belongs to Apple.
The bigger question is how many fans will actually take Apple up on the trial, switch the audio, or simply wait for Saturday. Apple says more Friday Night Baseball is coming, with its second-half schedule due in June, but for one night the only way to see the Phillies and Dodgers is to log on.
