MLB At Bat Goes Live for 2012 With Improved Pricing Scheme

by

Baseball season is almost upon us and with that comes the latest edition of Major League Baseball's At Bat app, which went live this morning. The app provides baseball fans with access to live game radio and television broadcasts, MLB GameDay play-by-play service, and more.

Of course, all this isn't free. There are several service options depending mostly on if users wish to have streaming television broadcasts or are content with radio. The app itself, a universal app designed for both the iPhone and iPad, is a free download. On its own, it offers free league-wide scoreboards and limited access to news content from Major League Baseball.

mlbatbat1
There are two main service levels, with the high-end MLB.tv Premium offering everything: live home-and-away television broadcasts for "out-of-market" games (that is, users can't watch their local team's television coverage); live game home-and-away radio broadcasts; GameDay play-by-play coverage; in-game highlights; box scores; and many, many statistics.

MLB.tv Premium can be purchased for $124.99/season or $24.99/month from the MLB.tv website. The MLB.tv login can then be used to completely unlock the iOS app, and it also allows games to be watched from the Mac or Apple TV.

New for this year is an additional MLB.tv Premium purchase option: a $24.99/month in-app subscription that gives all the same access as buying through the MLB website, but with the convenience of charging the service to an iTunes account. Across the whole length of the season, the $24.99/month charge will be more expensive than the full season charge of $124.99, but it is nice to have the option.

mlbatbat2
Also available is an in-app purchase for $14.99/season or $2.99/month that offers the same radio broadcasts and GameDay features as the full MLB.tv Premium package, but without the television broadcasts. Subscribers to this package do get one free featured television broadcast per day, as well as "live look-ins" to games when significant events happen.

Last year, MLB.tv Premium users were required to pay the $124.99/season fee, as well as buying separate iPhone and iPad apps for $14.99 each. This year, subscribers with iOS devices will save $30 by having the apps unlock automatically with a login. Additionally, MLB.tv Premium users will get access to out-of-market game broadcasts on the Apple TV. MLB tells MacRumors that the Apple TV is receiving an updated interface for 2012 as well.

mlbatbat3
Finally, MLB told us about a new "At The Ballpark" app coming on Opening Day 2012. The app will expand on the features offered in the At Bat app last year and will offer maps to concession stands, emergency exits and more at ballparks, as well as a geolocated check-in service. Individual clubs can offer seat upgrades, special offers and food discounts to app users. Some clubs even offer mobile food ordering from the app, and can deliver food right to your seat.

MLB At Bat is a free universal download from the App Store for iPhone and iPad. [Direct Link]

Popular Stories

Generic iOS 19 Feature Mock Light

iOS 19 Leak Reveals All-New Design

Friday January 17, 2025 2:42 pm PST by
iOS 19 is still around six months away from being announced, but a new leak has allegedly revealed a completely redesigned Camera app. Based on footage it obtained, YouTube channel Front Page Tech shared a video showing what the new Camera app will apparently look like, with the key change being translucent menus for camera controls. Overall, the design of these menus looks similar to...
Read Full Article
2024 App Store Awards

Apple Explains Why It Removed TikTok From the App Store in the U.S.

Sunday January 19, 2025 6:58 am PST by
Apple on late Saturday removed TikTok from the App Store in the U.S., and it has now explained why it was required to take this action. Last year, the U.S. passed a law that required Chinese company ByteDance to divest its ownership of TikTok due to potential national security risks, or else the platform would be banned. That law went into effect today, and companies like Apple and Google...
Read Full Article • 252 comments
iPhone SE Dynamic Island Majin Bu

iPhone SE 4 Leak Shows Dynamic Island, Casts Doubt on Rumored 'iPhone 16E' Name

Monday January 20, 2025 9:01 am PST by
A new iPhone SE is widely rumored to launch this year, and the device has potentially been confirmed today by known leaker Evan Blass. In a private social media post, Blass shared an image of what appears to be source code mentioning an iPhone SE (4th Gen), which casts doubt on the alternative "iPhone 16E" name rumored for the device. However, the name in the source code could be a...
Read Full Article • 166 comments
iOS 19 Roundup Feature

iOS 19 Rumored to Be Compatible With These iPhones

Saturday January 18, 2025 10:28 am PST by
iOS 19 will not drop support for any iPhone models, according to French website iPhoneSoft.fr. The report cited a source who said iOS 19 will be compatible with any iPhone that can run iOS 18, which would mean the following models: iPhone 16 iPhone 16 Plus iPhone 16 Pro iPhone 16 Pro Max iPhone 15 iPhone 15 Plus iPhone 15 Pro iPhone 15 Pro Max iPhone 14 iPhon...
Read Full Article
airtag 4 pack blue

AirTag 2 Launching This Year With These 3 New Features

Sunday January 19, 2025 8:11 am PST by
After a four-year wait, a new AirTag is finally expected to launch in 2025. Below, we recap rumored upgrades for the accessory. A few months ago, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple was aiming to release the AirTag 2 around the middle of 2025. While he did not offer a more specific timeframe, that means the AirTag 2 could be announced by the end of June. The original AirTag was announced...
Read Full Article
iPhone 17 Air Size Feature

'iPhone 17 Air' With Rear Camera Bar Allegedly Shown in Leaked Photo

Tuesday January 21, 2025 12:46 pm PST by
A leaker known as "Majin Bu" today shared an alleged image of a component for the rumored, ultra-thin "iPhone 17 Air" model. The blurry, pixelated image shows a pair of rear iPhone shells with a pill-shaped, raised camera bar along the top. On the left side of the bar, there is a circular cutout that appears to be for a single rear camera. On the right side of the bar, there appears to be an ...
Read Full Article • 96 comments
apple power beats pro 2

Powerbeats Pro 2 Coming Soon: Apple to Announce Them 'Imminently'

Sunday January 19, 2025 8:25 am PST by
In September, Apple said that it would be launching Powerbeats Pro 2 in 2025, and it appears the wireless earbuds are coming very soon. Powerbeats Pro 2 images found in iOS 18 code In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the Powerbeats Pro 2 are "due imminently." In addition to Apple filing the Powerbeats Pro 2 in regulatory databases last month, Gurman said Apple is...
Read Full Article • 63 comments
Generic iOS 18

Everything New in iOS 18.3 Beta 3

Thursday January 16, 2025 12:39 pm PST by
Apple provided the third beta of iOS 18.3 to developers today, and while the betas have so far been light on new features, the third beta makes some major changes to Notification Summaries and also tweaks a few other features. Notification Summary Changes Apple made multiple changes to Notification Summaries in response to complaints about inaccurate summaries of news headlines. For...
Read Full Article • 29 comments

Top Rated Comments

spiderman0616 Avatar
spiderman0616
168 months ago
MLB is yet another streaming content provider that doesn't "get it". They're better than the NFL about this stuff, but as a cord cutter, I look at this service as a waste of money. If I pay for MLB.TV, I want to watch the games live whether they're in my market area or not. If they would get rid of the game delays for local games, I would be all over this service.

These big companies these days just don't understand where things are moving. In ten years time, I honestly think we'll be streaming everything we watch and paying for only the content we want rather than 500 channels of stuff we don't care about.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mac21ND Avatar
Mac21ND
168 months ago
I'd buy it in a heartbeat if not for the blackout rules. I live four hours from my "home" team and am blacked out.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bennettave Avatar
bennettave
168 months ago
how long before there is a way to watch home team baseball for people who have dropped cable tv??
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
damir00 Avatar
damir00
168 months ago
Good stuff!

But curious that the image they're showing is from a video game instead of actual baseball footage.

If they (and the other leagues! looking at you, NHL!) could do something about the blackout restrictions, it would be even better.

----------


These big companies these days just don't understand where things are moving.
They certainly do understand. MLB in particular has been at the forefront of moving to IP based distribution.

But legacy contracts/commitments don't allow them to move as quickly as we'd like them to move.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JBaker122586 Avatar
JBaker122586
168 months ago
MLB is yet another streaming content provider that doesn't "get it". They're better than the NFL about this stuff, but as a cord cutter, I look at this service as a waste of money. If I pay for MLB.TV, I want to watch the games live whether they're in my market area or not. If they would get rid of the game delays for local games, I would be all over this service.

These big companies these days just don't understand where things are moving. In ten years time, I honestly think we'll be streaming everything we watch and paying for only the content we want rather than 500 channels of stuff we don't care about.
It's you that doesn't "get it."

MLB is at the FOREFRONT of live video streaming. They've been doing it for a decade now. In fact, a large portion of live streaming broadcasts that you watch from anywhere are using servers on loan from MLB.

In-market games are unavailable due to contracts with local broadcasters. If your local Fox affiliate has a contract with the Diamondbacks to show their games, they're not going to want the MLB allowing potential viewers to watch games on computers or iPad or Apple TVs. Then you're not seeing any of the advertising, which is what makes it profitable for the local affiliate to carry the games.

If you really want to stream local market games to your phone, just get a Slingbox. It can be had for about the cost of two seasons of MLB.tv or less. That way you watch your local market games, get your local ads, and your local affiliate receives the ratings.

As a Yankees fan living in Texas, MLB.tv is a godsend. And when the Yanks play the Rangers, I'll just watch it on my Slingbox.

And this new model is further proof that MLB gets it. I have been annoyed the last two years that as a subscriber to MLB.tv I've still had to pay just to have the app (last year $30 to get it for both my devices). Glad they found a smooth way to rectify that.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
december Avatar
december
168 months ago
MLB foolishly gave Rogers the ability to claim all of Canada as their home territory, so there is no reason for Canadians living in Canada but outside of Toronto to buy the MLB service to watch the Jays.

Blackouts are the deaths throes of a dying business model.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments