MLB Game of the Week Live on YouTube was the presentation of Major League Baseball (MLB) games live on the video sharing and social media platform YouTube. Games were produced by the league-owned MLB Network. Games generally streamed in the afternoon on weekdays.
| MLB Game of the Week Live on YouTube | |
|---|---|
 MLB Game of the Week Live on YouTube logo | |
| Also known as | MLB on YouTube |
| Genre | Baseball telecasts |
| Presented by | Scott Braun Yonder Alonso |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| Production | |
| Production locations | Various MLB stadiums (game telecasts) One MLB Network Plaza Secaucus, New Jersey (studio segments, pregame and postgame shows) |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 180 minutes (varies depending on game length) |
| Production companies | MLB Network YouTube |
| Original release | |
| Network | YouTube |
| Release | July 18, 2019 – September 8, 2022 |
History
editOn 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, alongside 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 telecast 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] YouTube's game between the Orioles and Rays on July 20 featured the first all-female announcing crew on an MLB broadcast. Melanie Newman (play-by-play), Sarah Langs (color commentator), Heidi Watney and Lauren Gardner (pre- and postgame show co-hosts) were back at MLB Network studios while Alanna Rizzo was the reporter at Tropicana Field.[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 handled all play–by–play duties and Yonder Alonso handled all color commentating.[8] For the August 17, 2022 broadcast between the Los Angeles Angels and Seattle Mariners, an alternate broadcast hosted by Lauren Gardner and Cameron Maybin was also produced. The broadcast featured celebrity guests such as Bill Nye, Joel McHale and Kenny Mayne, among others.[9]
The series did not return in 2023. Though not directly related, YouTube TV dropped MLB Network due to a carriage dispute prior to the season.[10]
Commentators
editPlay-by-play
edit- Scott Braun (2019–2022)
- Brian Kenny (2021)
- Stephen Nelson (2019–2021)
- Melanie Newman (2021)
- Matt Vasgersian (2021)
- Rich Waltz (2019)
Color commentators
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Broadcasts
editThe pre- and postgame shows were each 30 minutes in duration. The former was broadcast from MLB Network studios while the latter was handled by the broadcasters who also present the Player of the Game trophy which is based on viewer voting.
2021
edit| Date | Away Team | Home Team | Time (ET) | Score | Player of the Game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday, April 7, 2021 | Tampa Bay Rays | Boston Red Sox | 1:00 p.m. | Rays 2, Red Sox 9 | Nathan Eovaldi |
| Thursday, April 22, 2021 | Los Angeles Angels | Houston Astros | 8:00 p.m. | Angels 2, Astros 8 | Cristian Javier |
| Wednesday, April 28, 2021 | Minnesota Twins | Cleveland Indians | 1:00 p.m. | Twins 10, Indians 2 | Byron Buxton |
| Thursday, May 6, 2021 | Atlanta Braves | Washington Nationals | 4:00 p.m. | Braves 3, Nationals 2 | Drew Smyly |
| Thursday, May 13, 2021 | St. Louis Cardinals | Milwaukee Brewers | 1:30 p.m. | Cardinals 2, Brewers 0 | Jack Flaherty |
| Thursday, May 20, 2021 | San Francisco Giants | Cincinnati Reds | 12:30 p.m. | Giants 19, Reds 4 | Brandon Crawford |
| Thursday, May 27, 2021 | Philadelphia Phillies | Miami Marlins | 12:00 p.m. | Phillies 3, Marlins 2 | Rhys Hoskins |
| Wednesday, June 2, 2021 | New York Mets | Arizona Diamondbacks | 3:30 p.m. | Mets 7, Diamondbacks 6 | James McCann |
| Thursday, June 10, 2021 | Los Angeles Dodgers | Pittsburgh Pirates | 12:30 p.m. | Dodgers 6, Pirates 3 (8 innings) | Mookie Betts |
| Thursday, June 17, 2021 | Detroit Tigers | Los Angeles Angels | 9:30 p.m. | Tigers 5, Angels 7 | Shohei Ohtani |
| Tuesday, June 22, 2021 | Oakland Athletics | Texas Rangers | 8:00 p.m. | Athletics 13, Rangers 6 | Matt Chapman |
| Wednesday, June 30, 2021 | Seattle Mariners | Toronto Blue Jays | 7:00 p.m. | Mariners 9, Blue Jays 7 (10 innings) | Dylan Moore |
| Friday, July 9, 2021 | Cincinnati Reds | Milwaukee Brewers | 8:00 p.m. | Reds 2, Brewers 0 | Wade Miley |
| Tuesday, July 20, 2021 | Baltimore Orioles | Tampa Bay Rays | 7:00 p.m. | Orioles 3, Rays 9 | Francisco Mejía |
| Wednesday, August 11, 2021 | Chicago White Sox | Minnesota Twins | 1:00 p.m. | White Sox 0, Twins 1 | Jorge Polanco |
| Tuesday, August 17, 2021 | Toronto Blue Jays | Washington Nationals | 7:00 p.m. | Blue Jays 6, Nationals 12 | Riley Adams |
| Wednesday, August 25, 2021 | Kansas City Royals | Houston Astros | 2:00 p.m. | Royals 5, Astros 6 (10 innings) | Jake Meyers |
| Thursday, September 2, 2021 | Milwaukee Brewers | San Francisco Giants | 3:30 p.m. | Brewers 1, Giants 5 | Logan Webb |
| Wednesday, September 8, 2021 | Seattle Mariners | Houston Astros | 2:00 p.m. | Mariners 8, Astros 5 | José Marmolejos |
| Friday, September 17, 2021 | Oakland Athletics | Los Angeles Angels | 9:30 p.m. | Athletics 5, Angels 4 | Matt Olson |
| Thursday, September 23, 2021 | St. Louis Cardinals | Milwaukee Brewers | 2:00 p.m. | Cardinals 8, Brewers 5 | Paul Goldschmidt |
2022
edit| Date | Away Team | Home Team | Time (ET) | Score | Player of the Game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday, May 5, 2022 | Washington Nationals | Colorado Rockies | 3:00 p.m. | Nationals 7, Rockies 9 | Brendan Rodgers |
| Wednesday, May 11, 2022 | Milwaukee Brewers | Cincinnati Reds | 12:30 p.m. | Brewers 11, Reds 14 | Tyler Stephenson |
| Wednesday, May 18, 2022 | Pittsburgh Pirates | Chicago Cubs | 7:30 p.m. | Pirates 3, Cubs 2 | Jack Suwinski |
| Wednesday, May 25, 2022 | Detroit Tigers | Minnesota Twins | 1:00 p.m. | Tigers 4, Twins 2 | Harold Castro |
| Wednesday, June 1, 2022 | Kansas City Royals | Cleveland Guardians | 1:00 p.m. | Royals 0, Guardians 4 | Konnor Pilkington |
| Wednesday, June 8, 2022 | Toronto Blue Jays | Kansas City Royals | 2:00 p.m. | Blue Jays 4, Royals 8 | Carlos Santana |
| Wednesday, June 15, 2022 | Minnesota Twins | Seattle Mariners | 4:00 p.m. | Twins 5, Mariners 0 | Luis Arráez |
| Thursday, June 30, 2022 | Tampa Bay Rays | Toronto Blue Jays | 7:00 p.m. | Rays 1, Blue Jays 4 | Teoscar Hernández |
| Wednesday, July 13, 2022 | Milwaukee Brewers | Minnesota Twins | 1:00 p.m. | Brewers 1, Twins 4 | José Miranda[11] |
| Wednesday, July 27, 2022 | Minnesota Twins | Milwaukee Brewers | 2:00 p.m. | Twins 4, Brewers 10 | Rowdy Tellez |
| Thursday, August 11, 2022 | Texas Rangers | Houston Astros | 2:00 p.m. | Rangers 3, Astros 7 | Framber Valdez |
| Wednesday, August 17, 2022 | Seattle Mariners | Los Angeles Angels | 4:00 p.m. | Mariners 11, Angels 7 | Cal Raleigh[12] |
| Thursday, August 25, 2022 | Cleveland Guardians | Seattle Mariners | 4:00 p.m. | Guardians 1, Mariners 3 | Mitch Haniger[13] |
| Thursday, September 1, 2022 | Kansas City Royals | Chicago White Sox | 2:00 p.m. | Royals 1, White Sox 7 | Johnny Cueto |
| Thursday, September 8, 2022 | Cincinnati Reds | Chicago Cubs | 2:00 p.m. | Reds 4, Cubs 3 | Jonathan India |
Viewership
editThe following is a list of the 10 most viewed MLB Game of the Week Live on YouTube games. Viewership is based on the publicly available viewership counter on YouTube.com.
| Date | Away Team | Home Team | Viewership | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 8, 2019 | Philadelphia Phillies | San Francisco Giants | 3.9M | [1] |
| June 10, 2021 | Los Angeles Dodgers | Pittsburgh Pirates | 2.7M | [2] |
| June 18, 2019 | Los Angeles Dodgers | Philadelphia Phillies | 2.2M | [3] |
| June 17, 2021 | Detroit Tigers | Los Angeles Angels | 2M | [4] |
| August 7, 2019 | St. Louis Cardinals | Los Angeles Dodgers | 1.7M | [5] |
| June 30, 2021 | Seattle Mariners | Toronto Blue Jays | 1.5M | [6] |
| July 23, 2019 | Cleveland Indians | Toronto Blue Jays | 1.3M | [7] |
| April 22, 2021 | Los Angeles Angels | Houston Astros | 1.3M | [8] |
| September 17, 2019 | Tampa Bay Rays | Los Angeles Dodgers | 1.2M | [9] |
| May 13, 2021 | St. Louis Cardinals | Milwaukee Brewers | 1.1M | [10] |
References
edit- ^ "MLB to exclusively stream 13 live games to YouTube & YouTube TV".
- ^ "Observations from MLB's first Facebook stream".
- ^ "Complete Schedule of 2019 MLB YouTube Games (Updated)". 9 August 2019.
- ^ "Free Global MLB Streams on YouTube Averaged 1.2 Million Live Views in 2019".
- ^ "MLB, YouTube to air 4 September games". MLB.com.
- ^ "Mariners at Blue Jays | MLB Game of the Week Live on YouTube". YouTube.
- ^ "All-women broadcast crew makes history". MLB.com.
- ^ "MLB renews YouTube deal, with 15-game slate beginning next month".
- ^ "Celebs talk baseball on Alternate broadcast of YouTube Game of the Week". MLB.com.
- ^ Spangler, Todd (February 1, 2023). "YouTube TV Drops MLB Network". Variety. Los Angeles: Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved February 4, 2023.
- ^ Jose Miranda YouTube Player of the Game Interview, Wednesday, July 13, 2022 – YouTube (via LetsWinTwins). Retrieved September 1, 2022.
- ^ Wicke, Tyler. "Mariners notes: Raleigh emerges in catching role as M’s sweep Halos, drop set to A’s," The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA), Sunday, August 21, 2022. Retrieved September 1, 2022.
- ^ Mitch Haniger holds the YouTube Player of the Game trophy, Thursday, August 25, 2022 – Twitter (via Seattle Mariners). Retrieved September 1, 2022.