It's no surprise that the baseball season has been condensed into a tighter schedule, meaning more baseball in less time. Last season, streaming service Peacock signed a regular deal for a new Sunday morning package, and MLB recently announced that the final day of the regular season will now take place on Wednesday, October 5.Under the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), there will be a universal designated hitter, and the postseason will also be expanded to 12 teams. For three of the last four seasons, MLB has attempted to get all 30 clubs to play on the same opening day. During the first 12 weeks of the season, the games will be free, after that time, fans will have to pay for Apple TV+ to watch the games.
Missed games will recover later in the season as part of double games, days off, etc. In all likelihood, that match will be postponed and recovered at a later date, and the two clubs will begin their seasons with a new series on April 8.The American League Division Series (ALDS) and American League Championship Series (ALCS) will be broadcast on TBS, while the rest of the National League postseason will be broadcast mainly on Fox and FS1, which include the National League Division Series (NLDS) (most games) and the National League Championship Series (NLCS) exclusively. ESPN will continue to air the national opening night game, which this year will air on ESPN2 due to ESPN covering the Masters on the main network, and 25 exclusive Sunday Night Baseball broadcasts, as well as Home Run Derby and other select broadcasts. Fox Sports renewed its television rights for regular season games for both the Fox main network and FS1. It would have been a big task to place all 2430 games on the regular season schedule, so MLB has placed 31 double games on the calendar. After a 7-and-a-half-month strike in 1994-95 that led to the first World Series cancellation in 90 years, baseball hasn't had a work stoppage since.
With lockdown restrictions finally lifted in the major leagues, baseball can finally get going.
