Dodgers fans pay up, in significant numbers and in significant amounts, to watch their team on SportsNet LA: Home team, home channel.
Not on Friday, though, when Clayton Kershaw takes the mound for what might well be the final time at Dodger Stadium.
The exclusive broadcast rights for the game belong to Apple TV+, as part of a package of Friday night games bought from Major League Baseball. Apple is guaranteed a minimum of four exclusive broadcasts for whatever teams it chooses to air, according to a league official. Friday’s game will be the Dodgers’ fourth on Apple TV+ this season, so it remains exclusive to Apple.
The alternate Apple game Friday involves the Toronto Blue Jays. As it became apparent the Blue Jays might clinch a playoff spot on Friday, Apple and MLB agreed that Sportsnet — the Blue Jays’ equivalent of SportsNet LA – could air a simulcast of that Apple TV+ broadcast. (That change was announced Thursday morning, before a Jays loss and Cleveland Guardians win made it impossible for Toronto to clinch on Friday.)
However, the Jays will total five exclusive Apple TV+ broadcasts this season.
This will not be the first bit of Dodgers history limited to the Apple audience. In 2022, when Albert Pujols hit his 700th career home run, the game was on Apple.
The man who called the Pujols game for Apple also will call the Kershaw game for Apple: Wayne Randazzo, the voice of the Angels.
Kershaw, the 11-time All-Star and three-time Cy Young award winner, said Thursday he would retire at season’s end. After the weekend series against the San Francisco Giants, in which Kershaw is scheduled to start Friday’s game, the Dodgers finish the regular season on the road. The Dodgers have not said what role, if any, Kershaw might fill on their playoff roster.
Fans can sign up for a free seven-day trial of Apple TV+ here. (If you’re signing up just to watch Kershaw, you’ll need to cancel within the seven-day window, or you’ll be billed $12.99 each month.)
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