RadioActive wrote:

If everything works out, the Jays could clinch their division on Friday when they play the Royals in K.C. But it won't be on Sportsnet. It's one of the AppleTV+ games, which means viewers here who don't subscribe run the risk of missing a pivotal championship contest, the first time it won't be on local TV in franchise history. 

A potentially pivotal Blue Jays game won’t be on Sportsnet TV this week

 

Well, I am definitely not happy about that!  I thought that I got Sportsnet (from Rogers) for these games. I don't have Apple.

If you think this is bad, imagine the outcry if this comes to pass.

Amazon Says It Wants to Broadcast a Super Bowl

 

RadioActive wrote:

If you think this is bad, imagine the outcry if this comes to pass.

Amazon Says It Wants to Broadcast a Super Bowl

 

 
Just a matter of time RA! Money talks.

Baseball fans won't like this, although I doubt it will affect many Jays games here. Major League Baseball is a pen stroke away from signing a new deal that will see games shared between NBC, Peacock and Netflix. If the agreement goes through as expected, it means fans in the U.S. will get more free games via the over-the-air network, but will lose at one popular baseball event - the annual Home Run Derby, which will be on Netflix only. 

But that's not all. NBC is apparently ready to pony up big bucks to ensure it gets Sunday Night Baseball for the next few seasons. The network, which already shelled out huge money to keep the NFL on the network on Sunday nights, recently also added the NBA. That means the network will now have three marquee events on the same evening .

What happens when they overlap? Viewers of America's pasttime and hoopsters may not like the answer.

"When the three sports overlap, as they will for most of the year, a subscription to Peacock will be required. Football is first in the pecking order on broadcast television, then the NBA, then Major League Baseball. The deal will also include some postseason baseball games, which could also conflict with Sunday Night Football."

So even other sports fans will soon have a bone to pick with the NFL titan (no relation to the Tennessee team.)

MLB’s new media deal could see games pre-empted by NFL broadcasts

mace wrote:

It is not just Jays fans that get upset. Last week one of the Yankee/Red Sox games was an Apple TV affair. You can imagine how that went over in the Bronx and Beantown.

That was the game when Aaron Judge passed Joe DiMaggio on the list of career home runs as a Yankee, so I'm sure their fans were definitely unhappy.
Based on recent reports, however, it does sound as though these Friday night Apple TV broadcasts will be a thing of the past starting next season.

The devil's bargain means the following Friday's game vs. Tampa Bay goes exclusively to Apple. Depending on what happens over the next week, fans had better hope there are no implications from that match.  

So what happens if next Friday becomes the clinching game? They just gave up the rights to that contest to air this one, which now has no real significance in terms of locking up first place.

Could this end up being the worst possible deal for Rogers in the end and could non-Apple subscribers still miss the celebrations (if they happen)?

If things come to pass as they might, it could be a major swing and a miss for Sportsnet.

Apple TV broadcast changes could cause further outrage for Blue Jays fans

According to the Citizen, the SN black out for this game has been lifted. "Last minute negotiations"Sportsnet blackout lifted for Friday's Jays game 

• Ottawa Citizen
• 19 Sep 2025
•  

A pivotal game Friday no longer feels like a bad Apple for the majority of Toronto Blue Jays fans.Thanks to some deft last-minute negotiations, the blackout has been lifted for a good chunk of the team's fans who faced the potential of being in the dark for one of the Jays' most-anticipated games of the season. Friday's contest in Kansas City — which looms as a potential playoff clinching date for the Jays — is no longer an exclusive Apple TV+ broadcast. Instead, the Apple TV+ feed will be simulcast on Sportsnet, giving all Canadians access to what is seen as a potentially critical late-season match.The move didn't come without a price. A source familiar with the negotiations said in exchange for the simulcast, next Friday's Jays-rays game from the Rogers Centre will be added as an Apple TV+ exclusive.The deal, which came together quickly, happened after Sportsnet and the Jays approached MLB to investigate whether a deal could be navigated. MLB then approached Apple TV executives on behalf of the team and the solution was reached.“This is a really exciting time of year for Blue Jays fans, and we wanted to try and find a way for Canadians to watch Friday's game on Sportsnet, especially at this pivotal moment of the season,” a Rogers spokesman said.Friday's contest will not have the familiar Sportsnet broadcast crew of Dan Shulman and Buck Martinez calling the game. Sportsnet will, however, air a Baseball Central pregame show.Inter Miami and Lionel Messi have agreed to extend the Argentine superstar's contract to remain in Major League Soccer beyond next year's World Cup, according to a source close to the matter.The contract extension would ensure that the 38-year-old remains in competitive action until and after the 2026 World Cup hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.An official announcement is expected within the next two weeks, said the source contacted by AFP late Wednesday, and would mean Messi ending his career in MLS.Messi moved to Inter Miami in 2023 after an unhappy stay at Paris Saint-germain, but most of his stellar career was spent at Barcelona, where he played from 2004 to 2021 after coming through the youth system at the Spanish giants.At Barcelona, he won the La Liga title 10 times and lifted the European Champions League trophy on four occasions.In 2022, he led Argentina to World Cup glory in Qatar and has expressed a desire to try to retain the trophy next year.Messi was named the MLS Most Valuable Player in the 2024 season even though his team was eliminated in the playoffs.In 2025, he became the fastest player to reach 40 goals in MLS history. 

andysradio wrote:

According to the Citizen, the SN black out for this game has been lifted. "Last minute negotiations"Sportsnet blackout lifted for Friday's Jays game

Today's game is almost meaningless now, so this news is out of date

torontostan wrote:

andysradio wrote:

According to the Citizen, the SN black out for this game has been lifted. "Last minute negotiations"Sportsnet blackout lifted for Friday's Jays game

Today's game is almost meaningless now, so this news is out of date

The Toronto Star disputes that statement, but it would take a wild confluence of events to make it happen. 

The Blue Jays can clinch a playoff spot on Friday after all. Here’s how

Yes, not the greatest night for the Jays.  The Apple+ broadcast was ok, but kind of subdued just like the crowd in Kansas City.  I was surprised how quiet the fans were during the game and just the general sound of the broadcast.  Good graphics and lots of information on players and teams.  I guess for a technical reason the "score bug" was missing on the screen for about three innings.  Camera work was just ok.  It looked like they could have used a few more cameras for different shots.  But a big improvement to what Apple had two years ago.   

Hope it doesn't come down to next Friday's match - that's an Apple TV only game now, after Rogers and the streamer made the deal last week to keep it on Sportsnet.