Baseball fans were able to catch the first two innings of the Boston Red Sox’s spring training opener in an exhibition game against Northeastern, as the action was streamed on MLB’s Facebook page Thursday.
The game didn’t appear on television or radio, but Facebook Live viewers could see the Red Sox play in Fort Myers, Fla. and hear the sounds of Grapefruit League baseball. The video has received more than 250,000 views.
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Before the game, the Red Sox had used Facebook Live to show the grounds crew preparing the field. The Detroit Tigers before their exhibition game on the same day used Facebook Live to show batting practice, adding “#BaseballIsBack.” Other Major League teams during workouts have shown BP, bullpen sessions and infield drills on Facebook Live.
Could more baseball start appearing on Facebook Live? It’s possible, as Facebook is in advanced talks with Major League Baseball to stream one game per week this season, according to a Reuters report. A Facebook spokesman declined comment on the report.
Twitter already announced in July it would live stream weekly out-of-market games from Major League Baseball.
Facebook Live offers another opportunity for sports to extend their reach, and it has been a destination for live sports, including Liga MX, the NBA Development League, Atlantic 10 basketball, Ivy League sports, USA Basketball exhibitions, Table Tennis England and the upcoming CollegeInsider.com postseason tournament.
Videos from Facebook can not only be streamed on mobile devices, but also television screens through devices like Apple TV or Google Chromecast. Facebook has announced that a new Facebook video app will be rolled out soon to app stores for Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Samsung Smart TV.
.@RedSox Facebook Live cast onto the TV at home to check out former @GatorsBB star Brian Johnson first start of the spring. #MLB pic.twitter.com/vKSw0BYCE0
— Christian Bruey (@CBrueyWFTV) February 23, 2017