MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL REFRESHES THE AWARD-WINNING MLB APP WITH DYNAMIC NEW PERSONALIZATION FEATURES
Major League Baseball today during its annual Innovation & Fan Engagement Showcase at the Office of the Commissioner in New York City unveiled a suite of enhancements and upgrades to the award-winning MLB App. Available now in the App Store and Google Play, the updated mobile app includes cutting-edge features like following favorite players, to go along with a fresh design aimed to deliver an unparalleled fan experience. This season’s update comes 15 years after its groundbreaking debut as one of the first 500 apps in the Apple’s App Store on July 10, 2008.
“The vision for the MLB App from the beginning was to be the #1 destination for baseball content anywhere, anytime,” said Chris Marinak, MLB Chief Operations & Strategy Officer. “This latest app release adds several new fan-friendly features like the personalized home tab, easier access to favorite teams and MLB’s biggest stars, and closer integration with more live baseball on MLB.TV. We are excited for fans to be even closer to the action in the MLB App for the 2023 season.”
Fans begin their new digital journey on the brand-new Home feed, where they can actively follow their favorite teams and players, find personalized news and video, and receive up-to-the minute live game snapshots, with convenient links to pregame information, live streams from MLB.TV and post-game coverage.
Gameday, the popular data-rich live-game representation, is now sleeker & faster, with real-time performance and, starting Opening Day, a new “At Bat detail” view that goes deep with Statcast data.
A revamped Watch hub features more live video from MLB.TV and MLB Network than ever before. Programmed 24/7 to serve up the highest-quality video, Watch is also personalized with curated content collections based on each fan’s favorite team and other preferences. MLB.TV subscribers get even more game action this year, as their favorite team’s MiLB affiliate games are available within Watch as part of their 2023 subscription. Also, MLB.TV will once again be home to programs Big Inning and Bettor’s Eye produced by MLB Network. For _Big Inning_, the program featuring look-ins of live games will move at an even quicker pace this season, with the ability to go live to four games at once. And with MLB Film Room Powered by Google Cloud better embedded in the MLB app, every fan can search the deepest on-demand baseball video library anywhere from the mobile device. Housing over 5 million highlights, interviews and player features, Film Room continues to expand with every game played. All these viewing experiences take place directly within Watch.
Also brand new this season is Live Activities, available to fans with supported Apple devices. This new feature allows fans to track their favorite team’s game hands-free, live on their lock screen.
Rounding out the enhanced 2023 lineup: a timely, curated visual Browse section, encouraging exploration and engagement with a broad spectrum of offerings such as standings, statistics, lineups, auctions and prospect rankings; a streamlined, more intuitive Onboarding flow for new app users; and a holistic design refresh throughout.
Overall, the MLB App has been updated with cleaner, more visual user experiences, and new feature enhancements are planned to roll out all season long.
New Features in the MLB App
The Home Feed
A dynamic, personalized feed where fans can actively follow their favorite players and teams, get into the latest stories and stay on top of breaking news around the league. It’s a one-stop shop for baseball fans of all avidities, from the most casual to the most avid. The content here is continually tailored to a fan’s explicit and implicit preferences, and actively curated 24/7.
Gameday
In addition to faster performance, and a modernized visual design, fans will also enjoy easier access to real-time video highlights and even more stats presented in context to round out the refreshed experience. Fans will be able to see Win Probability data for every Key Moment of a game to follow the highs and lows of any game.
MLB Stories
Game Stories, the popular video-forward, mobile-first storytelling format is expanding to include richer pregame info, including: where to watch, starting lineups, pitcher matchups, Beat the Streak recommendations and more. Brand-new Player Stories, featuring highlights for all position players (pitchers coming soon) will also make its debut.
Watch
A completely rebuilt experience optimized to serve up the highest-quality live streaming games in MLB.TV, as well as programs, video on demand, personalized recommendations and exclusive subscriber content. For the first time ever, a custom-tailored playlist of live streaming Minor League games affiliated with an MLB.TV subscriber’s favorite Major League team.
Live Activities
New iOS technology available to those with iOS 16+ devices enables fans to track their favorite team’s game right on their lock screen. So even if fans can’t watch or listen, they can still stay up-to-the-minute with their favorite team, hands-free.
Onboarding
For new users of the app, MLB has transformed the onboarding process into a succinct, frictionless flow that allows fans to opt to easily select a favorite team, follow players, pick their notification preferences and begin exploring.
BrowseThe long-scroll “More” menu has been reimagined as a visual, curated experience, making it easy to discover timely content -- such as a spotlight on the MLB Draft, T-Mobile Home Run Derby or All-Star Game presented by Mastercard -- and dive deeper into topics from Podcasts, Prospects and Data Visualizations to activities like buying Tickets and exploring the merch available in Shop and Auctions.
Major League Baseball is a leader in mobile app technology, ever since “MLB At Bat” launched in 2008 as one of the first 500 apps on the Apple App Store. MLB continues to deliver bleeding-edge experiences -- from breakthrough live streaming to personalized apps -- giving fans what they want, when they want it with high-quality video, lightning-fast live stats, engaging visualizations, exclusive content and mobile-first experiences.