Fox Major League Baseball
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''MLB on Fox'' (also known as ''Fox MLB'') is an American presentation of
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
(MLB) games produced by
Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the Fo ...
, the sports division of the
Fox Broadcasting Company The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations an ...
(Fox), since June 1, 1996. The broadcaster has aired the
World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...
in 1996, 1998, and every edition since 2000, and the
All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or div ...
in 1997, 1999, and every year since 2001. It has also aired the
National League Championship Series The National League Championship Series (NLCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. It is contested by the winners of the two National ...
(NLCS) and
American League Championship Series The American League Championship Series (ALCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. It is contested by the two winners of the American ...
(ALCS) in alternate years from 1996 to 2000 and since 2007, with the NLCS in even years and the ALCS in odd years, with the network aired both series from 2001 to 2006. In November 2018, Fox Sports signed a television rights extension with MLB, allowing it to continue to carry MLB telecasts through the 2028 season with national broadcasts on Fox. In 2022, Fox Sports renewed its television rights for regular season games for both the main
Fox broadcast network The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations an ...
or
FS1 Fox Sports 1 (FS1) is an American pay television television channel, channel owned by the Fox Sports (United States), Fox Sports Media Group, a unit of Fox Corporation. FS1 replaced the motorsports network Speed (TV network), Speed on August 1 ...
. For the first time since 2013, Fox will air at least two or three games each Saturday as Fox’s new contract will ensure more games air on the Fox network. Fox will continue to broadcast the MLB All-Star Game and
Field of Dreams Game MLB at Field of Dreams is a recurring Major League Baseball (MLB) regular-season game played in a ballpark adjacent to Field of Dreams in Dyersville, Iowa, a site popularized by the 1989 baseball film ''Field of Dreams''. The first edition of the ...
.


Business history


1996–2000

On November 7, 1995,
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
reached a television deal with
Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...
and
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
, allowing the former to obtain MLB game rights (assuming
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
's end of the contract). Fox paid $575 million for the five-year contract, a fraction less of the amount of money that
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
had paid for the Major League Baseball television rights for the
1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...
1993 seasons. Unlike the previous television deal, "
The Baseball Network The Baseball Network was an American short-lived broadcasting, television broadcasting joint venture between American Broadcasting Company, ABC, NBC and Major League Baseball (MLB). Under the arrangement, beginning in the 1994 Major League Bas ...
" (a partnership created through the league's joint contract with
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
and
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
that began in the 1994 season), Fox reverted to the format of televising regular season games (approximately 16 weekly telecasts that normally began on
Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...
weekend) on Saturday afternoons. Fox did, however, continue a format that ''The Baseball Network'' started by offering a selection of games based purely on a viewer's region. Fox's approach has usually been to offer three regionalized telecasts. The initial deal also gave Fox the rights to broadcast the
1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...
,
1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...
and
2000 World Series The 2000 World Series was the World Series, championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2000 Major League Baseball season, 2000 season. The 96th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between crosstown opponents, th ...
, the
1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...
and 1999 All-Star Games, as well as coverage of the
League Championship Series The League Championship Series (LCS) is the semifinal round of postseason play in Major League Baseball which has been conducted since 1969. In 1981, and since 1995, the two annual series have matched up the winners of the Division Series, and ...
(shared with NBC) and five
Division Series The Division Series is the quarterfinal round of the Major League Baseball playoffs. Four series are played in this round, two each for both the American League and the National League. 1981 season The first use of the term "Division Series" date ...
games each year. When Fox first began carrying baseball, it used the
motto A motto (derived from the Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of an individual, family, social group, or organisation. Mot ...
''"Same game, new attitude."'' to promote the telecasts, which had previously been used to promote the network's
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
coverage when it began in 1994. Fox's primary goal when it first began airing Major League Baseball games was to promote their weak
prime time Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...
schedule (which at the time included only a handful of hits, such as established series ''
Beverly Hills 90210 ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (often referred to by its short title, ''90210'') is an American teen drama television series created by Darren Star and produced by Aaron Spelling under his production company Spelling Television. The series ran fo ...
'', ''
The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...
'' and '' Married... with Children''). Fox Sports president Ed Goren said, "We'll use the
World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...
and League Championship Series to spur our shows".


Exclusivity: 2001–2006

In September 2000, Major League Baseball reached a six-year, $2.5 billion contract with Fox that allowed it to retain rights to Saturday baseball games, and included rights to the
All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or div ...
, select
Division Series The Division Series is the quarterfinal round of the Major League Baseball playoffs. Four series are played in this round, two each for both the American League and the National League. 1981 season The first use of the term "Division Series" date ...
games and exclusive coverage of the League Championship Series and World Series. 90% of the contract's value to Fox, which paid Major League Baseball $417 million per year under the deal, came from the postseason, which not only attracted large audiences, but also provided an opportunity for the network to showcase its fall schedule. The contract protected Major League Baseball in the event of a
labor dispute A labor dispute is a disagreement between an employer and employees regarding the terms of employment. This could include disputes regarding conditions of employment, fringe benefits, hours of work, tenure, and wages to be negotiated during ...
(something that did not occur with "The Baseball Network" in 1994). If some of the games were cancelled as a result of a strike or
lockout Lockout may refer to: * Lockout (industry), a type of work stoppage **Dublin Lockout, a major industrial dispute between approximately 20,000 workers and 300 employers 1913 - 1914 * Lockout (sports), lockout in sports leagues **MLB lockout, lock ...
, Major League Baseball would still be paid by the network, but had to compensate Fox with additional telecasts. On the other hand, a repeat of the 1994 league strike would have cost Fox well over $1 billion; the television contract created an incentive not to cause a strike, as it would hurt broadcast networks since they paid for the deal, unlike the 1994–95 television package. Under the previous five-year contract, Fox paid $575 million (totaling $115 million per year) for the Major League Baseball rights, while NBC only paid $400 million ($80 million annually). The difference between the Fox and the NBC contracts was that the deal implicitly valued Fox's Saturday "Game of the Week" telecasts at less than $90 million for five years. Before NBC officially decided to part ways with Major League Baseball (for the second time in about 12 years) on September 26, 2000, Fox would have had to pay $345 million for the contract, while NBC would have paid $240 million. With the exception of the three-year absence from 1990 to 1993, NBC had carried Major League Baseball broadcasts since 1947.
NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division of the broadcast network NBC, owned and operated by NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal and subsidiary of Comcast. The division is responsible for sports broadcasts on the network, and its d ...
president Ken Schanzer stated regarding its decision not to renew its contract, "We have notified Major League Baseball that we have passed on their offer and we wish them well going forward." Under the new deal, Fox would now pay an average of $417 million a year, an approximately 45% increase from the previous deal (which was worth $290 million per year) that Fox, NBC and
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
contributed together.
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
and ABC reportedly were not interested in buying the rights at the prices being offered by Major League Baseball. When asked about the new deal with Fox,
Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...
Bud Selig Allan Huber "Bud" Selig (; born July 30, 1934) is an American baseball executive who currently serves as the Commissioner Emeritus of Baseball. Previously, he served as the ninth Commissioner of Baseball from 1998 to 2015. He initially served as ...
said, "We at Major League Baseball could not be happier with the result. They have been a good partner and an innovative producer of our games." Neal Pilson, who served as the president of
CBS Sports CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television network CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on W 5 ...
when the network had the exclusive television rights for Major League Baseball said of Fox's $2.5 billion deal: Some observers believed that gaining the relative ratings boost from the League Championship Series and World Series meant more to Fox than the other broadcast networks. This was because Fox had suffered the biggest prime time ratings decline among the four major networks during the 1999–2000 television season, with an average prime time audience of 8.97 million viewers, down 17% from the year before, according to
Nielsen Media Research Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...
.


2007–2013

On July 11, 2006, Major League Baseball announced that the Fox network had signed a new seven-year contract, which guaranteed that Fox would remain the broadcaster of the World Series through the 2013 season. Fox had widely been expected to renew the deal, but it was unclear what the network would be willing to air beyond the All-Star Game and World Series. The package was officially announced on October 17, 2006. Under the terms of the arrangement, Fox retained its rights to the network's regular-season package, which would now begin in April, and would remain the exclusive home of the All-Star Game and World Series. Fox's postseason coverage beyond the World Series is limited to one League Championship Series per year (the
American League Championship Series The American League Championship Series (ALCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. It is contested by the two winners of the American ...
in odd numbered years and
National League Championship Series The National League Championship Series (NLCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. It is contested by the winners of the two National ...
in even numbered years), which alternates every year with TBS (which took over exclusive rights to the
Division Series The Division Series is the quarterfinal round of the Major League Baseball playoffs. Four series are played in this round, two each for both the American League and the National League. 1981 season The first use of the term "Division Series" date ...
from ESPN) airing the other LCS. One of the terms of the deal was that, beginning with the 2007 season, the Saturday "Game of the Week" coverage was extended over the entire season rather than starting after Memorial Day, with most games being aired in the 3:30 to 7:00 p.m. (
Eastern Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small port ...
) time slot, which was reduced to 4:00 to 7:00 after Fox cancelled its in-studio pre-game program for the 2009 season. Exceptions were added in 2010 with a 3:00 to 7:00 afternoon window being used on Saturdays when Fox was scheduled to broadcast a
NASCAR Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971, ...
race in prime time (which would start at 7:30) and a 7:00 to 10:00 window, when Fox is scheduled to broadcast the
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
soccer final (which would start at 3:00). For 2012, Fox revised its schedule; while the 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time start time remained intact, weekly games on certain Saturdays when the network was to air NASCAR races held at
Texas Motor Speedway Texas Motor Speedway is a speedway located in the northernmost portion of the U.S. city of Fort Worth, Texas – the portion located in Denton County, Texas. The reconfigured track measures with banked 20° in turns 1 and 2 and banked 24° ...
,
Richmond International Raceway Richmond Raceway (RR) is a , ''D''-shaped, asphalt race track located just outside Richmond, Virginia in unincorporated Henrico County. It hosts the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Known as ...
and
Darlington Raceway Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located in Darlington, South Carolina. It is nicknamed "The Lady in Black" and "The Track Too Tough to Tame" by many NASCAR fans and drivers and advertised as "A NASCAR Tradition." It is ...
start at 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time. Starting with the date of the
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
Final until the Saturday before the All-Star Break, all "Game of the Week" telecasts would start at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The ''Baseball Night in America'' moniker was used for all ''MLB on Fox'' games in that span.


2014–present

On September 19, 2012, ''
Sports Business Daily American City Business Journals, Inc. (ACBJ) is an American newspaper publisher based in Charlotte, North Carolina. ACBJ publishes The Business Journals, which contains local business news for 44 markets in the United States, Hemmings Motor News ...
'' reported that Major League Baseball would agree to separate eight-year television deals with Fox Sports and
Turner Sports Warner Bros. Discovery Sports (WBD Sports) is the division of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) that is responsible for sports broadcasting, sports broadcasts on its parent company's various channels in the United States, including TBS (American TV ch ...
through the 2021 season. Fox would reportedly pay around $4 billion over eight years (close to $500 million per year), while Turner would pay around $2.8 billion over eight years (more than $300 million per year). Under the new deals, Fox and TBS' coverage would essentially be the same as in the 2007–2013 contract with the exception of Fox and TBS splitting coverage of the Division Series, which TBS has broadcast exclusively dating back to 2007. More importantly, Fox would carry some of the games (such as the Saturday afternoon ''Game of the Week'') on its new general sports channel,
Fox Sports 1 Fox Sports 1 (FS1) is an American pay television channel owned by the Fox Sports Media Group, a unit of Fox Corporation. FS1 replaced the motorsports network Speed on August 17, 2013, at the same time that its companion channel Fox Sports 2 ...
, which launched on August 17, 2013. Sources also said it was possible that Fox would sell some League Division Series games to
MLB Network The MLB Network is an American television sports channel dedicated to baseball. It is primarily owned by Major League Baseball, with Warner Bros. Discovery through its sports unit, Comcast's NBC Sports Group, Charter Communications, and Cox Com ...
. On October 2, 2012, the new deal between Major League Baseball and Fox was officially confirmed; it included the television rights to 12 Saturday afternoon games on Fox (reduced from 26), 40 games on Fox Sports 1, rights to the
All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or div ...
, two League Division Series (two games were sold to MLB Network, the rest would air on Fox Sports 1), one League Championship Series (in which Fox Sports and Turner Sports would each respectively alternate coverage of
American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...
and
National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...
postseason games each year on an odd-even basis, with Games 1 and, if necessary, 6 in 2014 airing on Fox), and the
World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...
(which would remain on Fox). In addition, all ''Fox Saturday Baseball'' games would be made available on
MLB Extra Innings MLB Extra Innings is an out-of-market sports package distributed in North America by satellite provider DirecTV since 1996 and by most cable providers since 2001. The package allowed its subscribers to see up to 80 out-of-market Major League Bas ...
and
MLB.TV MLB.com is the official site of Major League Baseball and is overseen by Major League Baseball Advanced Media, L.P. (a subsidiary of MLB). MLB.com is a source of baseball-related information, including baseball news, statistics, and sports column ...
(subject to local blackout restrictions), Fox Sports was awarded
TV Everywhere TV Everywhere (also known as authenticated streaming or authenticated video on-demand) refers to a type of subscription business model wherein access to streaming video content from a television channel requires users to "authenticate" themselv ...
rights for streaming of game telecasts on computers, mobile and tablet devices, rights to a nightly baseball highlights show, Spanish language rights to all games carried on Fox and Fox Cable (
Fox Deportes Fox Deportes (formerly Fox Sports en Español and stylized in all caps as FOX Deportes) is an American pay television network dedicated to broadcasting sports-related programming in Spanish, aimed at the Hispanic population in the United States. ...
) and rights to a weekly show produced by
MLB Productions Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
. On November 15, 2018, Fox renewed its rights through 2028, maintaining its existing structure but with expanded digital rights, and a promise to begin airing more games on the Fox broadcast network. This will begin with at least two of the first four League Championship Series games and all seventh games in its league from 2020 to 2028, with expanded baseball on Saturday nights, and two Division Series games (previously on
MLB Network The MLB Network is an American television sports channel dedicated to baseball. It is primarily owned by Major League Baseball, with Warner Bros. Discovery through its sports unit, Comcast's NBC Sports Group, Charter Communications, and Cox Com ...
) on the broadcast network in 2022.


Scheduling history

Fox has used numerous scheduling formulas for its Saturday regular season coverage. These have often changed based on the rights granted by new television contracts, and the pregame programs that the network has chosen to air. From 1996 to 2006, Fox began its weekly game telecasts on the Saturday of
Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...
weekend or the weekend before. The selection of games varied on a regional basis, and the start times were staggered based on region. A half-hour pregame show aired at 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time, followed by game broadcasts held at 1 p.m. in the Eastern and
Central Time Zone The North American Central Time Zone (CT) is a time zone in parts of Canada, the United States, Mexico, Central America, some Caribbean Islands, and part of the Eastern Pacific Ocean. Central Standard Time (CST) is six hours behind Coordinate ...
s. West Coast games did not air until 4 p.m. Eastern Time (1 p.m. in the
Pacific Time Zone The Pacific Time Zone (PT) is a time zone encompassing parts of western Canada, the western United States, and western Mexico. Places in this zone observe standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time ( UTC−08:00) ...
). All of these games were exclusive to the broadcast network, and as a result, Fox's exclusivity window lasted through the entire afternoon. In 2007, Fox began airing games every Saturday during the season. A new scheduling format was devised, in which all of the regional games started simultaneously. Fox moved the pregame, which became part of the exclusive game window, to 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time. All of the Fox games would then start at 3:55 p.m. Eastern Time, regardless of region. This format gave more leeway for teams not being shown on Fox to schedule daytime games. Fox's exclusivity began at the start of the pregame at 3:30 and ran until 7 p.m. Eastern. Fox discontinued its pregame show in 2009, with the telecasts now beginning at 4 p.m. Eastern and the game time being pushed to 4:10. Fox gave up the first half-hour of its exclusivity, with its window now beginning at 4 p.m. Eastern Time. This scheduling formula was used through 2011 for the regular season. Beginning in 2010, several of the Saturday games aired in prime time during the spring. These telecasts used an exclusivity window from 7 to 10:30 p.m. Eastern Time, as the network revived a pregame show for these games, airing at 7 p.m. with the game at 7:15. In 2012, the pregame show returned full-time, prompting another change in scheduling. The normal scheduling in 2012 and 2013 was for the pregame airing at either 12:30 or 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time. The pregame is not a part of Fox's exclusive window, which began with the game telecast starting a half-hour later. The scheduling did not change for the spring prime time games, however, as the scheduling for these games remained the same as in 2010 and 2011. For the 2014 season, sister cable channel
Fox Sports 1 Fox Sports 1 (FS1) is an American pay television channel owned by the Fox Sports Media Group, a unit of Fox Corporation. FS1 replaced the motorsports network Speed on August 17, 2013, at the same time that its companion channel Fox Sports 2 ...
(FS1) began providing MLB game coverage, carrying a doubleheader most weeks. FS1's coverage begins with the pregame show a half-hour before the game, which usually starts at 1 or 4 p.m. Eastern Time. A second game usually followed at either 7 or 8 p.m. Eastern Time. If there was a gap between the first and second game, a studio show was aired in between. All of these telecasts aired nationally instead of on a regional basis, but were not exclusive. Prime time games continued to air on Fox, and once again used the 2010 scheduling formula for these telecasts, including full national exclusivity. In 2019, the network aired two weeks of games on Thursday nights instead of Saturday to avoid conflicts with
Fox College Football ''Fox College Football'' (or ''Fox CFB'' for short) is the branding used for broadcasts of NCAA Division I FBS college football games produced by Fox Sports, and broadcast primarily by Fox, FS1, and FS2. Initial college football broadcasts on th ...
broadcasts. In 2022 the number of Fox network games expanded to 18 broadcast windows as part of the network's contract renewal, with prime time games, branded as ''Baseball Night in America'' airing every week beginning with the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. Most weeks feature two Saturday evening games in regional coverage, although some weeks have a third regional game. As in 2019, some September broadcasts were moved to Thursday to avoid college football conflicts. FS1 continues to broadcast non-exclusive Saturday afternoon games, with a second Saturday evening game broadcast during the early weeks of the season before the broadcast network's Saturday prime time games begin. FS1 also carries some irregularly scheduled weeknight games.
Fox Deportes Fox Deportes (formerly Fox Sports en Español and stylized in all caps as FOX Deportes) is an American pay television network dedicated to broadcasting sports-related programming in Spanish, aimed at the Hispanic population in the United States. ...
carries Spanish-language simulcasts of many Fox and FS1 games.


Postseason coverage

Since the network acquired the rights to postseason baseball coverage, Fox has received criticism from non-baseball fans for not airing first-run original programming during October. For the majority of the time that Fox has aired baseball, the network started the fall season for ''
The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...
'' and other shows in November and the fall runs of a few other series beginning in August or September, before being put on hiatus until after the World Series. In 2005, Fox started its fall programming season in September, put its series in hiatus in October for the Major League Baseball playoffs, and resumed non-baseball programming in November. Both approaches have drawn criticism, indicating that there may not be a perfect way for the network to accommodate both sports and regular entertainment programming. For the first year of its exclusive six-year contract (2001), Fox did a split telecast (which had not been attempted since the ill-fated " Baseball Network" arrangement existed) for the League Championship Series. This meant that two games were played simultaneously on the same night, with one game airing on the Fox network and the other on the regional
Fox Sports Net Fox Sports Networks (FSN), formerly known as Fox Sports Net, was the collective name for a group of regional sports channels in the United States. Formed in 1996 by News Corporation, the networks were acquired by The Walt Disney Company on Mar ...
cable channel (depending on market, as some markets did not have a
regional sports network In the United States and Canada, a regional sports network (RSN) is a cable television channel (many of which are also distributed on direct broadcast satellite services) that presents sports programming to a local market or geographical region. ...
with a relationship to FSN). The rationale behind the split-telecast was that because of the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...
, the entire post-season schedule was delayed by a week. Because of this, two Sunday LCS games came in conflict with a ''
Fox NFL The ''NFL on Fox'' (also known as ''Fox NFL'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games produced by Fox Sports and televised on the Fox broadcast network. Game coverage is usually preceded by ''Fox NFL Kickoff ...
'' doubleheader. Fans and sports journalists were unimpressed with the situation and MLB commissioner Bud Selig vowed that it was a one-time deal necessitated by circumstance. However, in later years, Fox used split telecasts on a few occasions to keep the playoffs "on schedule" and maximize its prime time advertising revenue, and aired the second game on FX, which has virtually nationwide distribution on cable and satellite. This ensured that Fox did not have to air an LCS game on a weekday afternoon, when many viewers are unable to watch. The 2007–2013 contract eliminated this issue, as TBS had rights to one of the League Championship Series each year. However, Fox continued to air afternoon LCS games on weekdays through the entire length of the contract. With
Fox Sports 1 Fox Sports 1 (FS1) is an American pay television channel owned by the Fox Sports Media Group, a unit of Fox Corporation. FS1 replaced the motorsports network Speed on August 17, 2013, at the same time that its companion channel Fox Sports 2 ...
taking over most of the Major League Baseball coverage in 2014, postseason coverage on Fox Sports' end of the package began to be split between the Fox broadcast network and Fox Sports 1. The deal, which brought back Division Series baseball to Fox for the first time since 2006, put Fox's Division Series games exclusively on Fox Sports 1. In 2018, all games from both
National League Division Series In Major League Baseball, the National League Division Series (NLDS) determines which two teams from the National League will advance to the National League Championship Series. The Division Series consists of two best-of-five series, featuring e ...
matchups aired on Fox Sports 1, except one game from each series airing on
MLB Network The MLB Network is an American television sports channel dedicated to baseball. It is primarily owned by Major League Baseball, with Warner Bros. Discovery through its sports unit, Comcast's NBC Sports Group, Charter Communications, and Cox Com ...
(Game 1 of
Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...
-
Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...
and Game 3 of Brewers-
Rockies The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Can ...
in 2018). This will be the case for the ALDS in 2019, as Fox and TBS alternate leagues during the postseason each year (Fox airs NL postseason games and TBS airs AL postseason games on even years, while the reverse happens on odd years). Fox Sports then carried exclusive coverage of the League Championship Series – where most of the series is aired on Fox Sports 1, with some games being aired on FOX depending on scheduling. In the 2014 NLCS, the 2015 ALCS, and the 2019 ALCS, Game 1 was on Fox and the rest were on FS1. In 2016, the NLCS was aired entirely on FS1. In the
2017 ALCS The 2017 American League Championship Series was a best-of-seven playoff pitting the Houston Astros against the New York Yankees for the American League pennant and the right to face the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2017 World Series. The Astros d ...
and the
2018 NLCS The 2018 National League Championship Series was a best-of-seven playoff pitting the Milwaukee Brewers against the Los Angeles Dodgers, for the National League (NL) pennant and the right to play in the 2018 World Series against the AL Champions ...
, Game 2 was on Fox and the rest were on FS1. As part of their contract renewal before the 2019 season, Fox has agreed to air any League Championship Series Game 7 that Fox sports has rights to (not including the game 7 on TBS) on the broadcast network. Fox airs the World Series in its entirety, as has been the case every year since
2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
. For the 2020 NLCS however, Fox aired Games 1, 4 and 7 while FS1 aired every game except Game 1. FS1 however, helped
simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultane ...
Games 4 and 7. (Game 4 was scheduled to just air on FS1 but the postponement of a previously scheduled Thursday Night Football game that was supposed to air on Fox allowed both Fox and FS1 to air the game.) For the 2021 ALCS, Fox aired Games 1 and 2 while FS1 aired Games 2-6 (Game 2 was simulcast on Fox). From 2022 on, Fox will air more postseason games as part of the renewal made in 2018. The AL (odd-year) and NL (even-year) Division Series, which had been split with FS1 and MLB Network since 2014, will now air exclusively on either Fox or FS1.


Special coverage

Since its baseball coverage began in 1996, the Fox network has aired four regular season games on days other than Saturday. As part of its coverage of Mark McGwire's bid to break
Roger Maris Roger Eugene Maris (September 10, 1934 – December 14, 1985) was an American professional baseball right fielder who played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He is best known for setting a new MLB single-season home run record with 61 ...
's single-season home run record in 1998, Fox aired a Sunday afternoon game between the
Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...
and
St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals hav ...
on September 6 and a Tuesday night game between the Chicago Cubs and the Cardinals on September 8 of that year (McGwire hit his record-breaking 62nd home run of the season in the latter game, which earned a 14.5 rating share for Fox, and remains the network's highest-rated regular season Major League Baseball telecast to this day). On April 16, 2004, the network aired a Friday night game between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox to cover those teams' first head-to-head meeting since the memorable
2003 ALCS The 2003 American League Championship Series (ALCS) was played between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees from October 8 to 16, 2003. The Yankees won the series four games to three to advance to the World Series, where they lost in six ...
. On August 12, 2016, Fox aired a Friday night game between the
Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. Since its inception ...
and
New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...
, as it was the final game for long-time Yankees player
Alex Rodriguez Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez (born July 27, 1975), nicknamed "A-Rod", is an American former professional baseball shortstop and third baseman, businessman and philanthropist. Rodriguez played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the ...
. For a Saturday afternoon telecast of a
Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...
/
Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...
game at
Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago Wh ...
on August 26, 2000, Fox aired a special "Turn Back the Clock" broadcast to commemorate the 61st anniversary of the first televised baseball game. The broadcast started with a recreation of the television technology of 1939, with play-by-play announcer Joe Buck working alone with a single microphone, a single black-and-white camera, and no graphics; each subsequent half-inning would then see the broadcast "jump ahead in time" to a later era, showing the evolving technologies and presentation of network baseball coverage through the years. In the 2020 season, Fox aired Thursday night games through mid and late summer for six weeks and only aired Saturday games for seven weeks from mid-summer to early-fall (due to the delayed start of the season).


Other MLB related programming

Saturday baseball games broadcast on Fox have regularly been preceded by a youth-targeted baseball-oriented program: Fox aired ''In the Zone'' from the inaugural season of MLB rights in 1996 until 1999, and ''
This Week in Baseball ''This Week in Baseball'' (abbreviated as ''TWiB'', pronounced phonetically) is an American television series which focused on Major League Baseball highlights. Broadcast weekly during baseball season (and in its second incarnation, prior to marq ...
'' from 2000 to 2011 (the latter program had previously aired in
syndication Syndication may refer to: * Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system * Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips * Web syndication, ...
from 1977 to 1998). From 2012 to 2013, Fox aired ''MLB Player Poll'', a show in which players and fans talk about current MLB-related topics and participate in
opinion polls An opinion poll, often simply referred to as a survey or a poll (although strictly a poll is an actual election) is a human research survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions ...
about the sport/players of baseball; it was hosted by
Greg Amsinger Greg Amsinger is an American sportscaster and currently a studio host for MLB Network. Personal life Amsinger was born on May 24, 1979, in St. Louis, Missouri. He has five brothers and one sister. Amsinger and his wife have two children and the ...
.


Commentators and studio personalities


In-game commentators

As of 2022, Fox's lead
play-by-play In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...
commentator is
Joe Davis Joseph Davis (15 April 190110 July 1978) was an English professional snooker and English billiards player. He was the dominant figure in snooker from the 1920s to the 1950s, and has been credited with inventing aspects of the way the game i ...
, a role that was previously held by
Joe Buck Joseph Francis Buck (born April 25, 1969) is an American sportscaster. The son of sportscaster Jack Buck, he worked for Fox Sports from its 1994 inception through 2022, including roles as lead play-by-play announcer for the network's Nation ...
since Fox inaugurated its Major League Baseball coverage in 1996.
John Smoltz John Andrew Smoltz (born May 15, 1967), nicknamed "Smoltzie" and "Marmaduke", is an American former baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1988 to 2009, all but the last year with the Atlanta Braves. An eight-time A ...
serves as
color analyst A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and the ...
; with
Ken Rosenthal Ken Rosenthal (born September 19, 1962) is an American sportswriter and reporter. He serves as a field reporter for ''Fox Major League Baseball'' since 2005, and was an in-studio reporter for MLB Network from 2009 to 2022. Since August 2017, h ...
serving as
field reporter In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...
, with
Tom Verducci Thomas Verducci (born October 23, 1960) is an American sportswriter who writes for ''Sports Illustrated'' and its online magazine SI.com. He writes primarily about baseball. He is also a reporter and commentator for Fox Major League Baseball and ...
working alongside the trio for key moments during the season, including the
MLB All-Star Game The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual professional baseball game sanctioned by Major League Baseball (MLB) and contested between the all-stars from the American League (AL) and National ...
and the
World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...
. From 1996 to 2013, Buck was teamed with
Tim McCarver James Timothy McCarver (born October 16, 1941) is an American former professional baseball player and television sports commentator. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher from to , most prominently as a member of the St. Louis Cardinal ...
, although McCarver was considered the main reason behind the firing of Joe’s father
Jack Jack may refer to: Places * Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community * Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community * Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas, USA People and fictional characters * Jack (given name), a male given name, ...
, from
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
five years earlier (due to poor on-air chemistry between the two) in favor of
Sean McDonough Sean McDonough (born May 13, 1962) is an American sportscaster, currently employed by ESPN and WEEI Red Sox Radio Network. Early life The son of ''Boston Globe'' sportswriter Will McDonough, McDonough graduated from the S. I. Newhouse School ...
. Unlike the team of Jack and McCarver on CBS, Joe Buck and McCarver fused. According to McCarver, "The play-by-play man houldexplain what and where and analyst answer why and how. oe Buckdoes both." During the pre-2001 period,
Bob Brenly Robert Earl Brenly (born February 25, 1954) is an American baseball sportscaster and a former professional baseball player, coach and manager. He played the majority of his Major League Baseball career as a catcher with the San Francisco Gian ...
(who otherwise, typically worked with
Thom Brennaman Thomas Wade Brennaman (born September 12, 1963) is an American television sportscaster. He is the son of former Cincinnati Reds radio sportscaster Marty Brennaman. Broadcasting career After graduating in 1982 from Cincinnati's Anderson High Sch ...
) acted as the third man in the booth with Buck and McCarver during the All-Star Game, League Championship Series and World Series. Buck and McCarver were at the microphone when Brenly led the
Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The f ...
as manager to the
2001 World Series The 2001 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2001 season. The 97th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the National League (NL) champion Arizona Diamondbacks and the three-t ...
title. Since Joe Buck was hired to work on the ''
NFL on Fox The ''NFL on Fox'' (also known as ''Fox NFL'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games produced by Fox Sports and televised on the Fox broadcast network. Game coverage is usually preceded by ''Fox NFL Kickoff ...
'', following the retirement of lead play-by-play voice
Pat Summerall George Allen "Pat" Summerall (May 10, 1930 – April 16, 2013) was an American football player and television sportscaster who worked for CBS, Fox, and ESPN. In addition to football, he announced major golf and tennis events. Summerall announ ...
in
2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...
,
Dick Stockton Richard Edward Stokvis (born November 22, 1942), known professionally as Dick Stockton, is an American retired sportscaster. Stockton began his career in Philadelphia, then moved to Pittsburgh, where he worked as the sports director for KDKA-TV ...
,
Kenny Albert Kenneth Gary Albert (born February 2, 1968) is an American sportscaster, the son of NBA sportscaster Marv Albert and nephew of sportscasters Al Albert and Steve Albert. He is the only sportscaster who currently does play-by-play for all four ma ...
,
Matt Vasgersian Matt Vasgersian ( '; born 1967) is an American sportscaster and television host. Vasgersian is a play-by-play announcer for the Los Angeles Angels, as well as a studio host for MLB Network and Major League Baseball on Fox, FOX Sports. In the pa ...
, Thom Brennaman,
Josh Lewin Josh Lewin is an American sportscaster who works as a play-by-play announcer for the UCLA Bruins football and basketball teams. Early life and career Lewin is originally from Rochester, New York, but lived outside of Boston for several years ...
, and others have filled in for Joe Buck whenever he was unable to work a game. Buck had called a limited selection of regular-season games each year (typically featuring big-market teams such as the
Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...
,
Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...
,
Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...
, and/or Cubs), as well as the
All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or div ...
, one of the
League Championship Series The League Championship Series (LCS) is the semifinal round of postseason play in Major League Baseball which has been conducted since 1969. In 1981, and since 1995, the two annual series have matched up the winners of the Division Series, and ...
, and the
World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...
. From 2016 to 2021, he has been paired with color analyst
John Smoltz John Andrew Smoltz (born May 15, 1967), nicknamed "Smoltzie" and "Marmaduke", is an American former baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1988 to 2009, all but the last year with the Atlanta Braves. An eight-time A ...
and field reporter
Ken Rosenthal Ken Rosenthal (born September 19, 1962) is an American sportswriter and reporter. He serves as a field reporter for ''Fox Major League Baseball'' since 2005, and was an in-studio reporter for MLB Network from 2009 to 2022. Since August 2017, h ...
. Besides working with Tim McCarver for 18 seasons (1996–2013), Buck also worked with former MLB player and current
MLB Network The MLB Network is an American television sports channel dedicated to baseball. It is primarily owned by Major League Baseball, with Warner Bros. Discovery through its sports unit, Comcast's NBC Sports Group, Charter Communications, and Cox Com ...
/Fox Sports analyst
Harold Reynolds Harold Craig Reynolds (born November 26, 1960) is an American former professional baseball player and current television sports commentator. He played in Major League Baseball as a second baseman from to , most prominently as a member of the Se ...
and baseball writer/insider Tom Verducci for two seasons (2014–2015). About a month or two after the 2015 World Series, Reynolds and Verducci were demoted to the #2 team and John Smoltz moved up from the #2 team (with Matt Vasgersian) in order to take Reynolds and Verducci's places. During the mid-2000s, Fox utilized active or former players and managers as "guest analysts" on the network's League Championship Series telecasts. These included
Bret Boone Bret Robert Boone (born April 6, 1969) is a former Major League Baseball second baseman. During his career Boone was a three-time All-Star, four-time Gold Glove winner, and two-time Silver Slugger Award winner. He is a third generation professio ...
(
2003 ALCS The 2003 American League Championship Series (ALCS) was played between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees from October 8 to 16, 2003. The Yankees won the series four games to three to advance to the World Series, where they lost in six ...
),
Al Leiter Alois Terry Leiter (; born October 23, 1965) is an American former professional baseball player and current television sports commentator. He played in Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher from to for the New York Yankees, Toronto Blu ...
( 2003 NLCS and 2004 ALCS), Brenly (
2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...
and 2005 NLCS),
Lou Piniella Louis Victor Piniella ( usually ; born August 28, 1943) is a former professional baseball player and manager. An outfielder, he played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Royals and ...
(
2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...
and
2006 ALCS The 2006 American League Championship Series (ALCS), the second round of the 2006 American League playoffs, began on October 10 and ended on October 14. The wild card Detroit Tigers swept the West Division champion Oakland Athletics 4 games ...
), and Luis Gonzalez (
2006 NLCS The 2006 National League Championship Series (NLCS), the second round of the 2006 National League playoffs, began on October 12 and ended on October 19; it was scheduled to begin on October 11, but was postponed a day because of inclement weather ...
). Many fans accuse Fox of choosing announcers biased towards large market teams, citing some of these choices, including Boone, whose brother,
Aaron Boone Aaron John Boone (born March 9, 1973) is an American baseball manager and former infielder who is the manager of the New York Yankees in Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in MLB for 13 seasons from 1997 through 2009. As a player, ...
, was playing for the
Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...
in the 2003 ALCS games covered by Bret Boone. The network's #2 broadcast team was initially led by Thom Brennaman. He was joined by several analysts: first by Bob Brenly from 1996 to 2000. In 2001, Steve Lyons replaced Brenly, and was fired by Fox during the 2006 ALCS for racially insensitive comments toward guest analyst
Lou Piniella Louis Victor Piniella ( usually ; born August 28, 1943) is a former professional baseball player and manager. An outfielder, he played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Royals and ...
. Lyons was replaced by
Joe Girardi Joseph Elliott Girardi (born October 14, 1964) is an American former professional baseball player and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). Girardi played the catcher position for the Chicago Cubs, Colorado Rockies, New York Yankees, and St. ...
, who left after one season to manage the Yankees. Former ESPN analyst
Eric Karros Eric Peter Karros (born November 4, 1967) is an American former professional baseball first baseman. Karros played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1991 to 2004 for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, and Oakland Athletics. He was the Nati ...
replaced Girardi in 2008. In 2014, the #2 role began to be split between Brenneman/Karros and the team of
Matt Vasgersian Matt Vasgersian ( '; born 1967) is an American sportscaster and television host. Vasgersian is a play-by-play announcer for the Los Angeles Angels, as well as a studio host for MLB Network and Major League Baseball on Fox, FOX Sports. In the pa ...
, moving from the studio, and
John Smoltz John Andrew Smoltz (born May 15, 1967), nicknamed "Smoltzie" and "Marmaduke", is an American former baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1988 to 2009, all but the last year with the Atlanta Braves. An eight-time A ...
, moving from
Turner Sports Warner Bros. Discovery Sports (WBD Sports) is the division of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) that is responsible for sports broadcasting, sports broadcasts on its parent company's various channels in the United States, including TBS (American TV ch ...
. The #2 broadcast team covered various postseason games from 1996 to 2006. For the 2001 season only, Fox had rights to the entire postseason and used its top four teams to cover the Division Series. Like the #1 team, the #2 team was joined by guest analysts during the League Championship Series from 2003 to 2006. Fox was not contracted to cover simultaneous postseason series from 2007 to 2013, so only the #1 team worked during the postseason. With concurrent series returning to Fox starting in 2014, Vasgersian and Smoltz were called upon to work the postseason, with Brenneman working on the #1 team for games Joe Buck was unable to cover. From the 2015 ALDS until the 2021 ALDS, Fox used its #2 and #3 announcers while using only Joe Buck for the League Championship Series and World Series. The role has rotated between Joe Davis, Kenny Albert,
Adam Amin Adam Amin (born December 19, 1986) is an American sportscaster. Amin joined Fox Sports in June 2020 as a play-by-play announcer for MLB and NFL games after previously working for ESPN from 2011-2020. He is also the television play-by-play annou ...
, and (formerly) Matt Vasgersian. John Smoltz would join the #2 team while
A. J. Pierzynski Anthony John Pierzynski (; born December 30, 1976) is an American former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Minnesota Twins (1998–2003), San Francisco Giants (2004), Chicago White Sox (2005–2012) ...
and a guest analyst would form the #3 team. With the departure of Buck in 2022, Davis and Smoltz became the lead team for the Division Series and later rounds, while Amin and Pierzynski comprise the #2 team. Since 2012,
MLB Network The MLB Network is an American television sports channel dedicated to baseball. It is primarily owned by Major League Baseball, with Warner Bros. Discovery through its sports unit, Comcast's NBC Sports Group, Charter Communications, and Cox Com ...
has aired a pair of League Division Series games. The first two years, with MLB Network sharing their series with Turner Sports, the former produced its own LDS coverage with
Bob Costas Robert Quinlan Costas (born March 22, 1952) is an American sportscaster who is known for his long tenure with NBC Sports, from 1980 through 2019. He has received 28 Emmy awards for his work and was the prime-time host of 12 Olympic Games from 19 ...
and
Jim Kaat James Lee Kaat (; born November 7, 1938) is an American former professional baseball player and television sports commentator. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a left-handed pitcher for the Washington Senators / Minnesota Twins (–), ...
. Beginning in 2014, MLB Network took both of its games from Fox's series. Due to the collaboration between Fox and MLB Network, Fox produces the cable network's games, with Vasgersian and Smoltz calling the game which MLB Network took from their series. Meanwhile, Costas would still call MLB Network's game in the other series but he was joined by the rest of Fox's #1 broadcast team for a Fox-produced telecast.


Studio commentators

The original studio host when Fox's MLB coverage began in 1996 was
Chip Caray Harry Christopher "Chip" Caray III (born February 27, 1965) is an American television broadcaster for Bally Sports South and Bally Sports Southeast's coverage of the Atlanta Braves baseball. Chip is also known from his time as a broadcaster for ...
.
Dave Winfield David Mark Winfield (born October 3, 1951) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) right fielder. He is the special assistant to the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association. Over his 22-year career, he playe ...
, and Steve Lyons were the show's original analysts. Unlike the network's primary broadcast teams, the studio personnel have not had the same longevity. Winfield left Fox after only one season, and both Caray and Lyons would move to the broadcast booth before leaving the network. From 1999 to 2000,
Keith Olbermann Keith Theodore Olbermann (; born January 27, 1959) is an American sports and political commentator and writer. Olbermann spent the first 20 years of his career in sports journalism. He was a sports correspondent for CNN and for local TV and r ...
took over the hosting seat from Caray. According to Olbermann, he was fired from Fox in 2001 after reporting on his
MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...
program ''
Countdown A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and eve ...
'' on rumors that
Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...
, owner of Fox parent company
News Corporation News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp.), also variously known as News Corporation Limited, was an American multinational mass media corporation controlled by media mogul Rupert Murdoch and headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in Ne ...
(which became
21st Century Fox Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc., doing business as 21st Century Fox (21CF), was an American multinational mass media corporation that was based in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It was one of the two companies formed on June 28, 2013, f ...
through the July 2013 split of its publishing unit and certain miscellaneous properties into a separate company), was planning on selling the
Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...
. When asked about Olbermann, Murdoch said: "I fired him...He's crazy." News Corporation eventually would sell the Dodgers to
Frank McCourt Francis McCourt (August 19, 1930July 19, 2009) was an Irish-American teacher and writer. He won a Pulitzer Prize for his book ''Angela's Ashes'', a tragicomic memoir of the misery and squalor of his childhood. Early life and education Frank McC ...
in 2004. That year, Olbermann remarked, "Fox Sports was an infant trying to stand n comparison to ESPN but on the broadcast side there was no comparison—ESPN was the bush leagues." After Olbermann's departure following the 2000 season, Fox Sports Net's
Jeanne Zelasko Jeanne Zelasko (born October 26, 1966) is an American journalist and sportscaster who worked for "The Beast" AM980 KFWB and Fox Sports West in Los Angeles County, California. Prior to taking that position Zelasko had a relatively lengthy career w ...
was promoted to host the pregame show. Kevin Kennedy was hired to be the lead analyst. The two would continue to host the pregame from 2001 through the 2008 season. In 2007 and 2008, the two were often joined by one of either Eric Karros, Joe Girardi,
Mark Grace Mark Eugene Grace (born June 28, 1964) is a former Major League Baseball (MLB) first baseman who spent 12 seasons with the Chicago Cubs and three seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks of the National League (NL). He was a member of the 2001 Worl ...
or
Eric Byrnes Eric James Byrnes (born February 16, 1976), is a baseball analyst and former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics, Colorado Rockies, Baltimore Orioles, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Se ...
. As previously mentioned, due to poor ratings and budget concerns (Fox never made money on national advertising sales that are seen on ''
Fox NFL Sunday ''Fox NFL Sunday'' is an American sports television program broadcast on the Fox television network. The show debuted on September 4, 1994, and serves as the pre-game show for the network's National Football League (NFL) game telecasts under the ...
'' as they were instead, sold by the local affiliates), Fox in 2009, decided to scrap the studio/pregame show altogether (in return, Zelasko and Kennedy were also dropped by Fox – Kennedy has since re-appeared on Fox Sports as a fill-in commentator). The show was retained for the postseason; for the LCS in 2009 and 2010,
Chris Rose Christopher Rose (born January 27, 1971) is an American sportscaster for the NFL Network. He is also a commentator for the Discovery Channel series ''BattleBots'' and podcast host for Jomboy Media. Early life and career Rose, who was born and ...
hosted from Fox's studio in Los Angeles with analysts Karros and Grace. For the 2011 NLCS and the 2009, 2010 and 2011 World Series, the show used an on-field studio for the pregame show. Former
Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...
manager
Ozzie Guillén Oswaldo José Guillén Barrios (; born January 20, 1964) is a former professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a shortstop for 16 seasons, primarily with the Chicago White Sox, from 1985 to 2000. During tha ...
was a guest analyst for the series in 2009 and 2010, with White Sox catcher
A. J. Pierzynski Anthony John Pierzynski (; born December 30, 1976) is an American former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Minnesota Twins (1998–2003), San Francisco Giants (2004), Chicago White Sox (2005–2012) ...
joining the crew for the 2011 series. For ''Baseball Night in America'' from 2009 to 2011, the pregame show was also broadcast from the Los Angeles studio with Rose hosting. However, with Karros and Grace calling games,
Kevin Millar Kevin Charles Millar (; born September 24, 1971) is an American former professional baseball first baseman and outfielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) and is a current analyst for MLB Network. He played in MLB for the Florida Marli ...
joined Rose as analyst. This would spark an eventual drive time talk show hosted by the two on MLB Network. Also as previously mentioned, beginning in 2012, Fox and MLB Network collaborated on a revived 30-minute pregame show. MLB Network supplied production services and one of its studios, while using Fox's graphics and many of their personalities. Matt Vasgersian was the primary host, with Harold Reynolds and Kevin Millar serving as primary analysts (other analysts from Fox and MLB Network occasionally appear and/or fill-in as well). In both
2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
and
2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...
, Pierzynski was a member of the panel during the World Series, when the show traveled to the game site and was a complete Fox production. In 2014, Fox ended its pregame production partnership with MLB Network, but continued the pregame show as it moved back to Los Angeles. Vasgersian was replaced as host by
Kevin Burkhardt Kevin Burkhardt (born ) is an American sportscaster. He is currently the lead play-by-play voice for the ''NFL on Fox'' and lead studio host for ''Fox Major League Baseball''. Burkhardt was formerly a reporter with SportsNet New York (SNY) du ...
, who was joined by analysts on a semi-regular basis by C. J. Nitkowski, Frank Thomas and
Gabe Kapler Gabriel Stefan Kapler (born July 31, 1975), nicknamed "Kap", is an American former professional baseball outfielder, and current manager of the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball (MLB). Kapler was a 57th-round draft pick (1,487th ove ...
. Rob Stone was named as the primary substitute host. It was later announced that Vasgersian and Reynolds will move back to the broadcast booth, but they no longer work together. During the 2017 postseason, Fox added
David Ortiz David Américo Ortiz Arias (born November 18, 1975), nicknamed "Big Papi", is a Dominican-American former designated hitter (DH) and first baseman in Major League Baseball who played in the American League (AL) from 1997 to 2016, primarily wit ...
and
Alex Rodriguez Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez (born July 27, 1975), nicknamed "A-Rod", is an American former professional baseball shortstop and third baseman, businessman and philanthropist. Rodriguez played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the ...
to its studio team. Both were eventually promoted to full-time studio analysts, replacing Nitkowski and Kapler. During the 2022 postseason, Matt Vasgersian served as the studio host while Burkhardt was on assignment as the NFL on Fox's lead announcer.


Production overview


Innovations

On July 8, 1997, Fox televised its first ever
All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or div ...
(out of
Jacobs Field {{Infobox stadium , name = Progressive Field , nickname = ''"The Jake"'' , logo_image = Progressive_Field_Logo.svg , logo_caption = , image = , caption = Progressive Fiel ...
in
Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
). For this particular game, Fox introduced "Catcher-Cam" in which a
camera A camera is an Optics, optical instrument that can capture an image. Most cameras can capture 2D images, with some more advanced models being able to capture 3D images. At a basic level, most cameras consist of sealed boxes (the camera body), ...
was affixed to the catchers' masks in order to provide unique perspectives of the action around
home plate A baseball field, also called a ball field or baseball diamond, is the field upon which the game of baseball is played. The term can also be used as a metonym for a baseball park. The term sandlot is sometimes used, although this usually refers ...
. In October 2004, Fox started airing all Major League Baseball postseason broadcasts (including the
League Championship Series The League Championship Series (LCS) is the semifinal round of postseason play in Major League Baseball which has been conducted since 1969. In 1981, and since 1995, the two annual series have matched up the winners of the Division Series, and ...
and
World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...
) in high definition; Fox also started airing the
Major League Baseball All-Star Game The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual professional baseball game sanctioned by Major League Baseball (MLB) and contested between the all-stars from the American League (AL) and National ...
in HD that year. Prior to the 2008 season, one of the three regional games the network televises each Saturday was presented in HD. Since 2008, all MLB games televised by Fox – including Saturday regional games – are presented in high definition. On September 29, 2010, Fox announced that it planned to use cable-cams for the network's coverage of the
National League Championship Series The National League Championship Series (NLCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. It is contested by the winners of the two National ...
and
World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...
. According to Fox, the cable-cams can roam over the field at altitudes ranging from about 12 to 80 feet above ground, and would be able to provide overhead shots of, among other things, "close plays" at bases and "managers talking to their pitchers on the mound." The 2020 season was delayed until July due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
. Fox soon announced that they would virtually fill the seats of
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
's
Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago Wh ...
,
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
'
Dodger Stadium Dodger Stadium is a baseball stadium in the Elysian Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It is the home stadium of Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers. Opened in 1962, it was constructed in less than three years at a cost of ( ...
,
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
's
Nationals Park Nationals Park is a baseball stadium A ballpark, or baseball park, is a type of sports venue where baseball is played. The playing field is divided into the infield, an area whose dimensions are rigidly defined, and the outfield, where dimen ...
,
San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
's
Petco Park Petco Park is a baseball stadium in Downtown San Diego, California. It is the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's San Diego Padres, and has also been used as a venue for concerts, soccer, golf, and rugby. The ballpark is located between Se ...
and other ballparks that it broadcasts games over the next several weeks. Announcers later spent time explaining and demonstrating the use of virtual fans during the July 25 game between the Chicago Cubs-
Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...
at Wrigley Field.


Digital on-screen graphics


1996–1998

For its first year of coverage in 1996, Fox used the scoring bug on their Major League Baseball telecasts. Within two years, the bug would be expanded to all sports telecasts on Fox and other networks. The first scoring bug was a translucent parallelogram with red borders on the left and right. The Fox logo and inning were on the left side, with the score on the right side. The count and number of outs were underneath. A diamond would be displayed around the bug only when runners were on base. An occupied base was represented by a red dot. The bug was slightly modified in 1998. The layout remained the same but it now was a square. The teams and scores also now had a white background, with a red arrow indicating which team was at bat. Occupied bases were now represented by a yellow triangle. Also beginning in 1998, pitch speed began to briefly cover the count and outs area after a pitch was thrown.


1999–2000

In 1999, Fox unveiled a new scoring bug that was nearly identical to the NFL bug unveiled the previous fall. A permanent baserunner graphic (with a design that would be used through 2008) was on the left side of the bug and occupied bases would light up in yellow. The team scores were on a black background on the right side of the bug. A bar with the Fox logo and the inning (now with a standard up or down arrow to indicate top or bottom of the inning) extended from the top. A bar with the count and the number of outs extended from the bottom. During the 2000 season, the bug sometimes would move to the lower portion of the screen and flip over to reveal player statistics graphics. However, this feature was not always utilized as player statistics graphics would sometimes simply fade onto the screen with the bug still in place.


2001–2004

For the 2001 season, Fox implemented a new graphics package for its MLB telecasts, which debuted on the network's NASCAR broadcasts in February of that year. The graphics package was an updated version of the design in 1999, but the FoxBox was revised as a top-screen banner. A simple, transparent black rectangle with a shaded area above it spanned the top of the screen from left to right, displaying the diamond graphic representing the baseball diamond, and the abbreviations of both teams in white. The scores would be shown in black text in yellow boxes next to the team abbreviations; the center showed the inning indicator, to the right was the number of outs, right of that was the pitch count and the pitch speed (the pitch speed was in the same location as the pitch count, and appeared in a yellow box); and the ''MLB on Fox'' logo was placed on the far right. The banner, along with the shaded area above it, extended or retracted from the top of the screen whenever it appeared or was removed. In 2003, the banner was slightly changed to mirror that used by FSN, although Fox retained its own graphics package; it was enlarged, except on All-Star Game and World Series telecasts as well as the April 16, 2004
Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...
Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...
game, and made more translucent. During Fox's coverage of the
2003 World Series The 2003 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2003 season. The 99th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the National League (NL) champion Florida Marlins and the American Leagu ...
and the
2004 All-Star Game 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...
, a logo other than the ''MLB on Fox'' logo was placed on the far right of the banner instead during non-regular season game broadcasts (e.g. ''World Series on Fox'', ''All-Star Game on Fox'', etc.) While Fox Sports upgraded the graphics packages on its other properties, the
NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...
and
NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...
starting with the
2003 NFL season The 2003 NFL season was the 84th regular season of the National Football League (NFL). Regular-season play was held from September 4, 2003, to December 28, 2003. Due to damage caused by the Cedar Fire, Qualcomm Stadium was used as an emergenc ...
, baseball telecasts continued to use this on-screen appearance in 2004 (except during its coverage of that year's postseason), but used elements from a new package that debuted with FSN's baseball broadcasts in mid-summer 2003; FSN also used this on-screen look for all of its sports broadcasts from 2001 until mid-2005, but using different graphics packages than the one Fox used. A graphic from this package was seen during the 15th inning of the 2008 All-Star Game, when Fox displayed highlights from the 1967 MLB All-Star Game, but only seen in the 4:3 frame on the HD broadcast.


2004–2007

Starting with the 2004 postseason, Fox's baseball broadcasts began using the same graphics package that debuted with NFL telecasts in
2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...
. The score banner was modified to match the layout adopted by the network's football coverage at the start of the 2004 NFL season, 2004 season, but using the abbreviations of the teams playing instead of their logos. Team abbreviations were shown this time in electronic Eggcrate display, eggcrate lettering in the team's main color; and the scores were shown in white text in black parallelograms. Beginning with this graphics package and continuing into the present, the FoxBox now displays a home run being hit. During the 2005 World Series, a new white banner was introduced, which resembled a chrome finish; and team abbreviations became white letters in parallelograms colored in the teams' respective primary colors (scores were now shown in black text in white parallelograms); the next few years, the new banner was adopted for all games. In 2006, Fox introduced another new graphics package for its NFL and Fox College Football, college football coverage beginning with the 2006 NFL season, and was subsequently rolled out to
NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...
for the 2007 Daytona 500. However, MLB broadcasts continued using this on-screen appearance in 2007 Major League Baseball season, 2007. The score banner was also used in the July 12, 2008 game between the 2008 Colorado Rockies season, Colorado Rockies and the 2008 New York Mets season, New York Mets until the 9th inning, but with the 2008 graphics package instead of the package that was used with this banner.


2008

For the 2008 season, Fox's baseball coverage used the same graphics package adopted for its NFL telecasts in 2006 NFL season, 2006. The diamond graphic was placed to the right of the scores, and slimmed down to only consist of the main three bases (unlike other implementations which included home plate); the ''MLB on Fox'' logo was moved to the far left side. The colored strip across the top of the banner was rendered in blue at all times (instead of being in the colors of the active team). Team abbreviations were no longer in their respective primary colors; and the shaded area above did not contain the animated stripe pattern. The stripe pattern only appeared within the player stats graphic.


2009–2010

For the 2009 and 2010 seasons, telecasts used the same graphics package implemented by FSN, with the FoxBox now reverting to a rectangular box in the top-left corner of the 4:3 Safe area (television), safe area. Along with FSN in observance of the holiday weekend, the baserunner graphic was changed to a blue pattern with stars during the Fourth of July weekend and 2010 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, All-Star Game in 2010. Also in July 2010, broadcasts began to be produced in full 16:9 widescreen and Letterboxing (filming), letterboxed for Standard-definition television, standard definition viewers through the use of the #10 Active Format Description code (which is primarily used for Fox broadcasts transmitted to pay television providers via its stations). The score box was moved to be in the top-left corner of the widescreen feed.


2011—2013

Starting with Opening Day of the 2010 Major League Baseball season, 2011 MLB season, both the Fox broadcast network and Fox Sports Networks began using the same graphics package adopted for ''NFL on Fox'' telecasts in 2010 NFL season, 2010, featuring a new horizontal layout with team abbreviations (as opposed to the use of team logos on the NFL version) and scores flanking a display of the inning, diamond, count, outs (represented by 3 lights), and pitch speed in the center. The new scoreboard was also able to slide open to reveal statistical information or home run notifications. For the 2012 Major League Baseball season, 2012 MLB season, the score box was modified to use cap insignias instead of team abbreviations, and outs were now represented by only two lamps. Beginning with the 2012 National League Championship Series, 2012 NLCS, the score box was modified again to match the new layout adopted by Fox's NFL coverage at the start of the 2012 NFL season, 2012 season; teams and scores reverted to being vertically stacked on the left, the base graphic moved to the right-hand side, pitch speed is displayed below the base graphic (which now displays the pitch count below the diamond after 40 pitches as well), while the count, outs, and inning number moved to a tab below the box. This graphic was also not removed for the final out of the World Series. In late-March 2013, the Fox Sports Networks began using this version in time for the start of the 2013 Major League Baseball season, 2013 MLB season (the previous scoring bug was used for 2013 Spring training games).


2014–2017

For the 2014 Major League Baseball season, 2014 season, Fox's MLB coverage debuted a new graphics package first seen on its NASCAR broadcasts that year. Notably, the score box was moved to the bottom-left corner of the screen. The box places the team abbreviations and scores on the left side over the team's background color. On the top of the right side is the inning (which is the only component in yellow text) and the base graphic; the lower right contains the count and outs (represented by two dots). Above the main box is a new "dynamic" strip, which by default shows the last name of the current pitcher along with the number of pitches he has thrown. However, this strip can be expanded and change color to display team-specific information, such as on-deck hitters and pitchers warming up in the bullpen. In June 2015, this was also expanded to include a white area featuring the last name of the current batter and their performance throughout the game (or their average for their first time at-bat). When a home run is hit, the main box turns to the team's color and displays the text "Home Run", while the dynamic strip grows and displays the name of the team over the team's logo. Other times (usually on FSN), the dynamic strip displays the name of the player who hit that home run and the main box displays the type of home run and how many home runs that player has hit during the season. The graphics package itself is similar to the previous design, though these graphics are more in the shape of a square, with a typeface that is less athletic in style than the previous Fox graphic packages. Starting with the 2016 season, the score box was moved to the bottom right.


2017–2021

For the 2017 postseason, Fox's MLB coverage unveiled a new graphics package first seen on its NFL telecasts, though the same layout from the 2014 version for the scoring bug continued to be used, with the addition of two statistical panes atop the scoring bug for batter/pitcher matchups, game at-bat results, and individual statistics. Also, the inning indicator, the ball-strike counter and the out counter (which is now back to being numerically represented) were all moved to the bottom of the scoring bug. In 2020, Fox unveiled a new graphics package for its NFL and Fox College Football, college football coverage starting with Super Bowl LIV. Baseball broadcasts continued using this package through the end of the 2021 regular season, as the new on-screen look is for football only. Beginning with the 2021 Major League Baseball season, 2021 season, Fox and FS1 started using stylized cartoon illustrations on players rather than traditional photos, similar to those used on the network's NFL coverage since the previous year's Super Bowl.


2021–present

In October 2021, Fox unveiled a new graphics package specifically for its baseball broadcasts, starting with the 2021 ALDS. This score bug, which increased in size, features an unconventional layout (also used in 2011 and 2012), with the team abbreviations over the scores, the inning, ball-strike counter and the out counter sandwiched in between, with the bases at the bottom. The two statical panes atop the score bug for batter/pitcher matchups, game at bat results and individual stats are retained in this design.


Theme music

NJJ Music composed the original ''MLB on Fox'' theme music in 1996. This theme music was used exclusively from June 1996 until early May 2007. In mid-May 2007, an updated version was unveiled, featuring a more jazzy feel and implementing a full orchestra instead of the synth elements used by the 1996 theme. For the 2007 postseason, a Jochen Flach-composed slow orchestral theme was unveiled, and was used alongside the new orchestral theme for the All-Star Game and postseason from the 2007 ALCS until the 2010 All-Star Game. ''Fox Saturday Baseball'', including the prime time games starting in 2010, still used the 2007 version of the regular theme song exclusively. During the 2009 season, some Fox Sports regional affiliates switched to the 2007 theme while others continued using the original 1996 theme. However, all regional affiliates began using the 2007 theme starting with the 2011 season. Beginning with the 2010 postseason, both the 2007 theme and the Flach theme were replaced by the longtime ''NFL on Fox'' theme music, which began to be used for all Fox sporting events. However, starting in 2011 and continuing to today, various songs from the album ''Heroes: The Olympic Collection'' were used when going into commercial breaks during the All-Star Game, postseason, and other marquee games such as Red Sox-Yankees games. In 2014, the 2007–2010 jazz theme was brought back for regular season games on ''MLB on FS1''. The NFL theme was retained for ''MLB on Fox'', including ''Fox Saturday Baseball'', ''Baseball Night in America'', the All-Star Game and all coverage of the postseason. However, occasionally one of the two themes was heard on telecasts that were designated for the other, implying that the designations are slightly fluid. In 2020, ''MLB on Fox'' reintroduced the original 1996–2007 theme; Fox Sports regional affiliates continued to use the 2007-2010 theme until the network was rebranded to Bally Sports in 2021. As of the 2021 Major League Baseball season, 2021 season, the original theme is now used for coverage of all games across both Fox and FS1.


Criticism


Scheduling

Fox Sports has received criticism from sports fans for perceived bias toward teams in the American League in Major League Baseball (especially the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox). Fox rarely shows teams from outside the top-10 media markets during the regular season.


Commentators


In-game commentators

In 2007, Joe Buck was only scheduled to call eight regular season MLB games out of a 26-game schedule for Fox (along with a handful of regional 2007 St. Louis Cardinals season, St. Louis Cardinals telecasts on Bally Sports Midwest, FSN Midwest). In an interview with Richard Sandomir of ''The New York Times'', Buck defended his reduced baseball commitment: In 2008, Buck drew criticism for comments he made during an appearance on ESPN Radio's ''The Herd with Colin Cowherd'', in which he admitted to spending "barely any" time following sporting events he does not broadcast, and facetiously claimed that he preferred watching ''The Bachelorette (American TV series), The Bachelorette'' instead. In general, Fox's initial lead broadcast team of Joe Buck and Tim McCarver had been heavily scrutinized, much less criticized over time. During the 2012 National League Championship Series between the 2012 San Francisco Giants season, San Francisco Giants and 2012 St. Louis Cardinals season, St. Louis Cardinals, Buck and McCarver were accused by the San Francisco media in particular, of being too biased towards the Cardinals.


=Color commentators

= In Game 4 of the 1997 American League Championship Series, on a wild pitch with runners dashing around the bases, when umpire Durwood Merrill gestured to where the ball was, color commentator
Tim McCarver James Timothy McCarver (born October 16, 1941) is an American former professional baseball player and television sports commentator. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher from to , most prominently as a member of the St. Louis Cardinal ...
sarcastically commented that "maybe he was trying to tell ''himself'' where the ball is!" Merrill heard about that, took offense to it, and fired back in his autobiography that he was letting the other umpires know that the situation was under control. Meanwhile, when rule questions come up during a broadcast, McCarver frequently will explain the rule, sometimes incorrectly. For example, after a 2006 St. Louis Cardinals season, St. Louis Cardinals balk in Game 4 of the
2006 NLCS The 2006 National League Championship Series (NLCS), the second round of the 2006 National League playoffs, began on October 12 and ended on October 19; it was scheduled to begin on October 11, but was postponed a day because of inclement weather ...
, McCarver explained, "You have to have 'one thousand one' when coming to a stop, and you have to stop your glove in the same place every time in front of your body", when the rules state that there must be merely a complete discernible stop anywhere in front of the pitcher's body; no certain duration or location is necessary. McCarver has also been known to make verbal gaffes, particularly with player's names (notably confusing Albert Pujols with the retired Luis Pujols, as well as repeatedly referring to Bronson Arroyo as "Brandon Arroyo" during the 2004 World Series). During the 2009 World Series, he referred to 2009 New York Yankees season, New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter as "Jerek Deter". In 2006, an Mother Tucker, episode of the Fox animated series ''Family Guy'' lampooned McCarver's broadcasting ability with the quip, "Well, at least he couldn't be any worse than Tim McCarver is at sportscasting." McCarver has in general, been accused of overanalyzing situations, being too verbose, and not allowing a game to "breathe". During their broadcast of Game 3 of the 2006 American League Championship Series,
Lou Piniella Louis Victor Piniella ( usually ; born August 28, 1943) is a former professional baseball player and manager. An outfielder, he played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Royals and ...
, who is of Spanish people, Spanish descent, made an analogy involving the luck of finding a wallet, and then briefly used a couple of Spanish phrases. Fox color commentator Steve Lyons responded by saying that Piniella was "hablaing Español" – Spanglish for "speaking Spanish language, Spanish" – and added, "I still can't find my wallet. I don't understand him, and I don't want to sit close to him now." On October 13, 2006, Fox fired Lyons for making these remarks, which the network determined to be racially insensitive. Lyons was replaced for the rest of the series in Detroit by 2006 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim season, Los Angeles Angels announcer José Mota (baseball), José Mota. Piniella later stated that he thought that Lyons was just "kidding" and that Lyons was, per Piniella's experience, not bigoted. Lyons had previously maligned 2004 Los Angeles Dodgers season, Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Shawn Green, who is Jewish, for sitting out a game on Yom Kippur in 2004, saying "He's not even a practicing Jew. He didn't marry a Jewish girl. And from what I understand, he never had a bar mitzvah, which is unfortunate because he doesn't get the money." Lyons was suspended briefly without pay after his remarks, and Fox apologized for Lyons' comments, though Lyons never made an on-air apology. On July 24, 2012, Matt Yoder of ''Awful Announcing'' questioned Fox's need to hire local broadcasters on their national telecasts and therefore, bringing about a perceived sense of favoritism towards one of the participating teams. For example, Billy Ripken, who played for the Baltimore Orioles alongside his National Baseball Hall of Fame, Hall of Fame brother Cal Ripken Jr., Cal, was roundly criticized for his perceived favoritism towards the Orioles while broadcasting an 2012 Baltimore Orioles season, Orioles–2012 Detroit Tigers season, Detroit Tigers game (even by actor Jeff Daniels via Twitter) for Fox the previous week. The following week came a 2012 Philadelphia Phillies season, Philadelphia Phillies–2012 San Francisco Giants season, San Francisco Giants telecast on Fox, which was called by List of Philadelphia Phillies broadcasters, Phillies play-by-play announcer Tom McCarthy (broadcaster), Tom McCarthy and former Phillies pitcher Mitch Williams (baseball), Mitch Williams. McCarthy and Williams were in particular, singled out for their rather downbeat manner of calling a Matt Cain home run off Cole Hamels in the top of the 3rd inning. This was contrasted by their more enthusiastic call of Hamels returning the favor with a home run in the bottom half of the inning. In 2019, Len Kasper, then the List of Chicago Cubs broadcasters, voice of the Cubs, broadcast 2019 Chicago Cubs season, Cubs-2019 Washington Nationals season, Nationals on Fox with a rather monotonous tone of voice while calling Nationals home runs. Since along with Tom Verducci, succeeding Tim McCarver as Fox's lead color commentator in 2014,
Harold Reynolds Harold Craig Reynolds (born November 26, 1960) is an American former professional baseball player and current television sports commentator. He played in Major League Baseball as a second baseman from to , most prominently as a member of the Se ...
has been accused contributing to little more superficial, surface-level stuff on telecasts. For example, during Game 5 the 2015 American League Championship Series, when 2015 Toronto Blue Jays season, Toronto's Chris Colabello cranked a solo homer in the second, Reynolds' simple contribution was, "Well, I guess he made an adjustment." More to the point, immediately after, Verducci jumped in and explained how that was the first home run that 2015 Kansas City Royals season, Kansas City starter Edinson Vólquez had allowed in his past 1,228 changeups. Reynolds’ response was "How do you know that? Unbelievable, Tom. You were sitting on that one, weren’t you?" During the 2018 World Series,
John Smoltz John Andrew Smoltz (born May 15, 1967), nicknamed "Smoltzie" and "Marmaduke", is an American former baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1988 to 2009, all but the last year with the Atlanta Braves. An eight-time A ...
was heavily criticized for appearing to hate the direction baseball was going in. Two years later, Smoltz throughout the 2020 National League Division Series, National League Division Series, 2020 National League Championship Series, National League Championship Series, and 2020 World Series, World Series, appeared to spend the bulk of Fox's MLB broadcasts complaining about Infield shift, shifts to pitcher usage to the catch-all of “Sabermetrics, analytics.”


Hosts and field reporters

While covering the 2005 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Comerica Park in Detroit, Michigan, Detroit, host
Jeanne Zelasko Jeanne Zelasko (born October 26, 1966) is an American journalist and sportscaster who worked for "The Beast" AM980 KFWB and Fox Sports West in Los Angeles County, California. Prior to taking that position Zelasko had a relatively lengthy career w ...
angered many fans for her treatment of legendary broadcaster Ernie Harwell. Many disliked the way Zelasko abruptly – and in many fans' eyes, awkwardly – cut Harwell off just 17 seconds into a pre-game interview, as Harwell was detailing the accomplishments of famous Tiger Al Kaline. Harwell later said he was not offended by Zelasko, and let the matter drop. In September 2008, Zelasko took heat for referring to the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays season, Tampa Bay Rays as the "Tampa Rays". Jeanne Zelasko has, in general, been accused of being too flippant, not particularly knowledgeable about the sport of baseball, and inserting too many corny clichés or plays on words during broadcasts.
Chris Rose Christopher Rose (born January 27, 1971) is an American sportscaster for the NFL Network. He is also a commentator for the Discovery Channel series ''BattleBots'' and podcast host for Jomboy Media. Early life and career Rose, who was born and ...
has been criticized for appearing to be too chummy with players that he has interviewed during Fox's baseball coverage. For example, during the 2009 World Series, Rose referred to Derek Jeter of the 2009 New York Yankees season, New York Yankees as "Jeets". One year later during the
World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...
, Rose referred to both Brian Wilson (baseball), Brian Wilson and Tim Lincecum of the 2010 San Francisco Giants season, San Francisco Giants as "his friends". Field reporter Erin Andrews' performance has been criticized since she joined Fox Sports' MLB coverage in 2012. For example, Andrews during trophy presentations, has been accused of showing an extreme lack of knowledge by reading off notes. More to the point, during the trophy presentation at the end of the 2013 American League Championship Series, Andrews misidentified former Anaheim Angels owner and honorary American League president Jackie Autry as her late husband Gene Autry, Gene. Andrews was further criticized during the trophy presentations for the 2014 World Series due to her very generic questions that for the most part, lacked insight.


Production

Scooter (talking baseball), Scooter debuted in the 2004 Major League Baseball season, 2004 baseball season on April 16, during a game between the 2004 New York Yankees season, New York Yankees and 2004 Boston Red Sox season, Boston Red Sox. While Fox Sports television chairman David Hill called Scooter "really cute and really terrific", the character has garnered few positive reactions otherwise, with ''Sports Illustrated'' writer John Donovan warning "purists everywhere, grab the barf bag," and ''Sports Illustrated'' media writer Richard Deitsch using Scooter as an example of "how technology does not always help society." ''The Sporting News'' reported polling their staff with the question "What best summarizes your feelings for Scooter, Fox's talking baseball?": 45% of responders chose the answer "Send him to a slow, painful death." Despite most reactions, Scooter would still be used in televised baseball games until after the 2006 World Series. During Fox's coverage of the 2005 Major League Baseball All-Star Game from Detroit, cameras at the start of bottom half of the third inning, tightly focused on a Chevrolet, Chevy sponsored banner that read "HHRYA.com". Fox was soon accused of attempting to mislead viewers into believing that the banner was merely the work of a random fan in the stands at Comerica Park. From the 2010 National League Championship Series, 2010 MLB playoffs until the 2019 World Series, 2019 MLB playoffs, Fox used its
NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...
theme music for its MLB coverage (and all other Fox Sports properties, including
NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...
and UFC on Fox, UFC events). There has been backlash from fans who believe that the NFL theme does not belong on MLB coverage, and that the previous MLB theme should return. A poll by Sports Media Watch noted that as of October 23, 2010, while nearly 60% of fans thought that Fox made a bad move, only 11% thought it was a good move and 30% had no opinion (all percentages rounded). However, beginning with the 2020 MLB season, ''MLB on Fox'' reintroduced the original 1996-2007 theme. As previously mentioned, in July 2010, the on-screen graphics were repositioned for the 16:9 aspect ratio (image), aspect ratio, as all HDTV programming from the Fox network began to be presented in a letterboxed format using an Active Format Description code for standard definition viewers. The supposed high-definition picture, however, has been derided as coming across as highly imperfect, lacking the detail and clarity normally expected from a high-definition broadcast. During the 2012 National League Championship Series, Fox's camera angles were criticized for being directly in-line with home plate, thus often ensuring that a pitcher's head blocked the view. Fox's camera angles were again criticized (this time in an elevated and more dead center camera angle) during FS1's coverage of Game 1 of the 2016 National League Division Series between the 2016 Chicago Cubs season, Chicago Cubs and 2016 San Francisco Giants season, San Francisco Giants. During the bottom of the 9th in Game 4 of the 2013 World Series between the 2013 Boston Red Sox season, Boston Red Sox and 2013 St. Louis Cardinals season, St. Louis Cardinals, Fox's cameras missed Boston closer Koji Uehara picking off pinch runner Kolten Wong to end the game (it was the first postseason game in baseball history to end on a pickoff). For Fox's broadcast of Game 4 of the 2019 American League Division Series between the 2019 Houston Astros season, Houston Astros and 2019 Tampa Bay Rays season, Tampa Bay Rays on
FS1 Fox Sports 1 (FS1) is an American pay television television channel, channel owned by the Fox Sports (United States), Fox Sports Media Group, a unit of Fox Corporation. FS1 replaced the motorsports network Speed (TV network), Speed on August 1 ...
, they opened up the broadcast with an off-center camera angle, which is basically a view from the shortstop. This immediately drew a lot of complaints on Twitter from viewers, who were used to seeing the center field camera angle for Rays’ home games, and wanted a better look at the pitch movement and location from Houston's Justin Verlander and Tampa Bay's Diego Castillo (pitcher), Diego Castillo. FS1 changed to the center field camera angle in the bottom of the third. During a nationally broadcast game between the 2020 Chicago White Sox season, Chicago White Sox and 2020 Cincinnati Reds season, Cincinnati Reds in September 2020, Fox mistakenly showed List of tallest buildings in Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh's skyline while broadcasting the Major League Baseball game from Great American Ballpark, Cincinnati. During a nationally broadcast game between the 2022 Boston Red Sox season, Boston Red Sox and 2022 New York Yankees season, New York Yankees in July 2022, an aerial shot of the National September 11 Memorial, September 11 Memorial garnered criticism due to the memorials having the logos of the teams superimposed over the footprint of the original World Trade Center.


References


Notes


Sources


External links

* * {{Navboxes , list = {{s-start {{succession box, before=The Baseball Network, NBC & ABC, title=Major League Baseball
network broadcast partner, years=1996–present
with
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
(1996–2000), after=incumbent {{s-end {{Major League Baseball on Fox {{Major League Baseball on national television {{Fox Sports {{FOXNetwork Shows (current and upcoming) {{MLB Network {{Sports Emmy Award for Outstanding Studio Show {{Sports Emmy Award for Outstanding Live Sports Series Major League Baseball on Fox, 1996 American television series debuts 2000s American television series 2010s American television series 2020s American television series Fox Sports 1 original programming Fox Broadcasting Company original programming Fox Sports Networks original programming Fox Sports original programming FX Networks original programming Fox Family Channel original programming MLB Network original programming Sports telecast series Major League Baseball on television, Fox