A day before customers got their hands on Apple’s first folding phone, the iPhone Duo, MLB executives were already showing off updates to the league’s app designed for the new device.
MLB At Bat was one of the first 500 apps released for iOS’ App Store in July 2008 and the league has rarely, if ever, missed an opening day on the platform since then.
“Being known as a league that sort of is on the cutting edge of innovation I think has helped the whole perception of baseball over time,” MLB EVP of media, business development and product Kenny Gersh said Thursday at league headquarters, with two iPhone Duos sitting on the table in front of him, “From not just ‘America’s pastime,’ but ‘America’s future.’ ”
MLB isn’t alone. The MLS, NBA and PGA Tour apps have also been updated to support the Duo’s shape, which includes a smaller outer screen and an inner display nearly the size of an iPad mini when unfolded.
App developers didn’t have long to prepare. While long rumored, the product wasn’t announced until Sep. 9. With limited hands-on time, coders largely had to envision how their apps would show up using simulators on other Apple devices.
However, MLB SVP of product for app and web Josh Frost said his team was able to pull from past work supporting iPhones and iPads as they put the first version of the MLB’s Duo-native app together. While leagues once had to only consider individual devices to support, they’ve become more nimble with fans now expecting experiences to span from miniature smartwatch displays to expansive virtual reality environments. With the Duo, Frost said MLB was particularly interested in ways it could make the live broadcast experience even more engaging.
Along the way, Apple has increased its footprint in sports. The company has bought exclusive streaming rights across baseball, motorsports and soccer; it has also built its own scores app. Its devices can now be spotted on college football sidelines and strapped to the wrist of professional surfers as well.
“Sport has embraced us and we’ve tried to embrace sport,” Apple SVP of worldwide marketing Greg Joswiak said after receiving a demo of MLB’s app. “People have an emotional reaction to sport, and to have us have an opportunity to participate in that, whether it’s at the user level and how they’re consuming it, or at the sport level for how they’re making the play on the field even better, is wildly exciting to us.”
MLB had additional incentive to make release day this year: Friday also brings Game 1 of the World Series between the Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays. “We plan to learn a lot in the next week of live baseball that we have here to see how this works, to see how our fans react,” Gersh said.
If they become ubiquitous, smartphones in the mold of the iPhone Duo have the potential to change how fans follow their favorite sport. Rather than vertical video, traditional horizontal coverage does a better job filling the device’s inner display. More real estate also opens the door to even more multitasking. Suddenly it’s not just the second-screen experience leagues have to consider, but the third one as well.
That said, sports might have some time to adapt to these new devices. A $2,000 starting price will impact iPhone Duo demand; the phones are also already backordered until 2027. Initial reviewers highlighted numerous apps not yet set up for the phone, occasionally leading to awkward layouts. The Verge called the Duo “an early adopter special” in its review. Of course, MLB is proud to consider itself part of that techie class.