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Twitter switches MLB game streaming to Tuesdays

The social network will also debut a three-hour live show about baseball on Wednesdays next month, giving it back-to-back nights of major league coverage.

Terry Collins Staff Reporter, CNET News
Terry writes about social networking giants and legal issues in Silicon Valley for CNET News. He joined CNET News from the Associated Press, where he spent the six years covering major breaking news in the San Francisco Bay Area. Before the AP, Terry worked at the Star Tribune in Minneapolis and the Kansas City Star. Terry's a native of Chicago.
Terry Collins
2 min read
chris-sale-1.jpg

Twitter's first livestreamed baseball game on Tuesdays will star Boston Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale.

Getty Images

Twitter's taking its livestreaming of Major League Baseball to Tuesdays.

The first matchup starts this evening and features All-Star Chris Sale of the Boston Red Sox returning to Chicago to take on his former team, the White Sox.

The switch to Tuesdays from Fridays will give Twitter back-to-back nights of livestreamed baseball when a new show on Wednesdays called "The Dugout" premieres in June.

Meanwhile, Facebook has begun livestreaming MLB games on Friday nights.

The livestreams of pro baseball are part of a larger sports experiment for Twitter, which has been struggling to increase its user base. The platform also has deals with pro football, hockey, basketball and boxing associations.

Twitter's in its second season of livestreaming baseball games as part of its deal with MLB Advanced Media, baseball's interactive arm. The free games are available globally on mlb.twitter.com and on MLB's Twitter page. The streams are simulcasts of a home team's televised broadcasts.

Starting June 14, Twitter will also livestream a new show called "The Dugout," a three-hour MLB program on Wednesday nights.

MLB.com's Alexa Datt will host the show, which will stream at thedugout.twitter.com and on MLB's Twitter page. It will feature live looks at games and game highlights, similar to the "whiparound" broadcasts on the MLB Network and Fox Sports.

"The Dugout" will also feature analysis from baseball experts, ex-players and celebs. And of course, the show will discuss what's trending on Twitter about baseball.

Although these streams are free, about 32 percent of 2,000 US residents surveyed this month said they'd pay to watch baseball streaming on their mobile devices, according to marketing firm Fluent.

Here is Twitter's MLB lineup on Tuesdays so far:

  • May 30: Boston Red Sox at Chicago White Sox, 5:10 p.m. PT
  • June 6: Miami Marlins at Chicago Cubs, 5:05 p.m. PT
  • June 13: Los Angeles Dodgers at Cleveland Indians, 4:10 p.m. PT
  • June 20: Washington Nationals at Miami Marlins, 4:10 p.m. PT
  • June 27: New York Yankees at White Sox, 5:10 p.m. PT

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