by Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, SVG News
The operations team is prepared for the 85+ regular-season games, All-Star Game, and full postseason to come
FOX Sports will throw out the first pitch on its 2026 MLB regular season slate on Saturday with sustained momentum at its back. The network just wrapped a massively successful run of World Baseball Classic productions with the dramatic Final notching the largest audience ever for a WBC telecast. Rather than treating it as a detour, FOX’s operations team used every day of it as a dress rehearsal for the long haul ahead.
“Having an extra month to prepare has helped us get ready for the MLB regular season,” says Francisco Contreras, Executive Director of Field Operations at FOX Sports. “Doing host feed games during the pool games and quarterfinals gives us an advantage to start the season strong.”
In a WBC year, months that might otherwise be filled with pre-season planning are instead spent deploying real-world productions, stress-testing workflows, and providing important reps for the crew. Now, Fox is set to pivot seamlessly into regular season baseball on Saturday beginning with Twins-Orioles (4 p.m. ET) on FS1 and regionalized coverage of Yankees-Giants or Royals-Braves (7 p.m. ET) on FOX.
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