As we just saw with the World Baseball Classic, America’s pastime is having a moment. And as it looks to capitalize on the outsized attention, the world’s biggest streaming service is stepping up to the plate.
On Wednesday, Netflix will stream its first-ever MLB game when the New York Yankees travel to San Francisco to take on the Giants to kick off the 2026 season. It will be the only game played that day, before the rest of the league throws its first pitches on Thursday and Friday. Wednesday’s game is the first of three MLB events that Netflix will stream this year, along with the Home Run Derby in July and the “Field of Dreams” game in August.
San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Landen Roupp throws against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the first inning of a spring training baseball game. AP
Netflix’s sports strategy has been to hold one-off events that can be blown up into major spectacles, rather than season-long coverage like sports stalwarts like ESPN. Elle Duncan, who joined Netflix late last year as its first-ever sports anchor, appreciates that her role with the streamer pretty much guarantees she’s only covering high-profile events.
“If you have a love for a game, but maybe not a love for a game enough to want to cover it for 162 games at traditional legacy media, you can’t. You’re either all-in, or you’re out,” Duncan tells P6H. She should know: Before she joined ESPN, she was a Boston Red Sox sideline reporter for NESN.