For many fans, Major League Baseball’s opening day is somewhat of an unofficial holiday. Though this year offers a different viewing experience.
Instead of turning on ESPN or a regional sports channel to catch their favorite team, there will only be one game kicking off the season, and it will be streaming exclusively on Netflix.
On Wednesday, the New York Yankees and the San Francisco Giants will face off at Oracle Park. Retired baseball stars Barry Bonds, Anthony Rizzo and Albert Pujols, led by former ESPN anchor Elle Duncan, will be in the broadcast booth.
And for one of the many Netflix touches — “Thing,” the lovable detached hand from the streamer’s Addams family spinoff “Wednesday,” will be throwing the first pitch.
It’s the latest example of a streaming platform finding its way into live sports programming. All of the major services, including Amazon Prime, Max, Peacock, Paramount+ and others, carry some combination of professional sports packages for their subscribers.
For Netflix, this marks the first time an MLB opening day game will be seen globally, as Netflix reaches nearly a billion viewers in more than 190 countries and in 50 languages.
Due to existing local media rights, the game will not be available in certain markets.
For Gabe Spitzer, Netflix’s vice president of sports, it’s a chance for the streamer to “work together with a league to grow that audience” beyond just the die-hard sports fans. “Maybe casual fans are tuning in, or someone who’s watched a baseball documentary on Netflix thinks, ‘Oh, I’ll check out the Yankees Giants game because it’s live.’ That’s our ultimate goal,” he said.
A little over two years ago, Netflix first dipped its toes into live-streaming sports events, with the Netflix Cup, a golf tournament between PGA Tour golfers and Formula One drivers. It garnered a modest viewership of around 700,000 views in the second half of 2023.
Spitzer said the big turning point for Netflix in this…