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For many fans, Major League Baseball\u2019s opening day is somewhat of an unofficial holiday. Though this year offers a different viewing experience.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>. <\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n And for one of the many Netflix touches \u2014 \u201cThing,\u201d the lovable detached hand from the streamer\u2019s Addams family spinoff \u201cWednesday,\u201d<\/a> will be throwing the first pitch. <\/p>\n It\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n For Netflix, this marks the first time an MLB<\/a> opening day game will be seen globally, as Netflix reaches nearly a billion viewers in more than 190 countries and in 50 languages.<\/p>\n For Gabe Spitzer, Netflix\u2019s vice president of sports, it\u2019s a chance for the streamer to \u201cwork together with a league to grow that audience\u201d beyond just the die-hard sports fans. \u201cMaybe casual fans are tuning in, or someone who\u2019s watched a baseball documentary on Netflix thinks, \u2018Oh, I\u2019ll check out the Yankees Giants game because it\u2019s live.\u2019 That\u2019s our ultimate goal,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n A little over two years ago, Netflix<\/a> 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.<\/a><\/p>\n Spitzer said the big turning point for Netflix in this arena was the November 2024 fight between former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson and YouTube influencer Jake Paul<\/a>. That event attracted 60 million households<\/a> globally and became the most-streamed sporting event in history<\/a>, according to Netflix<\/a>. The massive audience tested the technical capacity of the streaming platform, as many fans complained of buffering or losing the video feed completely.<\/p>\n Netflix also turned Christmas Day into an event in 2024, paying $150 million a year for the rights to stream two NFL games on the holiday. The 2025 late-afternoon game between the Minnesota Vikings and the Detroit Lions was the most-streamed NFL game in history with 27.5 million viewers, according to Nielsen.<\/p>\n The opening-day game is part of a larger three-year deal the league has with Netflix, which is paying $60 million annually for a package that also includes the Home Run Derby and the annual Field of Dreams game in Dyersville, Iowa. The games became available when ESPN decided to opt out of its deal (the Walt Disney Co. unit negotiated a new package that gives the network 30 games and expanded streaming rights).<\/p>\n The MLB events will help inform Netflix about whether to pursue a larger package when the league\u2019s larger media rights contract, which includes the World Series on Fox, comes up for renewal after the 2028 season.<\/p>\n The streamer is also expected to engage in talks for a larger commitment with the NFL when the league exercises its option to reopen its media rights contract after the 2029-30 season.<\/p>\n But for now, the Netflix sports strategy is creating large-scale live events, which Spitzer calls \u201cmeaningful water-cooler conversation\u201d for a global audience.<\/p>\n The streamer and the league worked together to make the Yankees-Giants game happen one day early and present it in prime time Wednesday night. As the sole game being played that day, Spitzer said it\u2019s \u201ctruly the launch of the season.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAs we continue to grow baseball around the world and reach younger fans, Netflix is an ideal partner to help us further expand the sport\u2019s fan base with its ubiquitous streaming service,\u201d Kenny Gersh, MLB\u2019s executive vice president of media and business, said in a statement. \u201cThey are approaching their first-ever MLB game with great energy and creative marketing. We are excited to work with them in joining MLB\u2019s collection of elite media partners.\u201d<\/p>\n Lee Berke, a sports media consultant, understands Netflix\u2019s venture into live sports as a way to \u201celevate the profile of a particular game and give it a Netflix spin \u2014 making it something you would only see on Netflix.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEvery sport is looking now for events that can be of interest to heighten fan awareness, sponsor and distributor interest during the course of a season,\u201d said Berke, pointing out the NBA Emirates Cup \u2014 an in-season tournament sponsored by the Dubai-owned airline \u2014 and NHL\u2019s Four Nations Cup. \u201cEverybody\u2019s trying to come up with a variety of events, because they drive interest, they drive business and revenues. It sort of feeds on itself.\u201d<\/p>\n