It took Netflix exactly one batter to ruin the Home Run Derby

Anyone familiar with Netflix's previous forays into live sports, from the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson debacle to the NFL's ever-expanding Christmas extravaganza, was just waiting to see how the streaming giant might manage to screw up its first crack at handling the Home Run Derby. Turns out we got our answer more quickly than anybody could've expected — and it had fans around the country wishing that anybody else could handle the event in 2027 and beyond.

Bad camera angles? Check. A broadcast that seemed determined to put people to sleep? You bet. Every way Netflix's broadcast could go wrong, it did go wrong, to the point where you wonder whether Rob Manfred will be asking for his money back.

Netflix botched its Home Run Derby broadcast in every way imaginable

For starters, the very idea of putting the Derby on Netflix beggars belief. This is one of MLB's most accessible events of the year, something that even the most casual fans — or heck, people who don't watch any other baseball at all — can tune into and immediately enjoy. But the league decided to throw it behind on a paywall anyway, artificially limiting the number of people who might get turned onto their product.

And then the actual broadcast began. Things started to go off the rails even before the first batter stepped into the box, as a full hour-long pregame show tested the patience of an entire nation. Once Willson Contreras started swinging, it was clear that Netflix wasn't ready for prime time: The camera never found a rhythm, cutting back and forth from the hitter seemingly at random — and often missing the point of contact entirely, so that viewers had no idea whether a given ball had any chance of leaving the park or not. The new Derby format successfully brought a different sense of pace after the timer had gotten increasingly chaotic, but Netflix undid all that good work by making a hash of the production.

But hey, at least it distracted from the lack of juice on commentary. Netflix certainly wasn't lacking for voices, with everyone from Hunter Pence to Anthony Rizzo to CC Sabathia to Albert Pujols to Barry Bonds taking part in commentary. Despite all those personalities, though, no one was able to actually bring personality — you were hard-pressed to get anyone to even raise their voice, and often there were side conversations going on that had nothing at all to do with the hitting that was happening on screen. If you were watching with a young child, I wouldn't blame them for falling asleep. I would've given my left arm for Chris Berman to show up, if only so that someone might act as though something exciting were taking place.

This is what Rob Manfred gets for prioritizing the bottom line over MLB fans

Then again, Manfred likely doesn't much care. Throwing something like the Derby to a subscription-based streaming service is a pretty clear signal that he's not interested in what fans think, or whether MLB is picking up any new fans at all.

The deal Manfred signed, one that gave Netflix broadcast rights to both Opening Night and the Derby, was about one thing: money. Netflix wanted desperately to gain a foothold into live sports, so it paid through the nose, and as far as the league was concerned that was the end of the discussion. Never mind that Netflix had done a poor job with their other sports properties, or that this was a short-term gain with long-term consequences. It lined their coffers, and hey, isn't that Manfred's job description?

The result is something like Monday night, where a jewel event gets gradually but noticeably diminished due to nothing but sheer greed.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow