Netflix has made a major push into the live sports space in recent years, acquiring broadcast rights to two NFL games per year as well as WWE's Monday Night RAW. The results so far have been ... let's just politely say "mixed," as anyone who watched that Jake Paul-Mike Tyson match can attest. But that hasn't stopped the company from pushing forward, and now it apparently has baseball in its sights: According to a report from Bloomberg on Tuesday, Netflix is "exploring a deal" to stream the Home Run Derby.
The future of MLB's national broadcast rights are very much up in the air right now, after ESPN abruptly pulled out of its seven-year deal with the league to broadcast Sunday Night Baseball, the Derby and select playoff games. ESPN is still in talks about a reduced package, but that still leaves plenty of opportunity to go around — and everyone from Apple to FOX to NBC appears to be interested.
It's no surprise that Netflix would try to enter the fray here; they're desperate for any live sports they can get their hands on as they seek to broaden their subscriber base. But just because it's a good idea for Ted Sarandos doesn't mean it's a good idea for baseball fans. In fact, it seems like the worst thing for the future of the Derby — which is exactly why Manfred might go for it.
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The Home Run Derby on Netflix is a perfectly Rob Manfred idea (derogatory)
It's hard to overstate just how terrible an idea it would be to throw the Home Run Derby behind a paywall on Netflix. MLB has a hard enough time drumming up national interest (and ratings) as it is. The Derby is one of the few non-postseason events still capable of capturing the broader consciousness ... and so now the solution is to ensure that only Netflix subscribers can watch it in real time? That feels like a death knell, something that would turn a potentially viral. event into a minor curiosity.
But of course, harming the sport at large in order to make a quick buck has been Manfred's M.O. as commissioner for a while now. We've seen it in previous rights negotiations, which have seen games shipped off to places like Apple TV+, Amazon, Peacock and the Roku Channel — all of which made it harder for people to actually watch baseball but gave MLB the opportunity to sign another rights deal and make a bit more money.
Manfred and the league need to be sacrificing whatever short-term gains are necessary in order to put baseball in front of as many people as possible, and to do so in as compelling a manner as possible. Unfortunately for everyone else, he doesn't seem to think that's in his job description.