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Netflix recorded significant qualitative gains for its first-ever coverage of the MLB Home Run Derby, but failed to match the viewership for the event traditionally seen on linear television.
The streaming giant said Thursday it averaged 5.3 million viewers for the league’s home run contest earlier this week in Philadelphia, won in dramatic fashion by the Cardinals’ Jordan Walker. That figure is down 7.5% from the average audience of 5.73 million viewers for last year’s Home Run Derby, aired on ESPN and ESPN2.
The latest total is also the smallest for the Home Run Derby since 2003. Like many other sports events that have migrated to streaming, there was a predictable round of complaints Monday from fans having trouble accessing the coverage.
Still, Netflix said it generated the youngest Home Run Derby audience since 2014 with a median viewer age of 44.3 years old, as well as the event’s best ratings among groups aged 18-34 and 18-49 since 2021.
Late Thursday’s release of the Home Run Derby viewership number was delayed well beyond an originally planned release that morning, when industry sources then said Netflix was experiencing data-related issues with Nielsen. Ultimately, the data followed Fox’s much-stronger numbers for Tuesday’s MLB All-Star Game.
A Different Feel
Netflix went into the event aiming to provide a new look to the production, mirroring the format change of the competition itself to an untimed, swing-based format. Despite some rough patches during the pre-game coverage, that initiative largely succeeded.
The event production included an array of former MLB stars, including Barry Bonds and Albert Pujols. Those two are first and fourth, respectively, in league history in career home runs.
Netflix’s Home Run Derby viewership follows the average audience of three million viewers it drew for a season-opening MLB broadcast in March between the Yankees and Giants, achieving that despite some production issues in the coverage.
Next up for Netflix in its MLB schedule is coverage of next month’s Field of Dreams game from Iowa.
Earnings Results
Netflix also reported second-quarter earnings late Thursday, detailing a set of results largely in line with Wall Street expectations.
The company said it generated $12.6 billion revenue for the quarter, up 13% from the comparable period in 2025, and $3.4 billion in net income, up 9%. Netflix shares, however, dropped 8% in after-hours trading Thursday as investors were looking for even-stronger results.
As has been the case in prior quarters, Netflix continued to tout the rising importance of live events and the ad revenue created around them.
“All [viewing] hours are not created equal,” said Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters. “All hours don’t provide the same kind of value to the business. And a really great example of this is live programming. So live events do a lot of lifting for us for acquisition. They’re good for monetization. They drive ad revenue, fandom. They’re also a promotional platform.”
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