Lauren Shehadi has scored the sideline reporter role for Netflix’s new MLB coverage, Front Office Sports has learned.
The MLB Network and TNT Sports anchor/host is expected to work Netflix’s Opening Night game featuring the Yankees vs. Giants in San Francisco on March 25, sources tell FOS. She’ll also work the streaming giant’s coverage of the 2026 Home Run Derby and Field of Dreams Game.
The new assignment will make Shehadi one of the busiest sportscasters in the business. Her schedule includes:
- During the regular season, she co-hosts MLB Network’s MLB Central with retired World Series champion Mark DeRosa and Robert Flores. The show was nominated for an Emmy Award for “Outstanding Daily Studio Show” last year. She also appears on MLB Network’s special event coverage, while contributing to the Hot Stove weekday morning show.
- Shehadi will be part of TNT Sports’s March Madness coverage this month, working with Kevin Harlan, Stan Van Gundy, and Robbie Hummel through the regional finals.
- During the MLB postseason, Shehadi serves as a field reporter and host for TBS’s baseball coverage.
Shehadi is the latest high profile hire for Netflix as it expands into sports.
The giant streamer poached anchor Elle Duncan from ESPN late last year as its main host for sports coverage. On Tuesday, Derek Futterman of Sports Media Watch reported that MLB Network host Matt Vasgersian is expected to handle play-by-play for the Opening Night game, barring any last-minute change of plans.
MLB Network is co-producing the Opening Night game with Netflix. The game will mark the opening pitch in Netflix’s three-year, $150 million deal with MLB, which includes exclusive live streaming nights to the season-opening game, Home Run Derby, and special events such as the Field of Dreams game.
FOS previously reported that ESPN’s Taylor McGregor was also in the running for the Netflix MLB reporter job. ESPN and Fox, however, are increasingly clamping down on sharing their on-air talent with rival streamers, FOS’s Ryan Glasspiegel has since reported
Netflix and MLB Network declined to comment.
