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There was a comeback at MLB’s Home Run Derby on Monday night. And no, we’re not talking about Cardinals outfielder Jordan Walker’s rally to overtake Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber. We’re talking about Netflix, which bounced back strongly following its critically panned coverage of MLB Opening Night.
The streaming giant’s coverage of Yankees-Giants from Oracle Park in San Francisco in March amounted to one big Netflix ad. There was shirtless comedian Bert Kreischer in a branded Netflix kayak in McCovey Cove, Little Brother star John Cena trying to explain the automated ball-strike (ABS) system, Stranger Things teasers, etc.
Netflix has a three-year, $150 million deal with MLB to show Opening Night, the Home Run Derby, and a special event like the upcoming “Field of Dreams” game. Well, let’s give the sports team at Netflix credit for learning quickly and not making the same mistakes again.
During its debut coverage of the Home Run Derby at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Netflix let the event come to it. It focused on the action on the field; not itself.
Led by host Elle Duncan, I thought the streamer’s Home Run Derby coverage was light-years better than Opening Night. The studio team of Duncan, Barry Bonds, Anthony Rizzo, Albert Pujols, plus play-by-play announcer Matt Vasgersian was looser, funnier, more relaxed. They kept the focus on mechanics and the mindset necessary to pound baseballs into the distant stands. They let the event breathe—which is saying something given this was only its second MLB event ever.
Still, Netflix is going to Netflix. There was one big swing and a miss. Viewers rightly panned funnyman Will Ferrell, Luke Wilson, and Jimmy Tatro for their awkward attempt to tout their Netflix show The Hawk. Their jokes weren’t funny and their antics only took away from player introductions.
One viewer wrote on X/Twitter: “Ben Rice was in diapers the last time Will Ferrell was funny please don’t put him on my screen again.” As my Front Office Sports colleague Ryan Glasspiegel tweeted, “The only person who gets booked and ever says anything funny in these scenarios is Shane Gillis.”
Netflix also needs to improve its camera angles, which generated numerous complaints across social media. Again, a less-is-more approach is the way to go. Don’t try to reinvent something sports television has perfected over the decades.
Some other observations:
- Duncan has proved she’s the right pick to host Netflix’s global sporting events. The former ESPN SportsCenter anchor can host any event with humor, smarts, and style. She had fun right from the beginning, declaring: “I like big bats and I cannot lie.” Duncan was able to get the normally sour Bonds to smile and share some war stories. As she previously predicted to FOS, MLB’s decision to eliminate timed rounds in the Home Run Derby proved to be a hit. As Duncan told me, Netflix is trying to reach casual, as well as hardcore sports fans, with its “eventized” sports coverage. “We’re trying to get the people who are baseball-curious, who are sports-curious, and who are interested in the way Netflix can present something we’ve seen for a really long time,” she said.
- The likable Rizzo had a big night. The former Cubs first baseman had one of the best lines of the night when he described the hulking Schwarber—who he played with in Chicago—as “every beer league softball player’s hero.” Rizzo is proving to be just as good at media as my sources predicted after charming the snarky New York press corps as a Yankee.
- Little changes matter. It was more entertaining to have “Batting Stance Guy” impersonating the distinctive swings and stances of Bonds, Rizzo, and Pujols than Kreischer acting the fool.
With more than 325 million subscribers globally, Netflix is here to stay in big-time sports. Given its bounce-back performance last night, I will be curious whether it can keep up the momentum during the “Field of Dreams” game between the Phillies and Twins from the cornfields of Iowa on Aug. 13.
Again, it’s not rocket science. Keep the focus on baseball, not cross-promotion. Netflix mostly did that Monday night. It’s a promising sign for its future sports coverage.
