Not surprisingly, Netflix went very big in its live MLB debut Wednesday night, but the broadcast of the Yankees-Giants game contained a series of technical issues that left plenty of questions.
The opening night contest from Oracle Park was a centerpiece of Netflix’s move to make live MLB coverage into much more of an event. The pregame show featured all-time home run hitter Barry Bonds, plenty of promos for other Netflix series, and on-field announcer and comedian Bert Kreischer—who also has a series on the streaming service.
The broadcast also included dozens of Netflix-branded kayaks stationed in McCovey Cove and interviews with not only MLB commissioner Rob Manfred but Giants quarterback Jameis Winston and WWE wrestlers Jey and Jimmy Uso—ultimately creating what has been widely described as an infomercial feel.
The actual game, meanwhile, contained a series of production issues that further marred the overall broadcast. Among them:
- The primary camera angle in center field showing each pitch from behind the pitcher had a hazy sheen for much of the game. That relative lack of clarity owed in part to pregame fireworks and the late-afternoon San Francisco sun.
- The game broadcast largely missed the first-ever use of the automated ball-strike (ABS) challenge system in a MLB regular-season game. The unsuccessful challenge by the Yankees’ Jose Caballero was overlooked due to an in-game interview with Giants manager Tony Vitello, forcing play-by-play announcer Matt Vasgersian to catch viewers up afterwards.
- The scorebug designed by Netflix also drew complaints due to key features, such as player names and pitch counts, being rendered in extremely small type.
“[I] would really prefer if the names in the Netflix scorebug could be even smaller,” said one sarcastic social-media comment typical of the evening’s sentiment.
As has been the plan since Netflix completed its three-year rights deal with MLB last year, MLB Network played a central role in the production of the Netflix game. The league-owned outlet will perform the same function for the Home Run Derby and Field of Dreams Game this summer, also to be shown on Netflix.
Those events will be key parts of MLB’s midseason calendar, and it will bear close watching what changes will be made to the production between now and then.
MLB’s full Opening Day will happen Thursday, as another 11 games are scheduled—including the return of NBC to national MLB broadcasting with its coverage of the Pirates and Mets from Citi Field.
