ESPN televised the Home Run Derby for over three decades, from 1994 through last season. After MLB and ESPN ended their partnership this offseason, Netflix secured the rights to the event.
In recent years, Netflix has entered live sports broadcasting by focusing on marquee events rather than full-season coverage.
“The volume play is not really our strategy,” Netflix Vice President of Sports Gabe Spitzer told The Athletic last week. “Across sports, how can we show up at meaningful points across the season?”
This season, Netflix aired MLB’s standalone season opener in San Francisco and will stream the Field of Dreams game in Iowa in August. The Home Run Derby stands out as a unique, premium offering.
“Opening Night was a huge one,” Spitzer said. “(So was) Field of Dreams, obviously, coming back this year after being off for a number of years. But then, really, the premium one was Home Run Derby. We know what it means, not just in the U.S. but around the world because we’re going to be in so many different countries.”
The broadcast will retain much of its familiar format, but Netflix will provide commentary in multiple languages to reach a global audience, capitalizing on the popularity of Venezuelan slugger Willson Contreras and Japanese star Munetaka Murakami.
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