Major League Baseball’s opening night coverage has been the subject of polarizing opinions.
And this is something Netflix is no stranger to.
Netflix had major streaming issues during its airing of boxing in late 2024, during Jake Paul’s fight with Mike Tyson, which also featured Amanda Serrano’s bout with Katie Taylor, showing a consistent lag. This even led Netflix to be the target of a $50 million lawsuit over the quality of the streaming.
The company is not quite in the same position now following their airing of Yankees-Giants as part of MLB Opening Day, but the online chirping is loud, which Elle Duncan — who joined Netflix as a host following a lengthy tenure on ESPN — responded to on a recent episode of “Pablo Torre Finds Out” this week.
Critics have pointed to non-baseball personalities being used and a new-look scorebug as some of the primary issues.
“Whenever there’s criticism that I saw like, ‘It was just so Netflix. It was not for baseball purists,” Duncan acknowledged, adding, “This was not for baseball purists. You’ll watch it anywhere. This was for the baseball-curious.”
Duncan noted that the broadcast is intended for a broader audience beyond traditional baseball fans.
“A lot of what Netflix is doing in the sports world is, yes, for the people that are always going to watch those sports, but also the people that maybe tuned into to watch “Love is Blind,” saw the button for ‘Opening Day on Netflix,’ and thought, ‘All right, I’ll check it out,’” Duncan said.
Duncan disagrees with the criticisms — which include missing the first-ever Automatic Ball Strike challenge due to a mid-inning dugout interview — and mentioned that baseball fans ultimately expected something they weren’t going to fully get.
“This is like going to a Mexican restaurant and bitching that they don’t have barbecue,” said Duncan. “They advertise as a Mexican restaurant. It’s your fault that you somehow thought they were somehow gonna serve barbecue.”
She later added: “Netflix has made no qualms about who they are. We’re going to eventicize these things, we’re gonna pull people from the Netflix universe. That’s what we’re going to do.”
Netflix will broadcast the Home Run Derby on July 13 and the “Field of Dreams” game between the Phillies and Twins one month later.
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