Former Giants slugger Barry Bonds, left, and Albert Pujols appear on the pregame show during the Netflix broadcast of the 2026 Major League Baseball opening-night game between the New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park on Wednesday, March 25.
Deborah Coleman/Netflix
Sitting at the Netflix desk during the pregame show, from right to left: host Elle Duncan, former Giants player Barry Bonds, and other former players Albert Pujols and Anthony Rizzo before the Major League Baseball opening-night game between the New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park on Wednesday, March 25.
Deborah Coleman/Netflix
Actor Yahya Abdul-Mateen II attends the Major League Baseball opening-night game between the New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park on Wednesday, March 25.
Deborah Coleman/Netflix
The 2026 San Francisco Giants stepped off a cable car pulled up to their dugout. The New York Yankees entered the field between two yellow cabs, complete with hip-hop performers dancing on them, in a scene that could have been straight out of the musical “Fame.”
Welcome to Netflix’s first baseball spectacle.
The Bay Area streaming service’s inaugural Major League Baseball broadcast, seen in nearly 200 countries, was an epic though flawed live event — that came hours before it raised its subscription rates for the second time in a year. The on-field entertainment was provided by the Yankees, which pummeled the Giants 7-0 on Wednesday, March 25, to spoil the debut of new Giants manager Tony Vitello.
Article continues below this ad
But in a maelstrom of mostly celebrities, most with Netflix shows to promote — actors Daniel Dae Kim and John Cena, Oakland-raised actor Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, WWE wrestler Jey Uso, a San Francisco native; comedian Bert Kreischer and even NFL quarterback Jameis Winston — a true star emerged: Barry Bonds.
The Giants legend and all-time home-run king, who has been retired for nearly two decades (but is still not in the Baseball Hall of Fame because of his association with steroids), made his debut as an on-air analyst, part of Netflix’s pre- and postgame shows.
San Francisco Chronicle Logo
Make us a Preferred Source to get more of our news when you search.
Add Preferred Source
Yankees slugger Aaron Judge is introduced in front of yellow cabs and dancers before the 2026 Major League Baseball opening night game between the New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park on Wednesday, March 25.
Netflix
Bonds, in good humor and engaging throughout the telecast, even alluded to his famously prickly personality as he sat at a desk near the center field bleachers with moderator Elle Duncan and fellow ex-ballplayers Albert Pujols and Anthony Rizzo during the pregame show.
Article continues below this ad
“With all the criticism I’ve been through … I may not have talked to anybody off the field. That was just me, all right?” Bonds said. “But on that field, I was probably the best teammate you would ever have. I took more walks for my team. Got on base for my team. And that’s what baseball is about.”
Networks have been trying to sign Bonds to a broadcast contract for years, but the former slugger, who has a reputation of staying out of the public eye, has always resisted. So Netflix honored the event by stationing 73 bright red Netflix-logoed kayaks in McCovey Cove beyond the right field arcade — one for every home run hit during Bonds’ record-setting season in 2001.
At one point during the pregame show, a baseball bat spiked with nails appeared on the desk, a promotion for the upcoming Netflix animated series “Stranger Things: Tales From ’85.” Bonds looked at it with arch-eyed amusement and said, “I’d like to have used this against (Hall of Fame pitcher) Randy Johnson.”
Bonds grew up in San Carlos when his father, Bobby Bonds, played for the Giants. He joined an all-Bay Area broadcast booth in the bottom of the sixth inning. He told play-by-play announcer Matt Vasgersian and Hall of Fame pitcher CC Sabathia — both East Bay natives — and former Giants World Series star Hunter Pence a humorous story about how he almost became a Yankee after the 1992 season.
The Netflix desk featured host Elle Duncan, from bottom, ex-Giants slugger Barry Bonds, and former players Albert Pujols and Anthony Rizzo at the Major League Baseball opening-night game between the New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park on Wednesday, March 25.
Deborah Coleman/Netflix
“George isn’t here anymore so I can tell the truth,” said Bonds, referring to the late mercurial Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. “I would’ve been a Yankee but Steinbrenner got on the phone and called us, ‘Barry, we’re going to give you the money of the highest-paid player of that time but you have to sign the contract by 2 o’clock this afternoon,’ and I said, ‘Excuse me?’ and I just hung the phone up. … I went down the street to get lunch, and the Giants called me and I said, ‘I’m going home.’”
Article continues below this ad
Beyond Bonds, Netflix’s first foray into baseball was mostly solid. The booth, led by Moraga-raised Vasgersian, a veteran broadcaster who will also call games for MLB Network and NBC/Peacock this season, was skilled and efficient. Elle Duncan, signed away from ESPN by Netflix in December, was flawless as the pre- and postgame host.
The Hollywood-scale on-field pregame show, from the lineup introduction to a spectacular national anthem performed by U.S. Navy veteran Generald Wilson. It climaxed with a pyrotechnic show created by dozens of drones that shot out red, white and blue smoke to form the American flag, and a flyover by two fighter jets.
It was all very impressive. But there were also huge missteps.
Drones release smoke to create the U.S. flag during the playing of the national anthem for the MLB opening-night game between the San Francisco Giants and the New York Yankees at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Wednesday, March 25.
Santiago Mejia/S.F. Chronicle
In the first couple of innings, Netflix viewers were treated to green screen ads behind home plate, including an egregiously glowing advertisement for Adobe, the San Jose-based digital media and software company. The red color bled into the umpire and players, particularly affecting left-handed batters. Giants designated hitter Rafael Devers, for instance, looked like a hologram projected by the Adobe ad.
Article continues below this ad
Netflix seemed to catch on, and the ad wasn’t shown again the rest of the game.
The worst snafu, though, happened in the top of the fourth. This is the first season in MLB history with the ability to challenge an umpire’s pitch call through the Automated Ball-Strike Challenge System. In its first use, the Yankees contested a called strike thrown by Webb to Yankees batter José Caballero, and the call was upheld. But Netflix viewers missed it because sideline reporter Lauren Shehadi was interviewing Vitello in the Giants dugout.
One bright spot, unlikely to be appreciated by baseball purists but was perfect for the Netflix vibe, was Winston. The Heisman Trophy winner who was also a star baseball pitcher at Florida State University was an unexpected delight during the broadcast.
NFL quarterback and Netflix reporter Jameis Winston launches hot dogs into the stands at Oracle Park after the MLB opening-night game between the New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants on Wednesday, March 25.
Netflix
Playing the role of enthusiastic fan and class clown, he joined the Giants grounds crew to sweep the infield dirt, threw hot dogs to kayakers in McCovey Cove, sampled ballpark food and interviewed players during batting practice.
Article continues below this ad
If the partnership between MLB and Netflix is to expand baseball’s fan base, then Winston understood the assignment.
Before the game, the New York Giants quarterback told the Chronicle that the opportunity first began to take shape last month when he went to lunch with Netflix executives while he was in the Bay Area for the 2026 Super Bowl. Winston said he leapt at the chance to visit the city associated with one of his idols, Willie Mays.
“I’m from the same city as Willie Mays, the ‘Say Hey Kid,’” said Winston, who like Mays grew up near Birmingham, Ala. “Baseball has been a big part of my life, and for me to somehow end up at this particular park with the impact that Willie Mays and Barry Bonds had, it’s truly a blessing to be here.”
Kayakers float in McCovey Cove during the MLB opening-night game between the San Francisco Giants and the New York Yankees at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Wednesday, March 25.
Santiago Mejia/S.F. Chronicle
Winston said MLB can learn from the NFL, which has expanded its reach by staging several games a year outside the U.S., as a model for growing its international brand. With 30% of major leaguers born outside the country, Winston said Netflix can provide a global platform that can help inspire youths to play the game as well as attract new fans.
“It was meant for me to be here,” Winston said. “I want to help increase fan engagement and let them know the athletic experience of what’s going on inside the diamond, but also to create an experience outside the diamond that we all can experience.”
As for Giants fans, it’s back to their regularly scheduled programming. Wednesday’s game will be the only one on Netflix this season. The season resumes Friday, March 27, against the Yankees on NBC Sports Bay Area, with a local broadcast team led by Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow.