Home Run Derby, Yankees Opening Day game coming to Netflix in 2026: Report

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The New York Yankees' first regular season game of 2026 will be streamed exclusively by Netflix, according to The Athletic, kicking off a three-year partnership between Major League Baseball and the streaming giant.

Andrew Marchand reported Thursday that the Yankees-San Francisco Giants game will be the only game airing March 25, giving the two teams -- and Netflix -- Opening Day all to itself. Neither MLB, Netflix, or the involved teams have confirmed the report.

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It's just the tip of the iceberg in what will constitute a historic media-rights deal between the world's largest streaming company and MLB. According to Marchand, Netflix's contract also guarantees it streaming rights for the Home Run Derby and "a handful of special location event regular-season games" that it will share with NBC/Peacock.

MLB's suite of special-location regular season games have included the "Field of Dreams" game in Dyersville, Iowa; a game at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama; and the "Speedway Classic" on the infield of Bristol Motor Speedway.

Those games have been broadcast by Fox Sports in the past.

While surely a lucrative deal for the league, the news deals another blow to Yankee fans, who are more accustomed to having their games broadcast outside their regional sports network (YES) than any other team. Fans who don't subscribe to Netflix will be out of luck -- or forced to pay for the streaming package to watch the first game of 2026.

According to Marchand, around 20 local Yankees games next year will be exclusive to Amazon Prime Video. They will also have games air on Fox, ESPN, TNT Sports, Apple TV+, NBC/Peacock in addition to Netflix.

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