The Home Run Derby is one of MLB's marquee events, but it didn't feel like it on Monday.
After airing on ESPN for years, the derby aired on Netflix for the first time on Monday. Not surprisingly, the move from cable to a streaming service and putting the event behind a paywall shrank the TV audience considerably.
Despite the thrilling finish between Kyle Schwarber and Jordan Walker, ratings sank from 5.7 million last year to 5.3 million this year, marking the lowest TV attendance for the derby since 2003, when 5.2 million people tuned in.
Netflix earns smallest Home Run Derby audience since 2003 https://t.co/WFQkH43Z1I
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 16, 2026
The decrease can largely be attributed to the event airing on Netflix, which made it less accessible. It also probably didn't help that many of the sport's biggest stars didn't participate, including Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani, Mike Trout, Juan Soto, Yordan Alvarez, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and defending champ Cal Raleigh.
Similar to Netflix's Opening Day production, the derby broadcast was criticized for poor direction and editing, weird camera angles, and boring commentary. If the streaming giant wants more eyeballs next year, it needs to step up its game.