Will Ferrell Was Put On The Home Run Derby Broadcast To Promote His New Netflix Show And Baseball Fans Were Brutal About It
Netflix broadcast the Home Run Derby for the first time Monday night, the first event of a three-year MLB rights deal, and the company's first instinct was to use it as a promotional vehicle for The Hawk, its upcoming comedy series starring Will Ferrell premiering July 16. Ferrell, Luke Wilson and Jimmy Tatro were placed in a booth on the field to provide celebrity commentary during the player introductions alongside legendary ring announcer Michael Buffer.
The two streams of audio ran simultaneously. Nobody could hear either of them clearly. Fans on social media were not subtle about their feelings.
"No he's not lol. This is cringe as hell. If these guys are announcing the whole time I'm about to mute this.
We have fallen so far from Chris Berman," one fan posted on X. The sentiment was widely shared.
The word "unwatchable" appeared in dozens of posts. Netflix also experienced audio glitches and the broadcast was reportedly hard to find on the platform's home page.
The event itself, which Jordan Walker ultimately won with six consecutive home runs in the final, was genuinely excellent. Getting to it was the problem.
The Ferrell segment ended when Matt Vasgersian and Elle Duncan took over the main broadcast.
The product improved. The damage to Netflix's debut MLB broadcast impression had already been done.
The Home Run Derby was not behind a paywall for MLB.tv subscribers, it was exclusive to Netflix, meaning fans without a subscription could not watch at all, which added a separate layer of frustration before the broadcast even began.
