Furious Dave Portnoy accuses MLB of ‘shame to – Sports News
Dave Portnoy has turned his fire on Major League Baseball over its choice to launch the 2026 season with an night sport on Netflix.
“I say this every year,” the Barstool Sports founder wrote on social media. “Baseball starting the season with anything other than day baseball games in America is a disgrace to the flag and whoever approved this should be thrown in prison for life.”
The first pitch is scheduled for five:05 p.m. Pacific time, making it an night affair quite than the standard afternoon sport that Portnoy believes the event calls for.
Netflix is paying $60 million yearly as half of a three-year deal with MLB that additionally contains the Home Run Derby and the annual Field of Dreams sport.
For Netflix, it represents a important step in its growing dwell sports activities strategy following the record-breaking Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul battle in November 2024, which attracted 60 million households globally. For Portnoy, it represents yet one more assault on the traditions that make baseball what it’s.
The league and Netflix labored collectively to stage the Yankees-Giants sport sooner or later forward of the remainder of the schedule, with Thursday, March 26 serving as a more conventional Opening Day that includes 13 video games throughout 26 groups.
The Dodgers, chasing a third consecutive World Series title, open their marketing campaign on Thursday at home in opposition to the Arizona Diamondbacks, with that sport airing on NBC and Peacock.
Netflix’s vice president of sports activities Gabe Spitzer framed the unique sport as an alternative to grow the game’s international viewers past hardcore followers.
“Maybe casual fans are tuning in, or someone who’s watched a baseball documentary on Netflix thinks, ‘Oh, I’ll check out the Yankees Giants game because it’s live,'” Spitzer mentioned. “That’s our ultimate goal.”
Former ESPN anchor Elle Duncan, who joined Netflix to lead its sports activities protection, echoed that imaginative and prescient. “If you’re watching ESPN, chances are you’re a really die-hard sports fan, but Netflix is for everyone,” Duncan mentioned. “How do we hook people who are more interested in watching ‘Love is Blind’ into a sports show?”
It shouldn’t be the primary time Portnoy has taken purpose at MLB’s decision-making. Earlier this month he accused Yankees star Aaron Judge of freezing in large moments after the American workforce’s painful World Baseball Classic last defeat to Venezuela. “I feel like you can physically see Aaron Judge’s body freeze up in big moments,” he wrote. “I wouldn’t wish being a Yankee fan on my worst enemy. Must be infuriating.”
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