​PHILADELPHIA — Like several of the contestants in Monday night’s MLB Home Run Derby, Netflix’s first broadcast of the competition started slow.Bouncing between announcers in a booth and on the field limited the show’s momentum for what is arguably sports’ last great exhibition. Close-up camera angles of hitters hid a bit too much from viewers. Commercial breaks right after a contestant’s final swing took air out of the broadcast, as did a last-chance magenta ball (sponsored by T-Mobile) of which none of the boppers seemed capable of taking advantage. During an elaborate player intro sequence, hometown hero Bryce Harper momentarily appeared to nearly destroy the home plate-shaped boxing ring that had been set up where second base would normally be.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMore from Sportico.comJapan’s SoftBank Hawks’ Revenue Topped 12 MLB Clubs Last YearPaul Hastings LLP Launches Sports Practice Amid Global BoomKalshi’s Weather Delay Bets Raise Regulatory QuestionsBut everybody settled in, with time to do so thanks to the league’s return to an untimed format. Playing at home, Kyle Schwarber did just enough to advance to the second round, even if Harper didn’t. Then Phillies fans came alive at the chance to boo everybody in Schwarber’s way as he swung into the finals—only for 24-year-old Jordan Walker to stun the crowd with six straight homers, ending the night $1 million richer. Everyone except for the diehard Phanatics came out a winner.“What a win this is for our sport,” Netflix analyst Anthony Rizzo said at the end of the night.An era of on-demand highlight reels has taken much of the allure out of sports’ all-star competitions. The NBA Dunk Contest hasn’t been won by an actual all-star since 2018. The NFL’s Pro Bowl Games are on life support, and the NHL’s skills challenges have ceded the ice to international competitions each of the last two seasons.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMLB’s derby has more successfully maintained its cultural cachet, thanks largely to big-name players participating—including three of the top four HR hitters so far in 2026—a clear night on the sports calendar in the middle of summer, and the almost unspoilable joys of watching men crush baseballs.Netflix paid a reported $50 million annually for the Derby, along with an Opening Night game and midseason Field of Dreams contest.The mash-fest seems to fit the streamer’s sweet spot of entertainment-heavy sporting events, though if anything, its presentation of the derby felt surprisingly subdued in comparison to past spectacles.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementSave for a Will Ferrell cameo and a couple appearances from boxing announcer Michael Buffer, there weren’t many crossovers in Citizens Bank Park. What started out as a comedy was allowed to become a drama. The boxing ring metaphor was largely abandoned once the competition began, even though there were more opportunities to mix baseball’s tradi