Skip to main content
SI

Ratings for Home Run Derby and All-Star Game Tell Quite the Story

In the sports world, broadcast still dominates streaming when it comes to viewership.
Jimmy Traina|
More than eight million people watched Yankees outfielder Cody Bellinger win the All-Star Game MVP award.
More than eight million people watched Yankees outfielder Cody Bellinger win the All-Star Game MVP award. | Emilee Chinn/Getty Images

1. Whenever I point out that sports on streaming is a problem, I always get told that “everyone has Netflix” and “everyone has Prime.” Inevitably, someone will also point out that Netflix has 80 million subscribers in the U.S. ESPN is in approximately 60 million homes.

I understand why people would think being in more households is a good thing, but that’s just not how this works. Sports viewership is different. Sports fans are creatures of habit. In addition, sports fans are getting gauged at every single turn when it comes to the number of subscriptions they need to watch games.

The NFL can get away with putting a game on Prime Video every Thursday night for a very simple reason: It’s the NFL. It can do whatever it wants and fans are going to watch.

With other sports, it’s not that easy.

Cut to this week. For the first time ever, Netflix aired the Home Run Derby. The streamer pulled in 5.3 million viewers. When the Derby aired on ESPN last year, it generated 5.7 million viewers. It was the lowest viewership for the Home Run Derby in 23 years.

Do you know understand how hard it is for a sporting even to have a drop in viewership year-over-year right now with Nielsen using a new methodology that has ratings for all sports way up across the board?

The irony here is that the same people who will say “Netflix is in 80 million homes” will also say the Derby rating for Netflix “is good for a streaming service.”

You can’t have it both ways. You can’t argue that sports are better off on Netflix and Prime because they are in more households than ESPN or NBC or Fox and then also say that a weak rating “Is good for a streaming service.”

What was even more damning about the Netflix viewership for Home Run Derby was what happened the following night.

On Tuesday, 8.79 million people tuned in to the All-Star Game on Fox. That was up 21% from last year’s game, which drew 7.1 million viewers. Of course, the World Cup lead-in helped, but nearly nine million viewers for an exhibition with nothing on the line is still impressive.

Yes, we live in the streaming era, but in the sports world, fans still want broadcast over streaming.

2. Am I the only one who thinks it’s kind of odd that Adam Silver would publicly admit that the NBA can’t finish the 2026–27 schedule because LeBron James doesn’t have a team yet?

LeBron is already getting destroyed by the public for “dragging out his free agency” and now the commissioner is getting in on the action.

Not to mention, what if LeBron decides not to sign anywhere for weeks and weeks and weeks? Is the NBA just not going to make a schedule?

Weird.

3. Speaking of LeBron, he has finally decided to enter, as Larry David would call it, “the bald community.”

4. I’m a big Cody Rhodes fan. I’ve had him on SI Media With Jimmy Traina three or four times. He was most recently on in March.

So it pains me to post this, but I have no choice. This is one of the most shocking videos you’ll ever see.

5. If you’ve been following the surreal story ESPN NFL draft analyst Matt Miller, you’ll want to read this new story from The Athletic. It’s hard to put into words just how crazy this entire saga has become as it has unfolded.

6. This week’s SI Media With Jimmy Traina features a conversation with former Around the Horn host Tony Reali.

Reali talks about his new podcast, Real Deal With Tony Reali, the concept behind the show and why he wants to relive certain moments in sports.

In addition, Reali talks about what the past year has been like for him since ATH’s cancellation, why he waited so long to take on a new gig, being taken aback by the lack of offers he received over the past year, how he views ESPN and the changing landscape of the sports media business.

Following Reali, Sal Licata from SNY TV and “The Sal Licata Show” joins me for our weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week, we discussed the Bryce Harper/FanDuel/Cameo scandal, whether batting average matters in baseball, ESPN’s Wimbledon coverage, the Jay-Z concert at Yankee Stadium that started three hours late, Benson Boone, The Bear, Shameless, a new season of Vice’s Dark Side of the Ring, and more.

You can listen to the SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast below or on Apple and Spotify.

You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on YouTube.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY:

Yesterday was the 20th anniversary of one of the most memorable moments in wrestling history.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on X and Instagram.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Loading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations

Published | Modified
Jimmy Traina
JIMMY TRAINA

Jimmy Traina is a staff writer and podcast host for Sports Illustrated. A 20-year veteran in the industry, he’s been covering the sports media landscape for seven years and writes a daily column, Traina Thoughts. Traina has hosted the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast since 2018, a show known for interviews with some of the most important and powerful people in sports media. He also was the creator and writer of SI’s Hot Clicks feature from 2007 to '13.

Home/Media