The commissioner of baseball keeps telling everyone he wants to grow the game and get more eyes on the national pastime, but his actions say otherwise. Rob Manfred can talk all he wants about expanding the sport, but what fans are seeing on the field—and more importantly, off it—tells a very different story.
Take Opening Day, or what used to be Opening Day. It once felt like a holiday, a day when baseball returned in full force, with games all afternoon and into the night. This year, that tradition took another hit. The New York Yankees opened the season in a standalone game against the San Francisco Giants, which is fine on the surface, but the next day didn’t even feature a full slate of games. That’s not a celebration of baseball—it’s a disjointed, watered-down version of what used to be special.
And then came the latest twist. In his all-powerful wisdom, Manfred decided that Opening Day should now feel more like Opening Night, with first pitch at 8:00 p.m. Eastern time. To make matters worse, the game was placed on Netflix. So now, not only are younger fans shut out because the game runs too late on a school night, but many families can’t even watch without another subscription. Sorry guys I don't need to hear the Uso's take on a double play ball.
Think about that for a second. Kids who look up to stars like Aaron Judge might not even get to see him play on Opening Day. East Coast fans are left checking the score the next morning instead of watching the final outs. The days of talking about the game at school the next day are slipping away, replaced by highlights and notifications.
For Yankees fans, it gets even worse. If you want to watch every game this season from your couch, be ready to pay up—potentially close to $200 in streaming services. Between Netflix, Apple TV, Prime Video, Peacock, and access to ESPN, FOX and YES Network broadcasts, it’s become a full-time job just figuring out where the game is.
If the goal is truly to grow the game, it shouldn’t be this complicated. Forget the gimmicks. Let kids watch their teams. Let fans turn on the TV without jumping through hoops. Baseball doesn’t need reinvention—it needs accessibility.