We at Awful Announcing watched every second of the 2026 MLB Field of Dreams Game on Netflix last week, resulting in this review of the broadcast. The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Minnesota Twins, 7-1, so the game wasn’t very compelling, but Netflix still produced an enjoyable, high-quality viewing experience.
Unfortunately, Netflix and Major League Baseball did a poor job of letting the general public know they had a game worth watching.
“MLB’s first game at the Field of Dreams movie site in four years in Dyersville, Iowa, averaged 1.66 million viewers on Netflix on Thursday night [Aug. 13], according to Nielsen,” the Associated Press reported Monday night.
Last week’s audience was down substantially from the 2024 game at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, which averaged 2.5 million viewers on Fox. The Rickwood Field game was MLB’s last special event game unaffected by weather (the Speedway Classic in 2025 averaged 1.6 million viewers but was delayed mid-game).
To make matters more disappointing for Netflix, Fox Sports reported over 3.1 million viewers for the 2022 MLB Field of Dreams Game, the last time the league scheduled a game for Dyersville. The inaugural MLB Field of Dreams Game pulled in a whopping 5.9 million viewers, making it the most-watched regular-season baseball game on any network since 2005.
This year’s Field of Dreams Game marked Netflix’s third crack at an MLB broadcast, following Opening Night and the 2026 Home Run Derby. MLB formally announced its new media-rights deals with Netflix, NBC, and ESPN last November.
Netflix scored an estimated 3 million U.S. viewers on average on Opening Night, as announced by Netflix, citing Nielsen. But the streaming giant’s foray into live baseball was a mixed bag in 2026. According to Jimmy Traina, now formerly of Sports Illustrated, Home Run Derby viewership was the event’s lowest in 23 years. Now, these Field of Dreams numbers.
Netflix still has plenty of time — or, at least until 2028 — to strengthen its MLB audience. But it’ll have to do it without the Field of Dreams Game. NBC Sports will broadcast the 2027 MLB Field of Dreams Game between the Boston Red Sox and Kansas City Royals, as announced by MLB and Universal Pictures.
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