Netflix’s debut MLB broadcast has a play-by-play voice.
MLB Network host and play-by-play announcer Matt Vasgersian is expected to call the Opening Night game between the Giants and Yankees at Oracle Park on March 25, barring any last-minute change, according to Sports Media Watch’s Derek Futterman.
The game — first announced as a standalone primetime opener back in August, the first such leadoff game since 2015 — pits Aaron Judge and the Yankees against Rafael Devers and the Giants at 8:05 p.m. ET, the night before the other 28 teams begin their seasons on what will be the earliest Opening Day in MLB history.
Netflix landed the game when ESPN and MLB mutually opted out of their deal after the 2025 season, with the standalone opener among the notable assets that changed hands in the subsequent round of negotiations. Netflix’s deal runs three years through 2028 and also includes the Home Run Derby and the Field of Dreams Game, all produced by MLB Network in partnership with Netflix.
Matt Vasgersian is a natural fit for that setup, given his nearly two decades at MLB Network, where he has been a fixture on MLB Tonight, Hot Stove, and the network’s national Showcase game package since its 2009 launch. He’s also scheduled to call the WBC knockout stage on the world feed this week. Before his tenure at MLB Network, he spent four seasons as the play-by-play voice of ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball, then departed on his own terms in October 2021 to focus on MLB Network and his role as the Angels’ local play-by-play voice.
Vasgersian slots in as the final major piece of a broadcast that has been taking shape for weeks. Andrew Marchand previously reported that Netflix is pursuing Barry Bonds for pregame and postgame coverage at Oracle Park — he spent the final 15 seasons of his career with the Giants and retired as baseball’s all-time home run leader — and C.C. Sabathia for the Yankees side, who will also have his No. 52 retired by the franchise later this season. Elle Duncan, who joined Netflix in December as its first full-time sports broadcaster, is expected to anchor the studio coverage.
Matt Vasgersian was one of the first voices MLB Network ever put on air. He’ll be the first voice Netflix does.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.