Michael Kay will not be able to call the New York Yankees’ first regular season game of 2026. That’s because Netflix secured the rights to three years’ worth of Opening Day games from Major League Baseball as part of a $50 million package last November.
Former Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia will be in the booth with play-by-play man Matt Vasgersian and former San Francisco Giants slugger Hunter Pence when the Yankees visit the Giants on March 25.
more: Yankees remove 3 pitchers from spring training roster
What is Kay’s opinion?
“It’s really annoying, to be honest with you,” the veteran Yankees play-by-play anchor on YES told Newsday’s Anthony Rieber. “It’s doubly annoying because there’s only the middle game (of a three-game series) and the third game is a Fox game, so essentially I’m going to fly to San Francisco for one game and then go to Seattle after that.
“It’s not ideal because the opening ceremony has its own special pageantry, pomp and circumstance,” Kay said. “People expect pitchers and catchers. That’s No. 1, No. 2 is Opening Day. If I were Netflix, I’d want the Yankees and Giants, but I know all of us at YES want that.”
Netflix also secured longtime MLB Network reporter Lauren Shehadi to cover the game from the dugout. Albert Pujols and former Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo will join Netflix’s coverage of the game studio.
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