Jameis Winston latest big name added to Netflix’s Opening Night MLB coverage

Jameis Winston is joining Netflix as a special guest for the streaming service’s coverage of Yankees-Giants on Opening Night, according to a release.

Winston is no stranger to baseball. Winston played college football at Florida State in part because he was also allowed to play on the Florida State baseball team. Prior to the 2014 season, Winston was named a preseason All-American by Baseball America as a utility player. As a pitcher, Winston had a 1.08 ERA in 24 games in 2014.

Unlike Barry Bonds, who will join the Netflix coverage as a studio analyst, Winston will only serve as a special guest. It’s unclear what exactly that means for Winston’s role in the coverage. Comedian Bert Kreischer, who also attended Florida State, will serve in a similar role.

The tie-in between Jameis Winston and baseball, other than his time at Florida State, is not immediately clear. However, Winston is well known as a charismatic football player with an interest in sports media. Winston served as a a digital correspondent for Fox’s Super Bowl coverage in 2025. Notably, Netflix holds the rights to both the NFL and MLB.

Along with Bonds, Albert Pujols and Anthony Rizzo will also serve as studio analysts. Elle Duncan, who has an extended agreement with Netflix, will serve as the host.

In the broadcast booth, Matt Vasgersian will serve as the play-by-play announcer alongside analysts CC Sabathia and Hunter Pence. Lauren Shehadi will serve as a reporter.

Netflix will also have coverage in Japanese, Spanish, Korean, and Brazilian Portuguese.

The number of big names on the Netflix commentary team, despite the fact that Netflix only holds the rights to Opening Night, the Home Run Derby, and the Field of Dreams Game, shows that Netflix is trying very hard to make the opening of the MLB season feel like a big event.

NBC did a very good job making NBA Opening Night feel like a big event in its inaugural coverage. Strong opening night ratings for the NBA have been credited, in part, to NBC’s coverage. Though moving from cable to over-the-air television certainly helped as well.

We will know if this strategy works for Netflix. The streaming service has reached an agreement with Nielsen to measure the viewership of its games.