Netflix will broadcast two National Football League games for the first time this year. Bela Bajaria, chief content officer of Netflix, is excited that the NFL’s Christmas Day games will be on Netflix. The NFL is the first professional sports league to partner with Netflix to carry live games. Netflix will stream two games this year and at least one in 2025 and 2026.
NFL Christmas Day games
In the U.S., it is a tradition to watch the NFL games on Christmas Day. Last year, the game between the Las Vegas Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs averaged almost 30 million viewers. NFL games have the potential to attract huge audiences.
With legal online sports betting in many states in the U.S., families will not only be watching games but placing bets on them, too. They can bet now on NFL games from the comfort of their homes through sports betting apps.
The NFL has been playing games on Christmas Day since 1971 and played three games on that day last year. This year will mark the fifth year of NFL games on Christmas.
The Christmas games will air on traditional television in the cities of the competing teams. Viewers can also see them on the NFL’s mobile app. Otherwise, viewers can only see the games on Netflix.
David Berson, CEO and President of CBS Sports, said that the Netflix involvement would not impact its schedule or deal. CBS Sports has plenty of opportunities to showcase games and drive viewership.
Global exposure
Up to this point, Netflix has shown little live sports coverage. It did start carrying live events last year, such as exhibition events of golf and tennis. In July, it will offer live coverage of heavyweight boxing between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul, a YouTuber.
The partnership with Netflix is an opportunity to expose more global viewers to the game of American football. NFL executive vice president of media distribution, Hans Schroeder, is excited about this prospect.
Netflix started airing NFL programming with the series “Quarterback.” One of the other shows to watch on Netflix is The Tom Brady Roast, which is currently streaming. A 10-part documentary series on Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys, will air later this year. Viewers will also be able to see a series called Receiver that follows five NFL pass-catchers.
NFL broadening its reach
The NFL has already been broadening its reach through streaming platforms. It airs games on Amazon and Peacock, the NBC streaming platform. Nearly 12 million people on average tuned in to last season’s Thursday Night Football package on Prime Video. Two games had over 15 million viewers. One was the November match between the Seattle Seahawks and Dallas Cowboys. An AFC wild-card playoff game in January on Peacock had a massive audience. The game between the Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs averaged 23 million viewers. This shows the potential of live-streaming NFL games.
The league is making international inroads by playing some games abroad. It couldn’t pass up the prospect of partnering with Netflix. The best sporting events globally have extremely high viewing audiences. Netflix operates in more than 180 countries across the world and has over 260 million paid memberships.
