NFL on Netflix? A Win-Win Partnership

For several decades, U.S. sports fans knew the deal: NFL on Thanksgiving, NBA on Christmas.

Recently, however, the NFL has made a (tush) push to join the holiday spirit. In fact, since 2020, the NFL has played multiple games on Christmas Day each year.

And what made this year special?

Both NFL Christmas games were streamed on Netflix — featuring special performances from Beyoncé and Mariah Carey — as part of a partnership that could have serious implications for the future of live sports.

Netflix Adds “Live” To Sports

For years, Netflix repeatedly stated that they had no interest in offering live sports programming. Just two years ago, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos described live sports as “dramatically expensive” and a “loss leader.”

We’ve seen the streaming powerhouse dominate the sports documentaries industry — F1’s Drive to Survive, Last Chance U, Untold, Full Swing, The Last Dance, and Starting 5 to name a few. 

Now, heading into 2025, Netflix is making its intention to disrupt the live sports media industry abundantly clear.

Last week, Netflix reached a deal with FIFA to have exclusive U.S. broadcasting rights for the 2027 and 2031 Women’s World Cup. And premiering on January 6, Netflix will be the exclusive new home of WWE’s Raw, as part of a 10-year, $5 billion deal.

Leading Up To Christmas

Back in May, Netflix paid $150M for the exclusive rights to stream both NFL Christmas games. The three-season deal also includes the streaming rights for games on Christmas Day in 2025 and 2026.

Five weeks ago, Netflix experienced major buffering issues when streaming the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson boxing match. Despite the technical difficulties, Netflix’s telecast scored 108 million viewers worldwide — the most streamed global event ever according to Netflix.

Learning from the boxing blunder, Netflix outsourced Christmas Day production to CBS and NFL Media. Additionally, Netflix brought in well-known and established studio hosts and NFL personalities to provide entertainment, predictions, and analysis.

2024 Christmas Gameday

Leading up to kickoff, the streaming giant struggled early with minor technical issues: studio analyst Kay Adams’ microphone malfunctioned, Mina Kimes was interrupted by a Squid Game 2 promotion, and the scoreboard gave the Steelers two timeouts to start the game.

After the early mishaps, however, Netflix recovered. Millions of fans around the world enjoyed stable streaming for both games with minimal disruptions and buffering.

And, as the saying goes, the numbers don’t lie.

The (Initial) Results

Keep in mind that (i) more numbers and details on the ratings will be reported over the next week and (ii) the update below was tweeted before Ravens-Texans kicked off (and before Beyoncé blessed us with her presence).

With that said, according to NFL Media, an early glimpse of the Chiefs-Steelers reach:

Why Netflix x NFL Is A Win-Win

A few examples on why the NFL and Netlfix partnership is mutually beneficial (h/t to industry leader Joe Pompliano and his twitter activity)

Wins for the NFL:

• Money: receives $150M in TV money

• Global distribution: reaches millions of fans worldwide to build international awareness and grow the game

• Insight + leverage: test run for consumer experience and ratings on Netflix — ahead of renegotiating its next media rights deal

Wins for Netflix:

• Money: selling commercials (massive audience = high price tag)

• Customer value: acquiring/retaining customers who see extra value in a subscription that offers live sports

• Self-promotion: promoting original content, like Squid Game 2 and Happy Gilmore 2, to an audience they are trying to target

The overarching win for both the NFL and Netflix:

• Viewership: tens of millions of viewers from around the world tuning into to watch a unique and groundbreaking sports and entertainment spectacle

My Thoughts

One takeaway: more people need to be talking about the Beyonce halftime show. 

In addition to appealing to different demographics, acquiring halftime entertainment from someone as iconic and talented as Beyonce is unprecedented. Queen Bey’s aura and commercial success speaks for itself — and she stole the show (certainly providing more entertainment than the Ravens’ 31-2 blowout)

And with the amount of eyeballs on the TV, the opportunity to perform is a win for the artist too. I’d expect to see halftime Christmas performances each year moving forward.

Once the final ratings are in we’ll have more clarity on just how big of a success NFL on Christmas was — for both Netflix and the NFL.

But if the early results are any indication of the historic success… this could be the tip of the iceberg for Netflix and live sports. What’s stopping Netflix from streaming the NBA? MLB? NHL? MMA?

In today’s sports world, fragmentation is a growing problem. The NFL, for example, offers games on CBS, Fox, NBC, ESPN, ABC, ESPN+, Amazon Prime, Peacock, and now Netflix. According to a FOS article, to get every game without cable would cost you $788.

Customers are growing tired of paying for multiple subscriptions to access the same product. My prediction? The NFL will consolidate the number of platforms and networks used to distribute its games over the next several years.

If true, the NFL is currently in a major testing phase. Whether Netflix beats out other streaming services, like Amazon Prime and Peacock, remains unclear. However, ratings and consumer satisfaction will drive negotiations leading up to 2033, when the current NFL TV rights deal expires.

I’m not an avid sports bettor, but there is one over/under I’ll be pondering: 

O/U the year we see Netflix host the Super Bowl? I’ll set the line at 2034.

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Happy Holidays and I’ll see you guys next year!

Here’s to an amazing 2025,

Duggs

Sources:

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6018940/2024/12/25/netflix-nfl-broadcasting-streaming-christmas/

https://frontofficesports.com/newsletter/netflix-passes-nfl-christmas-test/

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