After its monster $5 billion rights deal with WWE struck in January, streaming giant Netflix has made its first significant move into “non-scripted” live sports.
The NFL on Wednesday took another step toward its goal of making its games as widely available as possible by striking a three-year deal with Netflix.
Netflix will be the global home of the NFL’s two Christmas Day marquee games. The Pittsburgh Steelers will host the reigning two-time Kansas City Chiefs, while the Houston Texans will host the Baltimore Ravens in the two holiday games.
In 2025 and 2026, Netflix will be streaming at least one holiday game each year as part of this three-season deal.
“Last year, we decided to take a big bet on live – tapping into massive fandoms across comedy, reality TV, sports and more,” said Bela Bajaria, Netflix chief content officer. “There are no live annual events, sports or otherwise, that compare with the audiences NFL football attracts. We’re so excited that the NFL’s Christmas Day games will be only on Netflix.”
“We couldn’t be more excited to be the first professional sports league to partner with Netflix to bring live games to fans around the world,” said Hans Schroeder, NFL executive vice president of media distribution. “The NFL on Christmas has become a tradition and to partner with Netflix, a service whose biggest day of the year is typically this holiday, is the perfect combination to grow this event globally for NFL fans.”
Netflix has been playing ball with the NFL for a couple of years now beginning with the hit series “Quarterback” in 2023. This summer, “Receiver” is set to premiere on Netflix and will follow five of the NFL’s best pass catchers through their 2023 season on and off the field: Davante Adams (Las Vegas Raiders), Justin Jefferson (Minnesota Vikings), George Kittle (San Francisco 49ers), Deebo Samuel (San Francisco 49ers) and Amon-Ra St. Brown (Detroit Lions).
The NFL launched Yuletide games in 1971 before bringing them back on a semi-regular basis in 1989. Since 2020, they’ve been a holiday staple with last year’s three Christmas games ranking among the top 25 most viewed TV programs of 2023; the Raiders versus Chiefs match drew the highest Christmas Day viewership since 1988. In total, the NFL has staged 30 Christmas contests. In keeping with the NFL’s long-standing holiday tradition, the Netflix Christmas Day games will air on broadcast TV in the competing team cities, and be available on U.S. mobile devices with NFL+.
