Netflix announced on Wednesday that it would air not one, but two NFL games on its streaming site on Christmas Day this year, a first ever for the company.
The worldwide streaming site signed a three-season deal with the National Football League that will not only include the two games on Christmas Day during the 2024 NFL regular season, but also at least one game on the holiday each of the next two years, ESPN reported.
“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,” Hans Schroeder, NFL executive vice president of media distribution, said in a statement to the outlet.
“Last year, we decided to take a big bet on live — tapping into massive fandoms across comedy, reality TV, sports and more,” Bela Bejaria, Netflix’s chief content officer, said in a statement to The New York Times. “There are no live annual events, sports or otherwise, that compare with the audiences N.F.L. football attracts.”
The matchups for this year’s Christmas games have yet to be revealed, with teams set to release their 2024 NFL regular schedules on Wednesday 8 p.m. (ET).
You can’t spell Netflix without “NFL”
Netflix will be the home to watch the NFL’s 2024 Christmas Day games LIVE! https://t.co/uzZVLUhNjt pic.twitter.com/BIy8FUV5NW
— Netflix (@netflix) May 15, 2024
This will be the first time the streaming site has partnered with the NFL or any major sports league, and it is hard to see how it would be the last. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell previously talked about the league turning to streaming as it grows in popularity.
“Our fans are on these platforms,” Mr. Goodell told reporters during the week of the Super Bowl. “Our fans want to access them. The technology is extraordinary. You can do things on some of these platforms that you can’t do on the linear platform. For us, it’s part of the future.”
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More streaming sites may be looking to live coverage to increase subscriptions after the NFL granted NBCUniversal exclusive rights to air a 2023 AFC Wild Card Game in January on Peacock.
It was a huge success for the streaming site after it generated an average of 23 million viewers, making it “the most streamed live event in U.S. history,” the Times noted.
“Our entire company worked seamlessly to plan for this game and executed flawlessly to deliver a streaming experience with the NFL on a scale that’s never been done before,” Brian Roberts, chairman and CEO of NBC parent Comcast, previously said. “It’s a very proud moment.”
At the time, Goodell said, “We couldn’t be prouder of our partnership with Peacock and are thrilled with the results of the first-ever exclusively live streamed NFL playoff game.”