On July 12, 2023, the Netflix logo appears on one of the streaming giant’s Hollywood buildings in Los Angeles.
Mike Blake | Reuters
Netflix will stream Christmas NFL games for the next three years in a serious first step into live sports.
The streaming platform will air two games on Christmas Day this year, followed by at least one game in both 2025 and 2026, the league announced Wednesday. Games will continue to be available on TV in local team markets and on the NFL+ mobile app.
It’s unclear how much Netflix paid for the rights to stream the game.
Netflix has been captivating viewers with its sports programming, from the documentary “Formula 1: Drive to Survive” to its “Quarterback” series, which follows NFL signal callers. The company has made significant strides in live programming, signing deals to stream WWE’s Raw and the Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul boxing match, but the company still hasn’t found a live sports rights strategy that works for it. It suggested that.
Co-CEO Ted Sarandos said in December 2022, “I don’t see a path to profitability for major sports rentals.”
“We’re not anti-sports, we’re just pro-profit,” Sarandos said.
Netflix is ​​currently set to stream games from the most-watched US sports leagues, but this comes at a time when Netflix is ​​raising subscription prices, pushing users toward memberships in ad inventory, and cracking down on password sharing. trying to increase profits. According to Sports Media Watch, the average audience for the three NFL games on Christmas Day last year was 28.68 million.
The streaming giant’s foray into live events hasn’t been without its problems. During a live reunion event for the popular reality show Love Is Blind in April 2023, a technical glitch delayed the stream for more than an hour, at which point the show was no longer live. Ta.
The announcement comes as streamers across the industry are increasingly interested in live sports programming, especially the NFL.
In January, NBCUniversal’s Peacock aired the NFL Wild Card Game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Miami Dolphins, marking the first time a playoff game was broadcast exclusively on a streaming service. AmazonPrime Video has already acquired exclusive rights to next season’s NFL playoff games.
Amazon has also signed on. A media rights deal was struck with the NFL in 2021, in which the NFL agreed to pay approximately $1 billion annually and receive exclusive rights to broadcast Thursday Night Football for 10 years, starting with the 2023 season. The deal marked the first time a streaming service would exclusively distribute a full package of games.
Netflix may also be considering expanding into basketball. CNBC reported last year that Netflix, like Amazon, appleYouTube TV, and Comcast’s NBCUniversal/Peacock have all had preliminary conversations with the NBA about possible interest in media rights in the league’s deal with the NBA. Walt Disney and warner bros discovery It will end next season.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC.
