With two highly anticipated NFL games and a huge assist from Beyoncé, Netflix has created a major cultural moment in the streaming industry, marking a significant milestone as the service moves further into live sports. However, the event failed to surpass the ratings of last year’s game on television.
Netflix announced Thursday that two NFL games on Christmas Day (Kansas City Chiefs vs. Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens vs. Houston Texans) each drew tens of millions of viewers to the Los Gatos, Calif.-based streaming service. announced that it had brought
Wednesday’s Ravens-Texans game drew an average of 24.3 million viewers in the U.S., compared to the Chiefs-Steelers game before that, which drew 24.1 million viewers, according to Nielsen data released by Netflix. The company said viewership peaked at 27 million during the Ravens-Texans game, which included Beyoncé’s halftime performance. Global streaming numbers will be announced in the coming days.
These strong numbers mean that Netflix’s boxing match between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson has amassed a huge viewership on the platform, even though it has been plagued by buffering and other technical issues for many users. This is what came out after collecting the. The game was Netflix’s first professional live sports event, streamed simultaneously by 65 million households and attracted 108 million viewers worldwide, the company said.
Netflix’s numbers show the potential of streaming as a vehicle for sports broadcasting. However, viewer ratings did not exceed those of traditional television. Last year’s most-watched Christmas Day game averaged 29.2 million viewers on CBS, according to Nielsen data.
The company said data for Wednesday’s game includes traffic to Netflix, as well as mobile viewing on CBS Local Market and NFL+.
Despite the growing popularity of on-demand and live streaming, NFL fans are accustomed to turning on old-school broadcast stations for football showdowns.
Netflix’s NFL games were widely seen as a seminal moment for the streaming industry, combining America’s most popular sport with the world’s largest subscription streaming platform. Streaming services are gobbling up sports league rights, with Amazon securing Thursday Night Football and upcoming NBA games, while Apple is holding Major League Baseball and Major League Soccer games on Friday nights. There is.
“Amazon, YouTube, Apple, and now Netflix, they’re all in the mix,” said Paul Verna, vice president of content at market research firm eMarketer. Netflix’s NFL Christmas Day broadcast will be about “them throwing their hats into the ring in a big way for live sports coverage.”
The entry of tech giants has also increased the price of sports rights. Traditional television networks are often willing to pay big bucks to keep the few games live that can be watched by vast numbers of people at a given time.
Netflix reportedly paid $150 million for the first two NFL games. The service will also feature at least one NFL Christmas game in 2025 and 2026 as part of a three-year deal with the league.
CBS Sports produced the game, and NFL Media produced the pre-halftime, post-halftime and studio programming.
“Bringing our members on this record-breaking day with two NFL games was the best Christmas gift we could give them,” Bela Bajaria, Netflix’s chief content officer, said in a statement. said.
Compared to some prominent streaming rivals, Netflix was late to get into sports.
Prior to the Paul vs. Tyson fight, Netflix’s sports efforts included events such as exhibition golf and tennis tournaments, as well as sports documentaries. Last week, Netflix signaled further ambition by signing a deal to stream the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2027 and 2031. The company is gradually becoming more competitive in this space because it appeals to viewers and, most importantly, advertisers, which is what Netflix is trying to do. To the court.
“Other companies have started small and grown from there, and I think Netflix is going in exactly the same direction,” Verna said.
Neither Christmas game was close. In the first game of the day, Kansas City defeated Pittsburgh 29-10. Baltimore defeated the Texans with a 31-2 victory.
From a technical standpoint, NFL games on Netflix were a much smoother viewing experience for viewers compared to the Paul vs. Tyson game, where the company’s service was overwhelmed with demand. These issues further increased the risk for Netflix, which was preparing for another massive influx of viewers.
The streaming giant has approximately 283 million subscribers worldwide, with approximately 85 million in the United States and Canada.
The company is doing its best to Netflix-ify its TV broadcasts, using commercial breaks to tease upcoming shows and movies such as “The Squid Game” Season 2, which was released on Thursday, “The Night Agent” Season 2, “Back “In Action” etc.). (starring Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz).
The telecast also featured Netflix comedians Bert Kreischer and Nate Bergatze. Bargatze’s latest stand-up special just debuted on the service.
But the biggest non-sports highlight of the event was Beyoncé’s halftime performance during the Ravens vs. Texans game in her hometown of Houston. The artist debuted her latest album, the rustic “Cowboy Carter,” which celebrates her Southern roots, ahead of February’s Grammy Awards, where she competes for album of the year.
Times music critic Michael Wood called the performance “thrilling from top to bottom”. “Despite all the hype,” Wood wrote, her “halftime show served as a reminder that whatever lures Beyoncé out of her superstar cocoon is worth celebrating.” Ta.
NFL regular season games typically don’t have a halftime show. This is a show reserved for big games like the Super Bowl. But Verna said the decision to add Beyoncé to the mix was a wise one.
“Everyone knew Beyoncé was going to perform, so there was definitely a lot more media interest and attention,” he said. “Netflix made good use of these Christmas games, and having a halftime show definitely didn’t hurt.”
