Netflix’s Christmas Day NFL doubleheader might be looking a bit different this holiday season.
According to a report by Ryan Glasspiegel and Michael McCarthy in Front Office Sports, both ESPN and Fox are “reluctant” to allow their NFL talent to participate in Netflix’s broadcast like they did last year. Per FOS, “When the Commanders face the Cowboys and the Vikings play the Lions on Christmas Day, ESPN talent won’t appear on the Netflix presentation of the games, sources said. Fox talent is not expected to appear, either.”
Last year, ESPN’s Mina Kimes and Laura Rutledge featured prominently on Netflix’s NFL coverage. And after denying Netflix’s request to use its top NFL booth of Kevin Burkhardt and Tom Brady, Fox released its No. 2 analyst, Greg Olsen, to work as a game commentator for the streamer as well.
It doesn’t seem like those two networks will be playing nice this time around. Though, per FOS, “things could change in the event that Netflix agrees to the terms the networks have demanded.”
Should ESPN and Fox deny Netflix use of its on-air talent, the lion’s share of the roles will likely be filled by CBS and NFL Network personnel. CBS, as it did last year, will be producing the doubleheader for Netflix. Last season’s games featured a heavy helping of CBS talent including Ian Eagle, J.J. Watt, Nate Burleson, and Gene Steratore.
Amazon will be producing its own game on Christmas night as part of its Thursday Night Football package, making its talent unavailable. NBC could hypothetically lend its talent to Netflix, though FOS does not suggest this as a possibility. And considering NBC only produces one game per week, there are many fewer people to choose from.
NBC will, however, produce the NFL’s Week 1 Brazil game for YouTube, though it’s unclear if the network’s talent will be made available for the game. The network will already be producing two games during Week 1, the opening game of the season on Thursday night and its traditional Sunday Night Football telecast. The FOS report states it will be “an uphill climb” for YouTube to borrow talents from other networks. NBC did produce and broadcast three games during Week 1 of last year, which included the Brazil game on Peacock.
Given the uncertainty surrounding the NFL’s future broadcasting agreements, with the league almost certain to exercise its opt-out clause in 2029, traditional networks are understandably hesitant to support the streaming services that could replace them in a few years’ time. But at the end of the day, the NFL usually gets its way. If the league feels the need to step in and tell its network partners to give up a few commentators and analysts, that’s exactly what they’ll do.