(Stock image via Pixabay, Graphic by The Desk)
(Stock image via Pixabay, Graphic by The Desk)
Netflix scored a major victory last year with its near-flawless delivery of two Christmas Day National Football League (NFL) games, part of a broader strategy at the streaming company of attracting and retaining subscribers with live events.
According to a new report from Hub Entertainment Research, Netflix subscribers are pretty split on whether the service’s offering of NFL games are likely to keep them as customers.
More than half of streamers surveyed by Hub — 51 percent, to be precise — said the streamer’s offering of NFL games “makes no difference” when it comes to whether they’ll sign up for a Netflix subscription or keep their current subscription active.
Just under a quarter of streamers said NFL games made them “a lot more likely” to sign up for or keep Netflix, while 25 percent said they were “a little more likely” to do the same, Hub reported.
The results were detailed in Hub’s latest “Evolution of Video Branding” report, which took a deep dive into how consumers feel about the differentiated offerings across streaming services. The report was based on survey responses from more than 1,600 TV viewers.
Historically, Netflix was viewed as unlikely to score live sports rights, with the platform seemingly focused on its delivery of premium original series and licensed films and movies.
Things have changed over the past few years as competition from other services offered by Amazon, Disney, Comcast and Paramount heat up, with each of those brands offering a mixture of premium entertainment and live sports over the past few years.
Likewise, Netflix has branched out into live events, albeit slowly, with the company offering golf tournaments, boxing and comedy specials in recent years.
Last year, Netflix made its most-aggressive play for live events, clinching the rights to World Wrestling Entertainment’s (WWE) flagship program “Raw” in the United States and nearly all of its other programs and pay-per-view specials in overseas markets, as well as rights to NFL games played on Christmas Day.
Like most TV rights to athletic events, the deals cost Netflix a pretty penny: At least $5 billion for WWE rights over the next decade, and $150 million for the two Christmas Day games aired in December.
Netflix streamers are mostly split on whether NFL games make them want to part with their dollars. (Chart courtesy Hub Entertainment Research)
Netflix streamers are mostly split on whether NFL games make them want to part with their dollars. (Chart courtesy Hub Entertainment Research)
Netflix has taken a particularly measured approach to its live sports aspirations: While some C-level executives have expressed interest in more premium live sports programming, the top brass at the company have stated Netflix will only pursue rights where it makes financial sense.
“If there was a path where we could actually make the economics work for both us and the league, we certainly would explore,” Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said on a conference call with investors in January. “But, right now, we believe that the live events business is where we really want to be — and sports is a very important part of that expansion.”
Sarandos and other executives feel live events — not just sports — are critical to maintaining Netflix’s leading position as the biggest streaming service in the world by subscriber count (which, notably, it will stop offering with its next financial earnings report that is due in April).
Live events also help Netflix justify price adjustments — the service averages about one price increase per year — and boost its advertising business by offering more spot inventory for brand marketers.
The Hub report released this week suggests customers are pretty ambivalent in terms of whether live athletic events make Netflix an attractive service, with only around a quarter of streamers expressing a significant amount of excitement about NFL games on the platform.
Fewer streamers are also signing up for Netflix and other platforms simply to watch a particular show or event, with 37 percent affirming they’ve done so over the past year, down from 41 percent who said the same in 2023, according to Hub.
Still, Hub’s Senior Consultant Jason Platt Zolov said streamers that effort rights to live events can make their services stand out, as consumer sentiment over scripted shows and movies start to wane.
“Services that lean into broad-appeal scripted programs may not be enough for viewers who struggle to identify what makes services distinct from one another,” Platt Zolov said. “Emphasizing more brand-defining features and value drivers beyond just exclusive originals could have more upside for streamers looking to improve viewer loyalty.”