The NFL is set to play three games on Christmas Day this year, streaming across two different platforms.
According to ESPN, this year’s Christmas Day schedule will feature three games, a shift from last year’s two-game format. The change is due to the holiday falling on a Thursday, as opposed to Wednesday in 2024.
Netflix will host the first two games, with Amazon Prime airing the final game of the day. The NFL is yet to confirm which franchises will play in the three fixtures.
Last year, Netflix made its debut in broadcasting NFL games with the Kansas City Chiefs vs. Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens vs. Houston Texans, marking a significant milestone for the streaming platform.
Despite some concerns over Netflix’s ability to stream smoothly, particularly after buffering issues during its coverage of the Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul boxing match, the platform received positive feedback. The broadcast numbers were also strong, with both games attracting more than 30 million in Global Average Minute Audience.
Netflix will undoubtedly be delighted to be selected again for this year, with the platform looking to its newfound expertise to improve upon last year’s performance.
Ahead of its NFL broadcast in 2024, Netflix had little experience with live streaming sports. However, it is now the home of WWE, in which it streams all Smackdown and Raw events weekly across multiple global markets – but not SmackDown in the US – as well as some of the biggest annual events such as the Royal Rumble.
Given this news, it will be interesting to see which brands look to advertise on the broadcast. Last year’s advertising space quickly sold out, with FanDuel and Verizon picking up key exposure from their respective deals.
However, Netflix may feel added pressure this year due to Amazon Prime also streaming one match, as viewers will naturally compare the quality of each broadcast.