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Netflix took some time to commit to streaming live sports, but the long game has proven to be the right strategy as its partnership with the NFL got off to a stellar start on Christmas.
The two NFL games (Steelers-Chiefs and Ravens-Texans) averaged 24.1 million and 24.3 million viewers respectively on Netflix, the streamer announced on Thursday. They are the most-streamed NFL games in U.S. history, according to Nielsen. The previous record was 23 million, set by Peacock for a Dolphins-Chiefs playoff game in January. The regular-season high was 17.92 million, set by the Lions and Packers on Amazon Prime Video earlier this month. U.S. viewership peaked during Beyonce’s halftime show in the latter game, with over 27 million viewers streaming the performance. Nielsen also said 65 million total U.S. viewers watched the stream.
Global numbers are not yet available, but Nielsen plans to release them on December 31.
“We’re thrilled with our first Christmas Gameday on Netflix with NFL games being streamed to a global audience,” said Hans Schroeder, NFL executive vice president of media distribution.
The two sides have two more years on their deal, with the streamer holding the rights to ‘at least’ one game apiece for 2025 and 2026. The league currently plans to play two games next Christmas, with one being streamed by Netflix and one by Amazon, since Dec. 25 will fall on a Thursday.
Two Can Win on Christmas
However, the NFL’s decision to play a two-game slate instead of what was a tripleheader for the last two years—and perhaps the decision to shift to a streaming service rather than traditional TV—helped the NBA secure its most-watched Christmas day slate in five years.
The NBA, whose declining viewership has been a topic of conversation for most of the season, averaged 5.25 million viewers on Christmas this year, an 84% increase versus 2023. (All five games were simulcast on ABC this year, compared to just two last year.) The viewership is also the highest in five years, or since the NFL returned to scheduling games on Christmas.
All five of the games were decided by ten points or less, including a last-second win for the Lakers over the Warriors in a game that drew 7.76 million viewers, the league’s most-watched Christmas game since 2019.
This single day had a transformative effect: the league’s total year-over-year viewership decline is now down to just 4% compared to what was an 18% deficit before Christmas.
Shifting to Pro Wrestling
While professional wrestling’s scripted nature classifies it as a sports entertainment product, WWE and Netflix’s 10-year, $5 billion partnership is still the streaming giant’s first foray into regularly live-streaming a weekly sports product. The mostly solved buffering issue on Christmas provides a positive sign for the WWE, which is Netflix’s next major live event on the calendar premiering on Jan. 6.
WWE Raw will not draw anywhere near the U.S. viewership of the NFL—the show has averaged about 1.6 million viewers on the USA Network this year—but it has a substantial international audience. The wrestling promotion’s international rights deal with Netflix includes several premium live events, including WrestleMania and SummerSlam.
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