Netflix may have to make some adjustments to its Christmas wishlist this year.

Some rival networks are bristling at the idea of lending their on-air talents to the streaming behemoth for this year’s holiday double-header, sources tell Front Office Sports. 

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. 

Things could change in the event that Netflix agrees to the terms the networks have demanded. 

ESPN talents who worked last year’s Netflix slate included Laura Rutledge and Mina Kimes. Fox denied a request for its top announce team of Tom Brady and Kevin Burkhardt but eventually relented to allow Greg Olsen to work as a color commentator. 

Amazon, which did not have any NFL talents on Netflix last year, has a Christmas game of its own this year, Chiefs-Broncos, airing the same night of the Netflix doubleheader. It would therefore logistically not be able to lend its core NFL talents for the holiday. 

CBS produced the games for Netflix last year and lent talents including Ian Eagle, J.J. Watt, Nate Burleson, and Gene Steratore. CBS is producing the games for Netflix again this year, and the expectation is that a number of its talents will be on the 2025 Christmas telecasts. 

Spokespeople for ESPN, Fox, CBS, and Netflix declined to comment; spokespeople for Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

There are several reasons why networks like ESPN and Fox wouldn’t want their talents appearing on Netflix. It has been widely speculated that the NFL could opt out of rights agreements with its partners in 2029, and that Netflix could be in contention for a bigger package. Rival outlets don’t want to help Netflix gain a leg up in the process. 

Another factor is that the networks pay a lot of money for their broadcasters, in many cases, in the hopes of keeping them exclusive to their own programming. Fox, for example, bars its talents from appearing on CBS and ESPN as a blanket rule. 

While we are still nearly six months out from Christmas, it appears as though Netflix will have to rely on talent from NFL Network and CBS, perhaps even more so than last year.

Sources said YouTube, which has a high-profile Chargers-Chiefs game on the second night of the season, also might have an uphill climb to borrowing established talents from other networks. 

While the competition plays a role, it’s also the timing. ESPN and Fox have their own loaded Week 1 slates and want their talents focused on their own coverage. 

NBC is producing the game for YouTube. 

After a cooling-off period of more than four months, there could be a major reunion in the works between MLB and ESPN.

The two entities have resumed talks about a rights deal, marking a significant turn after their high-profile divorce announced in February. ESPN and MLB plan to end their existing agreement after the 2025 season, three years ahead of expiration, but a new pact could extend a relationship that’s been in place since 1990. It’s not yet certain whether the early-stage discussions will yield a deal, but talks, in part, involve a potential inclusion of local rights as MLB commissioner Rob Manfred looks to rework baseball’s media landscape. 

The Athletic first reported the revived talks. An ESPN-MLB reunion had been rumored earlier this spring, and while downplayed by the league then, it appears to have since gathered some steam.

ESPN currently pays MLB $550 million per year for the rights, and sought to lower that fee. The league, conversely, has had several objections of its own as it called ESPN’s demands “unacceptable,” including what it calls “the minimal coverage” MLB receives on ESPN outside of live games.

New Dynamics

Several factors, however, are combining to help bring the parties back together, at least to talk. ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro has been steadfast in his desire to keep baseball in a reworked deal, if at all possible, repeating that sentiment recently as the Disney-owned outlet prepares to debut its direct-to-consumer service. Pitaro has also expressed interest in ESPN being part of a solution to the collapse of the traditional cable business that has impaired leagues such as MLB.

The league, meanwhile, has been talking with a variety of entities, including NBCUniversal, Fox, and Apple about the rights being forfeited by ESPN, with a good likelihood of those rights being split into parts. None of those networks, however, have the type of relationship with MLB that the league has had with ESPN, nor the constant sports presence.

Some type of conclusion could be soon forthcoming as MLB intends to have the rights issue settled before the July 15 All-Star Game in Atlanta.

“We liked the deal we had,” Manfred said earlier this month about ESPN. “Looking backwards, do I wish I wasn’t in a position to sell three years so we can line our rights up in 2028? The answer to that is yes.”

To that end, the MLB-ESPN tie has always been fraught with discomfort, said former league EVP and CFO Jonathan Mariner.

“There was always this tension between ESPN and MLB in the sense that they needed each other, but—and this is just my view—ESPN, we were second fiddle to the NFL,” Mariner told Front Office Sports in a new episode of Portfolio Players. “And I think the other sports leagues may feel the same way. ESPN loves the NFL. And I think that was always a factor. … I’d like to see them get back together. ESPN has been a great partner for a long time and who knows?”

When the Steelers are contending for Super Bowl titles, the NFL is more interesting, and its media partners paying billions in rights are more satisfied.

Ever since their glory days in the 1970s, the Steelers have been a top TV draw, along with the Cowboys and Packers. But the six-time Super Bowl-winning franchise hasn’t won a playoff game since 2016. They’ve struggled at quarterback since two-time Super Bowl winner Ben Roethlisberger retired after 18 seasons in 2022.

But the Steelers’ offseason flurry of “win-now” moves is being cheered across sports media. Besides signing four-time MVP Aaron Rodgers, they swung a blockbuster trade Monday with the Dolphins, swapping three-time All-Pro safety Minkah Fitzpatrick for three-time All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey. They previously acquired star wide receiver DK Metcalf and cornerback Darius Slay. NFL insiders are optimistic they’ll reach a deal with pass-rusher T.J. Watt. Put it all together, and interest is rising around the Steelers, which translates into bigger TV ratings for media partners. 

“This is an all-in move. Very atypical of Pittsburgh. Very intriguing,” said former Dolphins GM turned ESPN analyst Mike Tannenbaum about the Ramsey trade on Monday’s Get Up. NBC Sports’s Matthew Berry wrote on X/Twitter: “Steelers gonna play ridiculous defense, run the hell out of the ball and win every game like 17-13.” On his show, Dan Le Batard said it will be a season of “uncommon pressure” for coach Mike Tomlin. The Super Bowl-winning coach “either gets further in the playoffs this year—or he’s in big trouble.”

Linking your fortunes to the 41-year-old Rodgers could be a disaster; especially after his mediocre season with the Jets. There’s no doubt the Steelers roster is aging. But I canvassed a couple of NFL TV partners for their reaction to the team’s offseason moves on Monday. They declined to be quoted—but were excited to finally see the conservative “Steeler Way” adapt to the win-now realities of the NFL.

“There’s a respect and mystique around the history of the Steelers. They have good ownership; they do things the right way; and they’re an easy team to root for,” one TV partner tells me. “They have a massive fan base all over the country and all over the world. And Tomlin’s universally respected.”

That was just the immediate sports media reaction on Monday. Wait until more famous members of “Steelers Nation,” such as ESPN’s First Take superstar Stephen A. Smith and NBC’s Snoop Dogg, start waving their terrible towels for their favorite NFL team.

The Steelers will kick off their season on Sept. 7, with Rodgers taking on his former team the Jets. Expect huge TV numbers for CBS Sports. 

Despite their lousy playoff record over the past decade, NFL schedulers put the Steelers in four nationally-televised primetime games as well as five standalone games this season:  NFL Network’s telecast of the Steelers-Vikings international game from Dublin on Sept. 28; Amazon Prime Video’s Thursday Night Football stream of Steelers-Benglas on Oct. 16; NBC Sunday Night Football’s twin telecasts of Steelers-Packers on Oct. 26 and Steelers-Chargers on Nov. 9; and ESPN’s Monday Night Football telecast of Steelers-Dolphins on Dec. 15

The Cowboys, Chiefs, and Commanders lead the league with eight standalone regular-season game telecasts this season, followed by the Super Bowl champion Eagles with seven. But if the Steelers win big, look for the NFL to reach for the flex button and shift some of their afternoon games into broader windows. In short, most signs point to The Steel Curtain once again becoming must-see TV this season.