ESPN, Fox Reluctant to Share Talent With Netflix for Christmas NFL Games

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.