Netflix Claims Bigger NFL Package ‘Doesn’t Really Fit’ Sports Strategy

Netflix’s top brass is pumping the brakes on the idea that the streamer could buy a large package of NFL games.

Co-CEO Greg Peters said getting a significant chunk of NFL games “doesn’t really fit with our strategy as we understand it right now” on Wednesday night at Bloomberg’s Screentime conference.

“We think about what we’re doing as an events strategy, and turns out … sports are big events … and so we can plug those into that strategy, but we also want to make sure that we’re being really, really disciplined about … are we buying, are we investing in ways that are profitable for the business and some of the big league sports things?” Peters said. “We don’t actually have a way to figure out that math.”

The NFL is technically locked into its media deals through 2033, but can opt out after the 2029 season, and commissioner Roger Goodell has signaled his preference for starting discussions around new deals as early as next year. The league has also been bullish on international expansion and the potential for a separate rights package for those games. Many of the international games are currently on the NFL Network, but the league believes it could potentially get billions of dollars with a separate international rights package.

Netflix staged a successful Christmas Day doubleheader last year—the largest streaming audiences in league history with more than 24 million viewers each—and will get two more potentially solid matchups with Cowboys–Commanders and Lions–Vikings this December.

The NFL isn’t the only sport where Netflix has competed for traditional rights. The streamer has the rights to WWE Raw and the U.S. broadcast for the Women’s World Cup in 2027 and 2031. Peters responded to being outbid for UFC rights by Paramount, which paid $7.7 billion for seven years. “We are constantly dealing with situations where our competitors outbid us,” Peters said, “and what I try and remember with our team is we should bid up to the point where we think it’s going to deliver back value, back to business.” Netflix is also reportedly preparing to bid for the UEFA Champions League.

Despite Peters’s comments, don’t count the streamer out on changing its mind and rejoining future NFL bids in a big way. Co-CEO Ted Sarandos said in 2023 that there was “no core” change in Netflix’s sports strategy, before going out and nabbing the NFL Christmas games. Peters made similar comments to what he said Wednesday at a conference last year, after which the streamer has continued to bid and show interest in big sports properties.