How the NFL (and Netflix) Stole Christmas From the NBA
Which channel is the game on, exactly? The expanded streaming landscape for the 2024–2025 NFL season means fans will be flipping through fragmented coverage more than ever.
This year, the NFL has added a fourth exclusive streaming partner: Netflix joins a digital slate that already includes Amazon Prime Video, Peacock, and ESPN+. The league will have at least one game each week available only on a streaming platform (aside from the legally required linear broadcast in teams’ local markets). The coverage will start with the Eagles-Packers season opener in São Paulo, Brazil, on Friday, Sept. 6 (Peacock), and end with three in Week 17—two of which are on Christmas Day (Netflix). Week 18 is still being finalized.
There are lots of moving parts for both the NFL and each streamer.
Amazon Prime Video: The platform is in the second year of a 10-year agreement with the NFL for exclusive rights to stream Thursday Night Football. Additionally, Amazon will broadcast one wild-card game. The company is reportedly paying the NFL $1 billion per year. Its strategy includes making sure its broadcasts are star-stacked: Amazon has brought in a lot of familiar faces for its coverage, including Charissa Thompson, Al Michaels, Tony Gonzalez, and Kirk Herbstreit. Perhaps the biggest indicator of Amazon’s success is how its early returns helped intrigue the NBA enough to get in on its next media deal. (Part of the NBA’s interest in Amazon was the ability to cross-promote its games on Thursday Night Football.)
Netflix: It’s entering the first year of a three-year deal that will see it broadcast the NFL’s Christmas Day games this season, while also retaining at least one holiday game per year in 2025 and 2026. The company is paying $75 million per game, according to multiple reports. Netflix has yet to announce the broadcasting crew for its games, but it has touted the offseason success of documentaries about NFL quarterbacks and wide receivers.
ESPN: The channel is in its third year of an 11-year media-rights deal the NFL agreed to in 2021. The package added six games to the network’s schedule, including a divisional playoff game. While games broadcast by ABC and ESPN can also be streamed on ESPN+, one game this year is exclusive to ESPN+: Chargers-Cardinals in Week 7. Over time, the network has added alternate broadcasts to its Monday Night Football production, including the widely popular ManningCast, featuring former NFL quarterbacks Peyton and Eli Manning. ESPN reportedly pays the NFL $2.7 billion per year—a record for sports broadcast fees.
Peacock: It has been NBC’s streaming arm since 2020, and it cashed in on its big bet to exclusively broadcast the 2023 Chiefs-Dolphins playoff game on its platform. An average of 23 million viewers watched the matchup, with more than 27 million watching at least some: a record for a livestreamed game. Peacock reportedly paid the NFL $110 million for the rights. The streamer has had a younger broadcasting crew compared to other outlets, led by Noah Eagle and Kaylee Hartung. Eagle’s profile is rising ahead of the 2024 season after successfully helming NBC’s coverage of Olympic basketball at the Paris Games. Similar to Amazon, the NBA will add NBC/Peacock to its next media-rights deal starting in 2025, giving both the NBA and NFL three common partners including ESPN.
Here is the NFL’s full schedule (all times Eastern) of exclusive streaming games for the regular season:
Week 1
Friday, Sept. 6
Green Bay Packers at Philadelphia Eagles (Brazil): 8:15 p.m., Peacock
Week 2
Thursday, Sept. 12
Buffalo Bills at Miami Dolphins: 8:15 p.m., Prime Video
Week 3
Thursday, Sept. 19
New England Patriots at New York Jets: 8:15 p.m., Prime Video
Week 4
Thursday, Sept. 26
Dallas Cowboys at New York Giants: 8:15 p.m., Prime Video
Week 5
Thursday, Oct. 3
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Atlanta Falcons: 8:15 p.m., Prime Video
Week 6
Thursday, Oct. 10
San Francisco 49ers at Seattle Seahawks: 8:15 p.m., Prime Video
Week 7
Thursday, Oct. 17
Denver Broncos at New Orleans Saints: 8:15 p.m., Prime Video
Monday, Oct. 21
Los Angeles Chargers at Arizona Cardinals: 9 p.m., ESPN+
Week 8
Thursday, Oct. 24
Minnesota Vikings at Los Angeles Rams: 8:15 p.m., Prime Video
Week 9
Thursday, Oct. 31 (Halloween)
Houston Texans at New York Jets: 8:15 p.m., Prime Video
Week 10
Thursday, Nov. 7
Cincinnati Bengals at Baltimore Ravens: 8:15 p.m., Prime Video
Week 11
Thursday, Nov. 14
Washington Commanders at Philadelphia Eagles: 8:15 p.m., Prime Video
Week 12
Thursday, Nov. 21
Pittsburgh Steelers at Cleveland Browns: 8:15 p.m., Prime Video
Week 13
Friday, Nov. 29 (Black Friday)
Las Vegas Raiders at Kansas City Chiefs: 3 p.m., Prime Video
Week 14
Thursday, Dec. 5
Green Bay Packers at Detroit Lions: 8:15 p.m., Prime Video
Week 15
Thursday, Dec. 12
Los Angeles Rams at San Francisco 49ers: 8:15 p.m., Prime Video
Week 16
Thursday, Dec. 19
Cleveland Browns at Cincinnati Bengals: 8:15 p.m., Prime Video
Week 17
Wednesday, Dec. 25 (Christmas)
Kansas City Chiefs at Pittsburgh Steelers: 1 p.m., Netflix
Baltimore Ravens at Houston Texans: 4:30 p.m., Netflix
Thursday, Dec. 26
Seattle Seahawks at Chicago Bears: 8:15 p.m., Prime Video
For main broadcasts, CBS and Fox will continue to have the bulk of Sunday’s games, with NBC continuing to host Sunday Night Football. ESPN and ABC will broadcast Monday Night Football, with the ManningCast returning on ESPN2 for another season.
