• Loading stock data...
Wednesday, June 4, 2025

NFL Netflix Debut Shatters Streaming Records As NBA Sees 84% Increase

The Netflix NFL doubleheader featured the two biggest streaming audiences in league history. Meanwhile, the NBA had a huge day of its own.

Barry Reeger-Imagn Images

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

Linkedin
Whatsapp
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

Jun 2, 2025; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Texas Tech Red Raiders players celebrate after defeating the Oklahoma Sooners 3-2 and advance to the finals against Texas in the NCAA Softball Women's College World Series semifinal game at Devon Park.

How Texas Tech Put Together Its First-Ever Women’s College World Series Run

AD Kirby Hocutt speaks with FOS about the Red Raiders’ winning formula.

ACC Lawsuits Formally Closed, but How Long Will Peace Remain?

Florida State, Clemson, and the ACC have ended their litigation.
Jan 15, 2024; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph (2) talks with an official in the second half against the Buffalo Bills in a 2024 AFC wild card game at Highmark Stadium.

Steelers Email Fans After Mason Rudolph Appears at Friday Trump Rally

Rudolph was joined by a teammate and former Steeler Rocky Bleier.

Featured Today

May 27, 2015; Paris, France; Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (CRO) knocks the clay off her shoe during her match against Simona Halep (ROU) on day four of the French Open at Roland Garros

Roland-Garros’s Iconic Red-Clay Surface Is a Precise Alchemy

The exact science behind maintaining the French Open’s red clay.
Alex Jensen introductory press conference on Monday, March 17, 2025.
June 3, 2025

Alex Jensen Started Utah Utes HC Job While Still Coaching the Mavs

How Jensen began building an NCAA program while patrolling the Dallas sideline.
May 31, 2025

PSG and the City of Paris Can Join European Soccer’s Elite

What a maiden Champions League title would mean for the French club.
May 30, 2025

How the Champions League Anthem Took on a Life of Its Own

The composer didn’t know he wrote a timeless hit three decades ago.

As TNT Sports Shifts, WBD Investors Reject $52M Zaslav Pay

Company shareholders reject the executive’s pay in a non-binding vote.
May 30, 2025

French Open Scheduling Sparks Backlash Over Women’s Time Slots

Coco Gauff has also said the French Open schedule could be improved.
hanson_smiling
May 30, 2025

Scott Hanson Agrees to Long-Term Deal for NFL RedZone

His contract expired after the 2024 season.
Sponsored

Game On: Portfolio Players Stories, Brought to You by E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley

In Episode 7 of Portfolio Players, go inside the boardroom with Avenue Capital CEO and former Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry on Giannis’s future, women’s sports, and upstart leagues like TGL and Unrivaled. 
May 30, 2025

Panthers-Oilers Rematch Could Be Big in Canada. Will U.S. Ratings Dip?

Likely viewership declines in the U.S. are countered by robust Canadian audiences.
May 28, 2025

NBA East Finals Delivers Strong TV Ratings, but West Is Struggling

The Pacers and Thunder are both up 3–1 in their conference finals series.
Around the Horn
May 23, 2025

Behind the Scenes of Around the Horn’s Final Days

FOS followed Tony Reali at the penultimate taping of the ESPN icon.
Around the Horn - October 26, 2020
May 23, 2025

‘Quirky, Nutty, Bombastic’: 10 ‘Around the Horn’ Faces on Their Top Moments

“A quirky, nutty, bombastic, mostly wrong, sometimes right, crazy sports family.”