The NFL has made no bones about its goal of making its product as widely available as possible. Earlier this year, the league took another step toward its goal by reaching a three-year deal with streaming giant Netflix.
There was a lot of excitement ahead of the NFL’s Christmas Day doubleheader on Netflix, but there were also some concerns. The streamer was facing pressure to ensure that issues that arose during the live broadcast of last month’s fight between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul did not resurface on Wednesday.
While the quality of the broadcast did not appear to falter before kickoff and at least during the first half of the game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Pittsburgh Steelers, there were some minor hiccups during pregame coverage.
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Pregame co-host Kay Adams’ microphone appeared to be off for a few seconds at the beginning of the show. Later, ESPN personality Mina Kimes was interrupted by an apparently unscheduled announcement for the premiere of the upcoming season two of the popular Netflix show “Squid Games.”
The cameras finally returned to the pregame show after the announcement.
The NFL and Netflix logos.
Pregame coverage began a couple of hours before the Chiefs and Steelers tipped off at 1 p.m. ET.
Once the action began, another notable error emerged. The scoring error listed only two timeouts remaining for the Steelers, even though Pittsburgh was in the middle of its opening drive. The error was corrected shortly after.
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The defending Super Bowl champions held a 13-7 lead over Pittsburgh at halftime.
In an aerial view, the Netflix logo is displayed above its corporate offices in Los Angeles on January 24. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Netflix obtained the rights to broadcast at least one Christmas game in 2025 and 2026, under the terms of the multi-year agreement with the NFL.
The NFL logo is seen on the field before the game between the Green Bay Packers and the Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, on December 25, 2022. (Megan Briggs/Getty Images)
“Last year, we decided to make a big bet on live streaming, tapping into massive fandoms in comedy, reality TV, sports, and more,” Netflix chief content officer Bela Bajaria said in a press release in May, shortly after the package of Christmas Day games. was announced.
“There are no annual live events, sporting or otherwise, that compare to the audiences that NFL football attracts. We are very excited that the NFL Christmas Day games are only on Netflix.”
Music superstar and Houston native Beyoncé is scheduled to perform at halftime of the Houston Texans-Baltimore Ravens game at NRG Stadium later Wednesday.
Netflix paid approximately $150 million for the rights to the games, according to Bloomberg. The streamer and the NFL have had an ongoing relationship over the past few years.
The documentary series “Quarterback” premiered on Netflix in 2023 and “Receiver” premiered on the streaming platform last month. While the first focused on three different signal-callers at different points in their careers, the pass-catching series follows four wide receivers and one tight end.
Consistent with previous deals, the deal with Netflix allows games to be broadcast on television in competing teams’ home markets. The league-owned NFL+ streaming service will allow fans in the US to watch games via their mobile devices.
