The NFL has not shied away from making its product as widely available as possible. At the beginning of the year, the league took another step closer to its goal and signed a three-year contract with streaming giant Netflix.
There was a lot of excitement leading up to NFL Christmas Day Doubleheader on Netflixbut there were also some concerns. The streamer was under pressure to ensure that issues that surfaced during its live stream of the Mike Tyson-Jake Paul fight last month did not resurface on Wednesday.
While the streaming quality didn’t seem to let up before kick-off and at least in the first half of the game between the two Kansas City Chiefs and the Pittsburgh Steelers had some minor issues with their pregame coverage.
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Pregame co-host Kay Adams’ microphone appeared to be turned off for a few seconds at the start of the show. At a later date, ESPN personality Mina Kimes was interrupted by what appeared to be an unscheduled commercial for the upcoming second season premiere of the popular Netflix show “Squid Games.”
The cameras eventually cut back to the pregame show after commercial.
The NFL and Netflix logos.
Pregame coverage began a few hours before the Chiefs and Steelers kickoff at 1 p.m. ET.
As the action began, another glaring error emerged. The Scorebug recorded just two timeouts remaining for the Steelers, even though Pittsburgh was in the middle of the opening round. The error was corrected a short time later.
NETFLIX IS UNDER PRESSURE WITH CHRISTMAS DAY NFL SCHEDULE AFTER TYSON PAUL STREAMING DEBAC
The reigning Super Bowl champions had a 13-7 halftime lead over Pittsburgh.
In an aerial photo on January 24th, the Netflix logo can be seen above the company’s headquarters in Los Angeles. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Netflix has acquired the rights to stream at least one holiday game in 2025 and 2026 under the terms of its multiyear deal 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, December 25, 2022. (Megan Briggs/Getty Images)
“Last year, we decided to make a big bet on Live – tapping into a huge fan base across comedy, reality TV, sports and more,” Netflix Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria said in a press release May shortly after the release of the Christmas pack of games was announced.
“There are no annual live events, sports or otherwise, that compare to the audience that NFL football attracts. We are thrilled that the NFL Christmas games will only be available 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.
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According to Bloomberg, Netflix paid an estimated $150 million for the rights to the games. The streamer and the NFL have had an ongoing relationship in recent years.
The docuseries “Quarterback” was released on Netflix in 2023 and “Receiver” premiered on the streaming platform last month. While the former focused on three different signal-callers at different points in their careers, the pass-catching series follows four wideouts and one tight end.
Consistent with previous agreements, the agreement with Netflix allows games to be televised in competing teams’ home markets. The league’s own streaming service NFL+ will allow fans access the USA to watch the games via their mobile devices.
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