Netflix is preparing to offer some special treats for viewers of its two Christmas Day games, starting with a performance by Mariah Carey of “All I Want for Christmas is You.”
However, Netflix executive Brandon Riegg is aware that streaming issues would ruin the experience, no matter how exciting the content is.
Riegg, who is the vice president of nonfiction series and sports, has been asked many times about Netflix’s readiness for the large number of viewers expected on what could be the company’s busiest day ever. This comes after streaming problems during the November 14 fight between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson.
“The sheer tonnage of people that came to watch was incredible. And for all the testing that the engineering team had done ahead of that, and I think they’re the best in the business, the only way to test something of that magnitude is to have something of that magnitude,” Riegg said.
“We never want to have technical issues or a disappointing experience for our members. There was a subset of people that were watching that struggled with that and we acknowledge that.
The good news is they stress-tested the system to such a degree that there’s a lot of these fixes and improvements that they realized that they could make, and they’re applying all that stuff.”
Netflix will air two games on Wednesday. The first, with a two-hour pregame starting at 11 a.m. EST, features the Pittsburgh Steelers playing the Kansas City Chiefs. The second game, between the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans, kicks off at 4:30 p.m. EST.
The games will be available to Netflix’s 282.3 million subscribers in more than 190 countries, marking the first time that one service will broadcast an NFL game worldwide.
Many people didn’t expect Netflix to start airing games from one of the four major sports leagues, but these NFL games are part of a larger effort by Netflix to become a key destination for sports fans.
Recently, Netflix secured the U.S. rights for the 2027 and 2031 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Additionally, starting January 6, Netflix will begin a global partnership with World Wrestling Entertainment when “Monday Night Raw” moves to the service.
Netflix reported that the Tyson-Paul fight had 60 million viewers worldwide and peaked at 65 million concurrent streams, with 38 million concurrent streams in the United States. However, according to the website Down Detector, nearly 85,000 viewers had problems with outages or streaming during the fight.
In comparison, the largest audience for an NFL game streamed exclusively was 23 million viewers on Peacock for the AFC Wild Card game between the Miami Dolphins and the Chiefs last season. For a regular-season game, Amazon Prime Video had 17.3 million viewers on December 5 when the Detroit Lions beat the Green Bay Packers.
Nielsen will track the ratings for the Christmas Day games, with early numbers expected in the afternoon on December 26.
The games will also be shown on CBS affiliates in Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and Houston, as part of a long-standing NFL policy that ensures games on cable or streaming platforms are also available on local over-the-air stations in the teams’ markets.
The most demand will likely come around 6 p.m. EST, during halftime of the Ravens-Texans game, when Beyoncé will perform.
These games are the first in a three-year deal with Netflix, which will also air one game each in 2025 and 2026. Netflix paid $150 million for this year’s package.
While Netflix doesn’t usually take on a season-long sports package, airing games on Christmas Day made sense to them.
Mike North, the NFL’s vice president of broadcast planning, said in May that the league wasn’t initially planning to air games on Christmas this year because it falls on a Wednesday. However, the potential for high ratings made it an opportunity that couldn’t be ignored.
Last year, the three Christmas games had an average of 28.68 million viewers, with the early afternoon game between the Las Vegas Raiders and Chiefs attracting the highest average at 29.48 million.
NFL owners agreed to hold two games on Christmas during meetings in March. Soon after, Netflix expressed interest.
Netflix had already built a relationship with the NFL through the “Quarterback” and “Receiver” series.
“It’s sort of an event. It’s not just a random Week 17 game,” Riegg said. “My north star to everyone has been this needs to feel warm, festive, family and fun. We’re really going to try to make it feel elevated and something that feels consistent with what holiday represents.”
Netflix is also aiming to make this a family event with its announcers. The father-and-son duo of Ian and Noah Eagle will handle the play-by-play. JJ Watt will be the analyst for the Chiefs-Steelers game, while his brother, TJ Watt, plays for Pittsburgh.
Jason and Devin McCourty will join the pregame crew from Pittsburgh, with Laura Rutledge as the host.
Ian Eagle will call the Pittsburgh game with Watt and Nate Burleson as analysts, while Melanie Collins and Stacey Dales report from the sidelines.
Noah Eagle and Greg Olsen will handle the Houston game, with Jamie Erdahl and Steve Wyche reporting.
Pregame, halftime, and postgame coverage will come from NFL Network’s studios in Inglewood, California. Kay Adams will host, with analysis from Drew Brees, Robert Griffin III, Mina Kimes, and Manti Te’o.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and CBS Sports rules analyst Gene Steratore will also be involved.
CBS Sports will produce the games, while NFL Media will handle the studio programming. EverWonder Studio will be in charge of producing NFL Christmas Gameday.
Hans Schroeder, the executive vice president of NFL Media, praised Netflix’s efforts in planning.
“It’s going to feel like a high-quality football experience, but also a global event. I think they’ve done an incredible job delivering that vision,” Schroeder said.
