Netflix to air NFL games on Christmas Day in major expansion into live sports
By Jordan Valinsky, CNN
New York (CNN) — Netflix has caught its biggest sports deal yet: the NFL.
The streaming service announced Wednesday a three-year deal to broadcast the league’s Christmas Day games, marking a major milestone for Netflix, whose sports ambitions have largely focused on producing documentaries and creating live specials about golf and tennis.
This deal kicks off this year with Netflix airing globally two NFL games on Christmas. In 2025 and 2026, Netflix will stream “at least one” holiday game. Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.
“There are no live annual events, sports or otherwise, that compare with the audiences NFL football attracts. We’re so excited that the NFL’s Christmas Day games will be only on Netflix,” said Bela Bajaria, Netflix’s chief content officer, in a release.
This year’s Christmas Day games will be revealed Wednesday night on the NFL Network and website. Anchors and commentators for Netflix’s games were also not immediately revealed.
“The NFL on Christmas has become a tradition and to partner with Netflix, a service whose biggest day of the year is typically this holiday, is the perfect combination to grow this event globally for NFL fans,” said Hans Schroeder, NFL’s executive VP of media distribution, in the release.
NFL games are typically the highest-rated shows on US TV every week during the season, and adding Netflix to its roster could help the league expand its audience domestically and abroad. The NFL will play five international games in three countries this upcoming season, the league announced.
The deal means NFL is also partners with all the major US broadcast networks and most major streaming platforms, including a Thursday night game package with Amazon and Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV.
The-CNN-Wire
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