NFL to Broadcast Christmas Day Games on Netflix
In advance of the NFL’s Schedule Release this evening, the NFL announced that two Christmas Day games will be broadcast exclusively on Netflix.
“We couldn’t be more excited to be the first professional sports league to partner with Netflix to bring live games to fans around the world,” said Hans Schroeder, NFL executive vice president of Media Distribution in a statement. “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.”
The exact games will be released with the rest of the schedule at 8 PM ET today.
Netflix has partnered with the NFL for exclusive content previously, including the popular Quarterback series. A conceptually-similar series called Receiver will air this summer. This will be the first time the platform will broadcast a live game for the league.
“Last year, we decided to take a big bet on live — tapping into massive fandoms across comedy, reality TV, sports and more,” said Bela Bajaria, Netflix chief content officer in a statement. “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.”
Netflix’s rise to popularity came in the early 2010s, when its streaming service began providing original content, notably House of Cards and Stranger Things. Its success spawned a host of other streaming platforms coming onto the scene. Prime Video, owned by Amazon, broadcasts Thursday Night Football. The newest entry, Peacock, owned by NBC Universal, began broadcasting exclusive games last season, and will continue that trend with the Eagles’ season opener this season.
Games broadcast exclusively on Netflix will be available on broadcast networks in the markets of the competing teams, as per NFL broadcasting standards.
