Netflix’s rookie as an NFL media partner hasn’t raised any flags thus far.
The streamer’s Christmas Day game, Kansas City Chiefs vs. Pittsburgh Steelers, kicked off at 1:00 PM ET, after two hours of pregame coverage. Next up is Baltimore Ravens-Houston Texans (starting at 4:30 p.m. ET), with superstar Beyoncé taking the field at halftime to perform a song from “Cowboy Carter.”
It appears that Netflix delivered the live streams without any major issues. As of 1:30 PM ET, there were minimal error reports for Netflix in the US on Downdetector, an uptime monitoring service. The relatively small number of user-reported issues with Netflix on December 25 (approximately 600 as of 1:13 PM ET) does not indicate widespread technical issues.
Netflix executives are certainly breathing a sigh of relief: The global streamer’s first flight with the NFL was closely watched as its previous live sporting event – the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson fight on November 15 – experienced technical turbulence.
It’s possible that demand for Paul-Tyson was higher than for the Christmas Day football games. Going into Christmas Day, the four AFC teams participating in Netflix’s doubleheader had all already reserved playoff berths, so the outcome of the games only affects postseason seeding. Meanwhile, ABC and ESPN will present five NBA games on December 25 – a 13-hour sports program – continuing the NBA’s long-standing Christmas tradition.
Even with the Tyson-Paul livestream disruptions, the event drew an estimated average minute audience (AMA) of 108 million live viewers worldwide, making it the “most streamed global sporting event ever,” according to the streamer. The event peaked at 65 million concurrent streams, with 38 million concurrent streams in the US. “It’s a Super Bowl-like audience that we’ve been able to attract,” Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said at an investment conference this month.
On November 15, during parts of the Paul-Tyson event, thousands of Netflix customers took to social media to complain that their video feeds were freezing while the livestream was buffering. One disgruntled customer filed a lawsuit against Netflix, claiming the event was “unwatchable” due to the technical issues.
Per Netflix’s agreement with the NFL, the two US games will expire three hours after the livestream ends (which means the Ravens-Texans game, including Beyoncé’s performance, will no longer be available to watch starting at approximately 11:00 PM ET rewatchable on Netflix, while the Chiefs-Steelers will be gone around 7:00 PM ET). Outside the US, games on Netflix expire 24 hours after the live stream ends. (NFL Network plans to rebroadcast both games on cable.)
Netflix’s NFL live streams include ad breaks, even for subscribers with ad-free plans. Naturally, the company used the real estate to promote its own upcoming programs, with promos for “Squid Game” Season 2 (premiering worldwide on December 26), “WWE Monday Night Raw” and “Black Doves,” as well as trailers for “The Night Agent” S2 and Adam Sandler’s “Happy Gilmore 2.”
Netflix will soon have rights to at least one NFL holiday game in 2025 and ’26. Beginning in January 2025, Netflix will carry WWE’s “Monday Night Raw” live every week under a 10-year, $5 billion pact. Last week, the streamer signed a deal for exclusive U.S. rights to the 2027 and 2031 episodes of the FIFA Women’s World Cup.