After a record breaking Christmas Day, Netflix is looking to expand their footprint in the NFL.
You can’t spell Netflix without “NFL.”
Last season NFL fans experienced their first live NFL games on Netflix, when the streaming service hosted two Christmas Day games, first the Kansas City Chiefs defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers, 29-10, followed by the Baltimore Ravens defeating the Houston Texans 31-2.
Surely both Netflix and the NFL wanted some more competitive games to begin this three-year partnership. However, the lack of excitement did not prevent fans from tuning in. According to Nielsen, there was an unduplicated audience of nearly 65 million viewers for the NFL-Netflix doubleheader. This number became Netflix’s most-watched Christmas Day Ever in the United States.
Though the NFL and Netflix already have two more years left in their streaming deal, both parties are already looking forward to expanding their partnership past the holidays. According to Netflix’s chief content officer, Bela Bajaria, the streaming company is interested in bidding for the NFL’s Sunday Afternoon games.
The current Sunday afternoon games are split between Fox (who acquired the NFC package in 1994) and CBS (who acquired the AFC package in 1998). These current broadcast deals between the NFL and Fox/CBS run through 2033, however the league can legally scrap these deals four years early. This means, that as early as the 2029 season, NFL fans may see a completely new broadcast team for the Sunday afternoon games.
With Netflix already a player in the NFL broadcast deals, and appearing to be growing, this could and will likely lead to one of the current broadcast partners being pushed out, or as Mike Florio put it, “at best, [be] relegated to Sunday mornings” to host the international series. The NFL is a business, and in business money talks. So Seattle Seahawks fans, make sure to enjoy the current state of broadcast teams as they currently stand, because soon enough they will be changing, for better or for worse.