Netflix to stream two Christmas Day NFL games in 2024

On Wednesday, the NFL announced that Netflix will exclusively stream both of the league’s Christmas Day games this season. A full schedule release on Wednesday night will reveal which teams will play in those two games, but a leak has already tipped off that the Kansas City Chiefs will travel to play the Pittsburgh Steelers in one of them.

Netflix has entered the NFL streaming foray in a major way with the exclusive rights to the Christmas Day games. Its new deal with the league extends through the 2026 season. Though the two Christmas Day games will stream on Netflix, the league’s long-standing tradition of providing access to the competing team’s local markets remains. The games will still be available via local broadcast in the competing markets.

The streaming giant began its relationship with the league with the hit series Quarterback last year. Now, this summer, they’ll also stream another series called Receiver. The show will feature Davante Adams of the Raiders, Justin Jefferson from the Vikings, George Kittle and Deebo Samuel with the 49ers, and Amon-Ra St. Brown of the Lions. 

Netflix joins streaming giants Prime, Peacock in NFL coverage

“Last year, we decided to take a big bet on live — tapping into massive fandoms across comedy, reality TV, sports, and more,” Netflix Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria said in a news release on Wednesday. “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.”

“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,” Hans Schroeder, NFL Executive Vice President of Media Distribution, said. “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 NFL will announce its full 2024 schedule on Wednesday night on NFL Network at 8 p.m. ET.

Netflix had a major win last week with the live-streamed roast of Tom Brady. The three-hour-long program became the streamer’s sixth-most streamed show of the week, despite only being on the platform for half a day at the time of the rankings release.