Netflix has reached a significant milestone in sports broadcasting, establishing a record for the highest number of streaming NFL games with its Christmas Day schedule. The streaming service announced that more than 24 million U.S. viewers watched each of the two games, resulting in a unique audience of 65 million watchers throughout the day.
The matches saw the Kansas City Chiefs against the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens versus the Houston Texans, attracting average viewerships of 24.1 million and 24.3 million, respectively. The Ravens-Texans game, featuring a halftime performance by Beyoncé, reached a peak viewership of 27 million, underscoring the appeal of prominent entertainment in conjunction with athletics.
This accomplishment positions both Christmas games as the most viewed NFL games ever streamed in the U.S., exceeding the prior mark established by Peacock during a playoff match between the Chiefs and Miami Dolphins.
Notwithstanding certain technological difficulties during the broadcasts, the overall experience much surpassed that of Netflix's prior live sports events, including the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson boxing battle, which suffered from streaming complications.
The NFL's collaboration with Netflix for these games exemplifies a larger trend of transitioning prominent sports events to streaming platforms, indicating a transformation in consumer consumption of live sports. This initiative not only targets a younger, streaming-oriented demographic but also corresponds with Netflix's desire to diversify into live sports programming.
The viewership statistics reflect Netflix's increasing impact in sports broadcasting, while they remain inferior to the viewing ratings of conventional broadcast networks. The Christmas games broadcast by CBS and Fox last year attracted considerably greater crowds, averaging almost 29 million people each game. Nonetheless, Netflix's capacity to attract a considerable viewership for its inaugural NFL broadcast on Christmas Day signifies a pivotal milestone for the streaming platform, perhaps facilitating additional sports content agreements.