Netflix has a lot at stake on Christmas Day, and one basic job: Don’t screw up.
The company will be livestreaming two National Football League games with postseason implications, aiming to cement itself as a major player in live sports to woo subscribers and advertisers. It must deliver a show that hews to the league’s guidelines, down to how many commercials it runs. It needs to provide some Netflix razzle-dazzle—such as dozens of extra camera angles—to distinguish itself from other NFL rights holders. And it can’t make any technical missteps.
“When someone shows up, it better feel like an NFL game,” said Brian Rolapp, the NFL’s chief media and business officer. “You have to get the production right.”
Netflix’s past forays into live events, including a roast of quarterback Tom Brady and a reality TV show reunion, were shows it made up. Some, including the Mike Tyson–Jake Paul fight last month, had technical troubles affecting the viewer experience.
With football, fans expect a very particular type of entertainment. And the NFL is fiercely protective of its brand, weighing in on everything from who calls the games to the advertising schedule and the number of network promotions per game.
CBS Sports is running production of the games, and the NFL’s TV team is overseeing pre- and postgame operations. But Netflix, which paid the league $150 million for this year’s rights, has been involved in picking commentators, creating original graphics and music, and tailoring coverage for specific international territories.
“We’re not trying to reinvent football, because we don’t want people coming on on Christmas Day and suddenly seeing something different than they’ve seen for 17 weeks of the season,” said Gabe Spitzer, Netflix’s vice president of sports.
The two matchups—the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs against the Pittsburgh Steelers, followed by a battle between the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans—are marquee events in their own right. But Netflix still wanted to add some bells and whistles.
The Pittsburgh Steelers are playing defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs on Netflix on Christmas. - Matt Freed/Associated Press
“Is there sort of a Netflix sheen that we can apply to it?” the streamer asked itself, said Brandon Riegg, vice president of nonfiction series and sports.
Some of that sheen will be provided by Beyoncé, who is performing during the Ravens-Texans game. “It’s a Super Bowl-level halftime performance for a regular season game,” Spitzer said. Christmas queen Mariah Carey has prerecorded an intro to the games, too.
Netflix plans on using between 40 and 50 cameras for each game, more than double the typical Sunday afternoon coverage. It is also using feature film cameras to provide what production vice president Jonathan Mussman says will be a more “cinematic experience” for viewers. He promised, though, that Netflix isn’t trying to “do Spielberg doing the NFL.”
Netflix’s last major live event, a November boxing showcase featuring Tyson and Paul, was plagued by tech glitches. It drew as many as 65 million concurrent streams worldwide, straining internet service providers and causing traffic jams that led to audiences suffering through buffering and pixelated images.
“What went wrong is also what went right, which was the sheer tonnage of people that came to the service,” said Netflix’s Riegg. He added that the engineers have fixed the issues.
The NFL’s Rolapp said Netflix has reassured the league there won’t be a repeat of the tech issues that marred the Paul-Tyson fight. “We’re very confident that they are prepared,” he said.
The league signed with Netflix for a few reasons: to add another deep-pocketed rights holder and to increase its international reach, as well as establish a new beachhead on Christmas, which has largely been the NBA’s turf.
Netflix’s last major live event, the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson fight, had technical difficulties. - Luke Townsend/Zuma Press
“We had never partnered with anyone on a game that is truly global,” said Rolapp. “Most sports leagues don’t have the luxury of doing that.”
Netflix, meanwhile, is betting that building up its live sports offerings will help it expand its subscriber base and differentiate it from the crowd of other streaming services. Netflix currently has about 283 million subscribers worldwide.
Starting next month it will be showing WWE Raw wrestling matchups. And last week, it signed a deal with FIFA to be the exclusive U.S. home for the 2027 and 2031 Women’s World Cup.
“Given the slowdown in domestic growth for Netflix, adding a decent amount of the super premium sports helps them retain [subscribers] and maintain margins,” said Pat Crakes, a media consultant and former Fox Sports executive.
This is Netflix’s first major live event with traditional advertising breaks built in for all viewers, and the company hopes to attract advertisers to its ad-supported platform more broadly with sports. The company told advertisers that its coverage should reach around 23 million households, according to people familiar with the matter. It has sold out all of its available in-game advertising for both games.
Like other networks, Netflix will use the opportunity to promote its own stars and shows throughout the broadcasts. On-air analysts include former NFL player Manti Te’o, featured by Netflix in the 2022 documentary “Untold: The Girlfriend That Didn’t Exist.”
“Manti took a bet with us to be super vulnerable and tell that story, so I think it’s also a way of saying, ‘Hey, you took a bet with us and now let’s try you out,’” Spitzer said.
Comedian Bert Kreischer, who has had a handful of Netflix specials, has been tapped to handle tailgate coverage for the Chiefs-Steelers match in Pittsburgh. Despite the chilly forecast, he will as usual be working shirtless and plans on imbibing alongside fans.
“If it’s for the camera, it’s not officially drinking,” he said.
