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Netflix to Air Christmas Day NFL Games
Netflix has reached a three-year agreement with the NFL to show Christmas Day games starting this season, the platform announced on Wednesday morning. Both of the NFL's Dec. 25 contests will air exclusively on Netflix in 2024 and they'll carry at least one game in both 2025 and 2026. The confirmation comes after a report from Bloomberg this morning suggested the deal was set to be announced.
Bloomberg reports that the price tag for such a privilege clocks in at just under $150 million. This is the first time Netflix has ever shown live sports on this level and the first time football will be featured. But they have been dipping their toes into those waters in recent years with the Quarterback series.
“Last year, we decided to take a big bet on live — tapping into massive fandoms across comedy, reality TV, sports and more,” said Bela Bajaria, Netflix chief content officer in a statement. “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,” added Hans Schroeder, NFL executive vice president of Media Distribution. “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 has previously announced two other streaming exclusives this year — a Week 1 game on Peacock and a wildcard playoff game that will be on Amazon.
Kyle Koster is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated covering the intersection of sports and media. He was formerly the editor in chief of The Big Lead, where he worked from 2011 to '24. Koster also did turns at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he created the Sports Pros(e) blog, and at Woven Digital.