Netflix’s NFL Christmas Day doubleheader attracted over 30 million viewers globally, marking a significant streaming success for the platform
Baltimore: So, Netflix just pulled off a pretty big win with its NFL Christmas Day doubleheader. They managed to average over 30 million viewers worldwide, which is no small feat!
The Ravens crushed the Texans 31-2, pulling in about 31.3 million viewers. Meanwhile, the Chiefs took down the Steelers 29-10, averaging around 30 million. These numbers are huge, especially since they’re the most streamed NFL games ever in the U.S.
Even though the Ravens-Texans game’s average dipped to 27.2 million and the Chiefs-Steelers to 25.8 million according to Nielsen, it still beat last season’s wild-card game, which had 23 million viewers.
In total, 65 million people in the U.S. watched at least a minute of one of the games, making it Netflix’s most-watched Christmas Day ever. Viewers tuned in from 218 countries, which is pretty impressive!
This was a nice comeback for Netflix after some streaming hiccups during the Mike Tyson-Jake Paul fight last month. Brandon Riegg, Netflix’s VP of nonfiction series and sports, said they were really pleased with how everything went this time around.
The Chiefs-Steelers game even made it into the daily top 10 in 72 countries, with Canada, Germany, Ireland, and Britain showing strong viewership. The Ravens-Texans game was in the top 10 in 62 countries, with high numbers in Australia, Austria, and Mexico.
While the NFL’s Christmas numbers were down from last year, they didn’t drop as much as expected when moving from broadcast to streaming. Last year’s three games averaged 28.68 million viewers, so Netflix is still doing well.
This is just the start of a three-year deal between Netflix and the NFL for Christmas games. They’ll have at least one next season, and there’s a chance for another doubleheader in 2025 since Christmas falls on a Thursday.
Riegg mentioned that this success shows the potential of Christmas Day as a big event for streaming. Plus, Netflix is gearing up for more excitement with its partnership with WWE starting soon!
