Netflix made its live sports broadcasting debut to global criticism following technical issues during the exhibition fight between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul: some users experienced constant freezing of the image, while others simply couldn’t load it.
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That was the first step of a much bigger challenge this Wednesday, December 25, Christmas day, when they will broadcast live two NFL games. At 1 pm (EST) the Steelers vs Chiefs will play in Pittsburgh, and at 4:30 pm (EST) in Houston the Texans vs Ravens will play. This last match will also feature a live performance by Beyoncé.
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They are two high-octane matches that are expected to surpass the nearly 30 million viewers that the Christmas matches of 2023 with traditional channel broadcasts averaged.
Why are these NFL Christmas games so important for Netflix?
For Netflix, it will be one of its most important days since the site launched in 1998. The streaming giant agreed to a three-year contract with the NFL in May to broadcast Christmas Day games.
Where will the games be available? Netflix's 282.3 million subscribers in over 190 countries will be able to watch the games, marking the first time a single platform distributes an NFL game globally. They will be available in five languages: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and German.
The games will also be broadcast on CBS affiliates in Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and Houston. NFL policy dictates that games on cable or that are exclusively broadcasted must also be on a paid outdoor station in the markets of competing teams.
Why is the NFL putting Christmas Day games on a streaming platform? One reason is money. The league is getting $150 million from Netflix for the two games this season. It also continues the NFL's moves towards streaming: Thursday night games are in their third season on Amazon Prime Video and the "Sunday Ticket" package moved to YouTube TV last year.
Has Netflix solved its streaming issues since the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson fight? They claim they have. Brandon Riegg, vice president of non-fiction series and sports at Netflix, said the system was stress-tested, and then some, during the November 14 fight, along with internet service providers who reported being overwhelmed by the surge that occurred before and during the fight.
The fight reached a peak of 65 million concurrent streams, including 38 million concurrent streams in the United States. According to the website Down Detector, almost 85,000 viewers reported issues with cuts or streaming before and during the fight.
Anyway, in the first experiment of exclusively streaming a playoff game, Peacock had an audience of 23 million for Chiefs vs Dolphins in the wild-card round.
When could there be an increase in demand on Wednesday? It will likely be at the start of both games, but especially around 5:45 p.m. EST. That would be close to halftime of the Ravens-Texans game, and when Beyoncé will be performing.
Which other celebrities will appear? Mariah Carey will kick off the day with a recorded performance of "All I Want for Christmas is You".
How many Christmas games will Netflix broadcast in the next two seasons? The NFL will have at least two games on December 25 in 2025 and 2026, with Netflix scheduled to have at least one each year. Amazon Prime Video will have a Christmas night game on a Thursday next year.