Netflix plans to offer plenty of gifts to viewers of two Christmas games, which Mariah Carey kicked off with a recorded performance of “All I Want for Christmas Is You.”
However, Netflix executive Brandon Riegg realizes that if there is a streaming problem, everything is as good as a lump of coal.
Rieger, vice president of nonfiction series and sports, had to answer a lot of questions about whether the streaming giant was ready for its biggest single-day influx of viewers ever, especially after the streaming issues in November. 14. The fight between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson.
“The amount of people who came out to watch it was unbelievable. For all the testing the engineering team had done prior to this, I think they were the best in the industry, and the only way to test something of this scale was for us to Not wanting our members to experience technical issues or disappointing experiences, we acknowledge that the good news is for them.”
Netflix will air two games on Wednesday, starting with a two-hour pregame at 11 a.m. ET before the Pittsburgh Steelers take on the Kansas City Chiefs. Game 2 between the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans will begin at 4:30 p.m. ET.
The games will be available to Netflix’s 282.3 million subscribers in more than 190 countries, marking the first time a media outlet has distributed an NFL game globally.
Many observers didn’t expect Netflix to get involved in broadcasting games for one of the four major sports leagues.
The NFL games, though, are part of Netflix’s big push to become a destination for all sports fans. On Friday, it acquired broadcast rights to the 2027 and 2031 Women’s World Cup in the United States.
Netflix’s global partnership with World Wrestling Entertainment will begin on January 6, when “Monday Night Raw” will move to the streaming service.
Netflix said that 60 million viewers worldwide watched the Tyson-Paul fight, with the highest number of concurrent viewers reaching 65 million, including 38 million concurrent viewers in the United States.
According to the Down Detector website, nearly 85,000 viewers logged outages or streaming issues that led to the game.
By comparison, the maximum audience for a Peacock live NFL game last season between the Miami Dolphins and Chiefs in the AFC wild-card game was 23 million. A regular-season game on Amazon Prime Video had 17.3 million viewers on Dec. 5, when the Detroit Lions rallied to beat the Green Bay Packers.
Nielsen will measure viewership for the Christmas Day game and is expected to release preliminary numbers late in the afternoon on December 26.
The games will be aired on CBS affiliates in Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Houston as part of the league’s long-standing policy, which states that games played via cable or live streaming must also be aired on over-the-air stations in the following markets: Participating teams.
The time of greatest demand is likely to be around 6 p.m. ET, which will be halftime of the Ravens-Texans game and the time of Beyoncé’s performance.
These games are the first in a three-year deal with Netflix, which will also launch one game each in 2025 and 2026. Netflix plans to spend $150 million on its plans this year.
While buying an entire season of a game doesn’t fit into Netflix’s philosophy, it still makes sense to make the game on Christmas Day.
NFL vice president of broadcast planning Mike North said when the schedule was announced in May that the league was not considering scheduling this year’s games on Christmas Day, which falls on a Wednesday. However, the ratings boost was too good to pass up.
The average number of viewers for the three Christmas games last year was 28.68 million. The early afternoon game between the Las Vegas Raiders and Chiefs led the way, averaging 29.48 million viewers.
NFL owners approved two games on Christmas Day at the spring meetings in March. Soon after, Netflix expressed interest.
Netflix already has a relationship with the league through its “Quarterback” and “Catchers” series.
“This is like an event. This is not just a random game in Week 17,” Rigg said. “My north star for everyone is this need to feel warmth, festivals, family and fun. We’re really trying to make it feel elevated and consistent with what the holidays represent.
Netflix is also trying to make this a family affair for its casters. Father-son duo Ian and Noah Eagle will serve as play-by-play announcers, while JJ Watt will serve as chiefs-steelers analyst. And his brother, linebacker TJ Watt, was trying to contain Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
Brothers Jason and Devin McCourty will serve as the pregame staff from Pittsburgh, with Laura Rutledge serving as host.
Ian Eagle will call the game in Pittsburgh, with Watt and Nate Burleson serving as analysts. Melanie Collins and Stacey Dales will serve as sideline reporters.
Noah Eagle and Greg Olson call the game in Houston, with Jamie Erdahl and Steve Wyche reporting from the sideline.
The NFL Network studios in Inglewood, Calif., will also have staff available throughout the day to host pregame, halftime and postgame coverage. Kay Adams will serve as host, with Drew Brees, Robert Griffin III, Mina Kimes and Mandy Manti Te’o provides analysis.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and CBS Sports rules analyst Gene Steratore will also report.
CBS Sports will produce the games and NFL Media will produce the studio programming. EverWonder Studio will executive produce NFL Christmas Game Day.
Hans Schroeder, executive vice president of NFL Media, said he was impressed by Netflix’s efforts and planning.
“It’s going to feel like a high-quality football experience but also a global event. I think they’ve done an incredible job in realizing that vision,” Schroeder said.
Published – December 23, 2024 at 12:16 pm (IST)