Netflix is the latest streaming partner of the National Football League, agreeing to a deal for the service to have exclusive rights to both Christmas Day games in 2024. However, the cost of getting both those games was reportedly significant.
When the NFL first decided to start having games on Christmas, a day typically reserved for the NBA, its broadcasts could be found on standard cable. However, with the league becoming increasingly interested in streaming services – already partnered with Amazon Prime Video, ESPN+ and Peacock – football on Christmas Day was always going to have multiple suitors.
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Amazon was among the challengers vying for the two games on Christmas Day, seeking to expand its partnership with the NFL past “Thursday Night Football” and a single Wild Card game in 2024. While Prime Video will have a game on Christmas next year, both games will be exclusively on Netflix in 2024 and that came at a hefty cost.
According to John Ourand of Puck, Netflix is paying approximately $75-80 million per game, generating a combined price tag of around $140-$160 million for this year’s Christmas Day football games alone.
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It’s only the start of things to come. The streaming service also agreed to a deal with the league for a game in 2025, splitting the doubleheader with Amazon. In total, it’s expected to cost the company more than $210 million for three games in the next two years.
This appears to be a long-term partnership, too. Ourand also reported that the league’s newest streaming partner will have at least one Christmas game in 2026, pushing the price tag even higher. It just adds another source of revenue for the league, which is pushing closer toward its goal of $25 billion in revenue.
As for football’s long-time broadcasting partners – CBS, NBC, ESPN and Fox – they will still get the majority of regular-season games, the postseason and the Super Bowl. However, with their TV rights contracts poised to expire in 2023, when the league can opt out of the deals, it’s possible streaming services will have a lot more games in the years to come.
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