Netflix and NFL sign deal, extending push into sports
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The deal marks the first time Netflix has licensed the rights to one of the world’s premiere sports competitions
PHOTO: NYTIMES
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Los Angeles - Netflix will air two National Football League (NFL) games this Christmas Day, in the streaming TV giant’s latest push into live events.
The three-season pact will also see Netflix host at least one Christmas game in both 2025 and 2026, the league and the company announced on May 15.
“Last year, we decided to take a big bet on live – tapping into massive fandoms across comedy, reality TV, sports and more,” Ms Bela Bajaria, Netflix’s chief content officer, said in a statement. “There are no live annual events, sports or otherwise, that compare with the audiences NFL football attracts.”
The agreement marks the first time Netflix has licensed the rights to one of the world’s premiere sports competitions and the first time it will show live football, the most popular sport in the United States.
The company will pay less than US$150 million (S$201 million) per game, according to people familiar with the deal who asked not to be identified because the terms are private. Both Netflix and the NFL declined to comment.
The streaming industry leader has been experimenting with live programming for the past year as a way to broaden the entertainment options for its customers and to create appealing properties for advertisers. Sports is the most valuable live programming in the world.
Executives at Netflix like the idea of a Christmas Day event that could bring millions of viewers to the service all at once. No live event is a bigger draw for viewers or advertisers in the US than the NFL, which accounts for the majority of the most-watched live TV broadcasts in the country every year.
Netflix has dabbled in live sports before. It plans to carry a boxing match between former champ Mike Tyson and YouTube star Jake Paul in July. In January, the company acquired the exclusive rights to Raw as well as other programming from World Wrestling Entertainment, marking the service’s biggest move to date into live events.
Boosting advertisement sales is a key part of the company’s efforts to sustain the double-digit revenue growth that analysts expect through 2026. Netflix said on May 15 that monthly active users of its ad-supported subscription plan reached 40 million, and that it will launch an in-house ad technology platform to support this growing part of its business.
Because live sporting events have advertising breaks built into the broadcast, sports allow Netflix to show advertising to all of its users in a given market – not just those on a cheaper, advertising-supported plan. BLOOMBERG
