Netflix Christmas NFL Games Break Streaming Records
On Christmas Day, approximately 65 million viewers tuned in to a duo of NFL games on Netflix, establishing new streaming records.
The contest between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Pittsburgh Steelers averaged 24.1 million viewers, while the Baltimore Ravens’ victory over the Houston Texans attracted an average of 24.3 million viewers, making these the most streamed NFL games in U.S. history, as reported by Nielsen in a statement from the NFL on Thursday, Dec. 26, here.
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Viewership for the Ravens-Texans game soared during the halftime performance dubbed the Beyoncé Bowl, which featured an anticipated performance by Beyoncé and drew over 27 million viewers, as stated by Netflix on Thursday.
The NFL expressed great excitement over the Christmas Day statistics.
“Fans from all 50 states and more than 200 countries globally enjoyed performances by some of the league’s brightest stars, alongside a spectacular show by Beyoncé on this historic day for the NFL,” stated Hans Schroeder, NFL executive vice president of media distribution, in the Netflix announcement.
Netflix and the NFL have secured a three-season agreement to showcase Christmas games, according to Netflix.
While these holiday football matchups set new streaming milestones, they were not the largest sporting event on Netflix recently. Last month, the platform featured a boxing match between the legendary 58-year-old champion Mike Tyson and Jake Paul, with over 60 million viewers tuning in for that event.
When comparing Christmas Day viewership to the biggest game of the year, the Super Bowl, last season’s championship clash between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers attracted 123.4 million viewers. This game was broadcast on CBS, the NFL Network, Univision, Paramount+, NFL+, and ViX, a streaming service for Spanish-language content.
CBS confirmed that the game was the most-watched telecast in history, surpassing the 2023 Super Bowl featuring the Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles, which drew a total of 115 million viewers.
