Netflix’s inaugural Christmas Day NFL doubleheader was a significant success on a global scale. The matchup between the Baltimore Ravens and the Houston Texans, which ended with a score of 31-2, attracted an average of 31.3 million viewers. Meanwhile, the Kansas City Chiefs’ 29-10 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers garnered an average of 30 million viewers worldwide, according to data released by Netflix on Tuesday.
Both games achieved a remarkable feat, becoming the most streamed NFL games in United States history. Updated figures indicate that the Ravens-Texans game has an average viewership of 27.2 million, while the Chiefs-Steelers game recorded 25.8 million, according to insights from Nielsen and Netflix.
These NFL broadcasts surpassed the previous record of 23 million, set during the last season’s AFC wild-card game between the Miami Dolphins and the Chiefs, which aired on Peacock. Nielsen further reported that a total of 65 million viewers in the U.S. watched at least one minute of these games, marking Netflix’s highest viewership for Christmas Day.
According to Netflix and the NFL, audiences from 218 countries and territories tuned in for at least one of the games, showcasing the widespread appeal of the event. This successful event helped Netflix bounce back from previous streaming issues encountered during the Mike Tyson-Jake Paul fight on November 14, where viewers experienced technical difficulties like the stream failing to show live action at the right moment.
Brandon Riegg, Netflix’s vice president of nonfiction series and sports, commented, “In terms of the big picture, it went as well as we could have hoped. Given the weight of expectations, especially coming off a fight, I think we acquitted ourselves as well as we could have hoped.” He expressed satisfaction with the outcome, highlighting a change in narrative compared to the earlier streaming challenges.
The Chiefs-Steelers game ranked in the daily top 10 in 72 countries, achieving significant viewership in Canada, Germany, Ireland, and the UK, while the Ravens-Texans contest made the daily top 10 in 62 countries, with notably high numbers in Australia, Austria, and Mexico.
The viewer counts encompass not only those on Netflix but also mobile viewership via NFL+ and audiences tuning into CBS broadcasts in the respective NFL markets. Although this year’s Christmas NFL viewership numbers were lower than the previous season, they did not decline as sharply as typically expected when transitioning from traditional broadcast to streaming formats.
Last year’s three-game lineup averaged 28.68 million viewers, led by the early afternoon game between the Las Vegas Raiders and the Chiefs, which attracted an average of 29.48 million on CBS.
This doubleheader marks the beginning of a three-year partnership between Netflix and the NFL for Christmas Day games. Netflix is expected to feature at least one game next season, with the potential for an additional doubleheader since Christmas will fall on a Thursday in 2025. This could mean three total games that day, as Amazon Prime Video holds the Thursday night package. The NFL has offered three games on Thanksgiving since 2006, so this scenario would not be unprecedented.
Riegg noted, “This proves a couple of things. One, that Christmas Day as an event, and then I think with our reach and the production partners that we had in terms of execution that we did create something that was both buzzy and with high engagement.” The triumph of the Christmas Day games also provides Netflix with positive momentum heading into the new year, notably as its partnership with World Wrestling Entertainment is set to launch, with “Monday Night Raw” moving to the streaming platform next week.
