By Netflix’s NFL Christmas Gameday Live event, the first NFL game on the streaming giant, reportedly drew a broadcast network-level audience in the United States.
Netflix cited Nielsen measurements that indicate that the Chiefs-Steelers match pulled in 24.1 million viewers while the Ravens-Texans game averaged 24.3 million viewers. At its height, 33% of Netflix’s U.S. subscribers were watching the telecast.
That’s on the high end of what CBS, Fox, NBC and like might do with a highly anticipated NFL or college football game. Performances from Beyonce and Mariah Carey also drew a lot of attention at points during the game.
Hans Schroeder, NFL executive vice president of media distribution says: “We’re thrilled with our first Christmas Gameday on Netflix with NFL games being streamed to a global audience. Fans in all 50 states and over 200 countries around the world watched some of the league’s brightest stars along with a dazzling performance by Beyoncé in a historic day for the NFL.”
Netflix will lay out $150 million to carry Christmas Day NFL games for three years. The agreement was seen as risky for the NFL given the chance for blowback from passionate football fans who don’t have access to Netflix.
In addition the streamer’s infamous Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson boxing match, the most streamed sporting event in history with over 108 million viewers tuning in live, famously had technical issues throughout – something not seen during the NFL Christmas broadcast.
Source: Variety
The post Netflix’s NFL Xmas Experiment Was A Success appeared first on Dark Horizons.
