The first NFL Christmas doubleheader on Netflix turned out to be a global hit. The Baltimore Ravens’ 31-2 victory over the Houston Texans averaged 31.3 million viewers, while Kansas City’s 29-10 victory over Pittsburgh averaged 30 million viewers worldwide, according to data from Netflix itself released on Tuesday. These two games are also the most broadcast in the history of the NFL in the United States.
The game between Ravens and Texans has an updated average of 27.2 million and the Chiefs-Steelers game reached 25.8 million, according to Nielsen and Netflix. Both NFL games surpassed the previous mark of 23 million from last season’s AFC Wild Card game between the Miami Dolphins and Chiefs on Peacock.
Nielsen also indicated that there were 65 million viewers in the United States who watched at least one minute of either game, making it Netflix’s most-watched Christmas Day. Netflix and the NFL said viewers in 218 countries and territories watched at least one of the games.
It was also a good recovery for Netflix after widespread streaming issues during the fight between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul on November 14th. The only notable flaw was that the broadcast did not transition to the live action and started from the beginning whenever viewers tuned in.
“In terms of the big picture, everything went as well as we had hoped,” said Brandon Riegg, vice president of nonfiction and sports series at Netflix. “Given the magnitude of expectations, especially after a fight, I think we defended ourselves as well as we expected. I’m glad the narrative has changed and that it’s at least acknowledged that we haven’t encountered any of the issues that affected us before.”
The game between Chiefs and Steelers was in the daily top 10 in 72 countries with large audiences in Canada, Germany, Ireland and Great Britain. Ravens-Texans was in the daily top 10 in 62 countries, with peaks in Australia, Austria and Mexico.
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Viewer numbers include viewership on Netflix, mobile viewing on NFL+ and those who tuned into CBS stations in Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Baltimore and Houston.
The NFL’s Christmas numbers were down from last season, but not at the pace that typically occurs when something moves from broadcast to online streaming.
Last year’s three games averaged 28.68 million viewers. The afternoon game between the Las Vegas Raiders and Chiefs led with an average of 29.48 million on CBS.
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This was the first in a three-year partnership between Netflix and the NFL for Christmas Day games. Netflix will have at least one upcoming season, but there’s a chance of another doubleheader as the holiday falls on a Thursday in 2025.
That would make three games for Christmas next year, as Amazon Prime Video has the Thursday night package. The NFL has had three games on Thanksgiving since 2006, so it wouldn’t be unusual.
“It shows a few things. First, that Christmas Day as an event, and then I think with our reach and the production partners we had in terms of execution (CBS, NFL Network and EverWonder Studio) we were able to create something that was both resonant and of high engagement,” said Riegg.
