Netflix’s Christmas Surprise for NFL Fans
Netflix has an early holiday treat for football fans — a couple of special games on December 25, 2024.
On Christmas Day, Netflix will be the go-to place for two big NFL matchups: The Chiefs versus the Steelers at 1 pm ET, and the Ravens against the Texans at 4:30 pm ET. And that’s not all! For Christmas in both 2025 and 2026, Netflix will stream at least one game each year as part of this three-year deal.
Netflix’s collaboration with the NFL started a few years ago, beginning with the hit series Quarterback in 2023. This summer, a new show called Receiver will follow five top NFL players throughout their season: Davante Adams, Justin Jefferson, George Kittle, Deebo Samuel, and Amon-Ra St. Brown.
Bela Bajaria, Netflix’s Chief Content Officer, said, “Last year, we decided to take a big bet on live — tapping into massive fandoms across comedy, reality TV, sports, and more. There are no live annual events, sports or otherwise, that compare with the audiences NFL football attracts. We’re so excited that the NFL’s Christmas Day games will be only on Netflix.”
Hans Schroeder from the NFL added, “We couldn’t be more excited to be the first professional sports league to partner with Netflix to bring live games to fans around the world. The NFL on Christmas has become a tradition and to partner with Netflix, a service whose biggest day of the year is typically this holiday, is the perfect combination to grow this event globally for NFL fans.”
The NFL began its Christmas Day games in 1971, with more regular appearances since 1989. Since 2020, these games have become a holiday highlight, with last year’s matches making it into the top 25 most-watched shows of 2023. The Raiders vs. Chiefs game drew the most viewers since 1988, with both Taylor Swift and Santa Claus making appearances. In total, there have been 30 Christmas games, and continuing the tradition, the Netflix games will also air on broadcast TV in the teams’ cities and be available on mobile devices in the US through NFL+. The full 2024-2025 NFL schedule can be found [here](https://www.nfl.com/schedules/2024/reg1/).
Fans love surprises like this!