Why is Netflix streaming NFL games on Christmas?

For the first time, Netflix is ​​ringing in Christmas with some live NFL games. The platform’s nearly 300 million subscribers around the world can stream the Kansas City Chiefs game against the Pittsburgh Steelers and then the Houston Texans game against the Baltimore Ravens. It begins with a performance by the Queen of Christmas, Mariah Carey, followed by a halftime show by Beyoncé.

Netflix is ​​just the latest major streamer to foray into live sporting events: Amazon Prime has Thursday Night Football, Apple has Pro Football. The game can bring great rewards but also great risks.

This may be Netflix’s first foray into the major sports leagues, but the streamer has made a name for itself with some less risqué live events, such as a roast of football legend Tom Brady and the much-hyped boxing match between internet star Jake Paul and the 58th -year-old Mike Tyson last month.

According to Netflix, 65 million subscribers around the world simultaneously watched the fight – the most-streamed sporting event of all time. But there were some problems.

“For some reason we couldn’t get it going in our house,” said Elizabeth Parks, president and chief marketing officer of research firm Parks Associates.

She was one of many spectators who experienced technical difficulties. There have been numerous reports on social media about buffering and low resolution issues.

“We drove to a friend’s house across the street. They had problems too, but in the end they threw it from the phone to the TV,” she said.

Streaming live events is technically difficult to plan, said Dan Rayburn, an independent streaming media analyst.

“How do you prepare when you don’t know… how long people are going to be watching, how many people might be tuning in just for Beyoncé’s halftime show, and where in the world they’re going to be from?” he said.

Streaming platforms work with internet service providers in advance to free up capacity. But Rayburn said there isn’t much precedent.

“What Netflix wants to do and to what extent they are doing it has never been done before,” he said.

So why even try? One answer is advertising, said Charles Schreger, a professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business. “The NFL is the North Star,” he said. “It’s the one thing that consistently dominates television.”

93 percent of the most watched programs in 2023 were NFL games. And streamers are eager to capture some of those eyeballs.