NFL Christmas Day Games on Netflix Drew 65M US Viewers; Sets League Streaming Record

Netflix released its Christmas streaming viewership numbers on Thursday, saying that the Kansas City Chiefs vs. Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens vs. Houston Texans matchups drew 65 million viewers across the United States.

Netflix would be primarily competing with Amazon Prime's Thursday Night Football and Peacock's NFL broadcasts for streaming viewership numbers.

Netflix entered the NFL streaming game on Wednesday with its pair of NFL broadcasts, with the Ravens vs. Texans posting a 24.3 million average minute audience and the Chiefs vs. Steelers notching a 24.1 million average minute audience.

The previous streaming record for an NFL broadcast was the AFC Wild Card Round matchup between the Chiefs and Miami Dolphins in January on Peacock (22.8 million), per Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch.

While those numbers were impressive, they were down from the network Christmas broadcasts last year in the same time slots. The Las Vegas Raiders vs. Chiefs on CBS pulled in 29.5 million, while the New York Giants vs. Philadelphia Eagles on FOX pulled in 29 million.

Thanksgiving has been a staple on the NFL schedule but Christmas was traditionally the NBA's day, with the NFL occasionally hosting games on the holiday. But since 2020, the NFL has held a game on Christmas each year, with the NFL holding tripleheaders in 2022 and 2023 before this season's streaming doubleheader.

The NFL on Netflix won't be a one-year deal—the streaming giant will broadcast at least one NFL game on Christmas in both the 2025 and 2026 seasons as well.