Big first for Netflix: the American platform has acquired the rights to at least four NFL games. The video-on-demand service will broadcast two matches on Christmas Day 2024 and at least one match on the same date in 2025 and 2026, according to a press release published Wednesday. This year, the two games broadcast will be Kansas City Chiefs – Pittsburgh Steelers and Houston Texans – Baltimore Ravens. According to Wall Street JournalNetflix will pay $75 million to broadcast each of this year’s two matches.
For several years, the streaming giant has been making incursions into the world of sport. But until now, for him it was more about producing sports documentaries or creating his own events on the sidelines of major competitions. He thus launched the documentary series Drive to Survive on Formula 1, Break Point on tennis and Tour de France: at the heart of the cycling peloton.
The platform also produced a golf tournament, the Netflix Cup, as well as a tennis match, called Netflix Slam, between the Spaniards Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz. On July 20, it will also host the broadcast of the match between ring legend Mike Tyson and boxer and YouTuber Jake Paul.
The 14 best audiences in the United States in 2023 are NFL games
But Netflix had so far stayed away from traditional competitions, officially deeming their cost too high. “There is no annual event, whether sports or not, that is comparable to the NFL in terms of audience,” explained content manager Bela Bajaria, quoted in the press release. Some 39 of the 50 best audiences of 2023 in the United States were achieved by NFL matches, including the 14 largest.
During a press conference on Wednesday, Netflix vice-president Spencer Wang indicated on Wednesday that it was not a question of the platform “making a big investment in sport” but of expanding its catalog of events occasional events likely to generate an audience.
2024-05-16 05:58:16
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