Netflix takes a lot of pride in its scripted originals but is growing more focused on the ultimate reality program: NFL football.
The streaming titan will show five NFL games next season, compared with the two Christmas Day games it has offered for the past three years. Under an extension of the two parties’ rights deal, Netflix will show an international game played in Australia in the first week of the season; a game played on Thanksgiving Eve; and a January game played in the final weeks of the season. The two Christmas Day games will continue.
The new schedule will be in place through the 2029-2030 season, part of a new four-year pact negotiated between the streamer and the NFL.
Netflix will also stream the NFL Honors, the league’s annual awards presentation the week of the Super Bowl, around the world. In years past, it has been aired by the network also running the Super Bowl.
Like many other entertainment companies, Netflix has placed more emphasis on live events and sports in recent years. Such things are more attractive to advertisers, who covet large audiences all watching at a single time, and Netflix has been eager to win more revenue to its advertising business.
The company has added boxing matches, WWE programming and Major League Baseball to its offering, a move that costs millions of dollars per year.
Some of the games the NFL sold to Netflix were relinquished by ESPN after gaining turn as part of its acquisition of the NFL Network.for the upcoming season. One of the games was previously live-streamed last year by YouTube.
