National Football League It’s not shy about its pursuit of making its products as widely available as possible. The league took a step toward that goal earlier this year when it struck a three-year deal with streaming giant Netflix.
The NFL’s Christmas Day doubleheader on Netflix has everyone excited, but also a little worried. The streamer is under pressure to ensure problems that arose during last month’s live broadcast of the fight between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul do not recur on Wednesday.
While there didn’t appear to be issues with streaming quality leading up to the game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers and at least during the first half of the game, there were some hiccups during the pregame coverage.
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Pregame co-host Kay Adams’ microphone appeared to go off for a few seconds at the start of the show. ESPN personality Mina Kimes was then interrupted by a seemingly unplanned commercial for the Season 2 premiere of Netflix’s hit show Squidward.
After commercial breaks, the cameras finally cut back to the pregame show.
NFL and Netflix logos.
Pregame coverage begins hours before the Chiefs and Steelers tip off at 1 p.m. ET.
Once the operation began, another glaring mistake occurred. Even though Pittsburgh was on the clock, a scoring error listed the Steelers with just two timeouts remaining. The error was corrected shortly after.
Netflix under pressure over Christmas NFL schedule after Tyson-Paul streaming fiasco
At halftime, the defending Super Bowl champions led Pittsburgh 13-7.
An aerial view of the Netflix logo appears above its corporate offices in Los Angeles on January 24. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Under the terms of a multi-year deal with the NFL, Netflix won the rights to broadcast at least one holiday game in 2025 and 2026.
The NFL logo can be seen on the field before the game between the Green Bay Packers and the Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium on December 25, 2022 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Megan Briggs/Getty Images)
“Last year, we decided to make a big bet on live streaming, attracting comedy, reality, A large number of fans in sports and other fields.
“No live annual event, sports competition or other activity can match the audience that NFL football attracts. We are delighted that the NFL’s Christmas Day game will be available exclusively on Netflix.”
Music superstar and Houston native Beyoncé is scheduled to perform at halftime of the Houston Texans-Baltimore Ravens game at NRG Stadium later Wednesday.
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Netflix paid an estimated $150 million for the game rights, according to Bloomberg. The streamer and the NFL have had an ongoing relationship over the past few years.
The documentary series “The Quarterback” will be released on Netflix in 2023, and “The Receiver” premiered on the streaming platform last month. The former focuses on three different signal-callers at different stages of their careers, while the receiving series focuses on four wide receivers and one tight end.
Consistent with previous agreements, the agreement with Netflix allows games to be shown on broadcast television in participating teams’ home markets. The league’s NFL+ streaming service will allow American fans to watch games on mobile devices.
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