The NFL has a lot of mouths to feed when it comes to its broadcast partners and regular season schedule. And it’s not just the traditional networks anymore.
Netflix has entered the fray with a few Christmas games. The NFL announced the partnership on Wednesday, which will include Christmas games on Netflix for the next three years. Peacock, NBC’s streaming service, had a regular-season game and a playoff game last season. The playoff game between the Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs set a record as the largest streamed event in American history. ESPN+ also got a game last season, when the Atlanta Falcons played the Jacksonville Jaguars in London in Week 4, and got an exclusive game again this season.
The NFL has many broadcast partners, including its own NFL Network, to deliver high-quality matchups, and many subscriptions for fans if they want all the games. Here’s how the NFL handled handing out matchups to the streaming services this season:
ESPN+
ESPN gets Monday night games (the network has struggled to get the best matchups over the years as the league prioritized its Sunday night slate), and last season it got an exclusive game on ESPN+. There’s another one this season, and it’s a little hard to understand its appeal.
The game is the Los Angeles Chargers vs. the Arizona Cardinals, which takes place in Week 7 and is part of a Monday night doubleheader. The Baltimore Ravens and Tampa Bay Buccaneers kick off at 8:15 PM ET, with Chargers-Cardinals starting 45 minutes later. It doesn’t make much sense why ESPN would want to take viewers away from the Monday night game on the main network. And the Chargers-Cardinals matchup isn’t all that great, between two teams that missed the playoffs last season, though there are still some stars on both sides, including new Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh. Overall, it’s just an odd placement and matchup for the ESPN+ exclusive game this season. Last season it made much more sense to have an ESPN+ international early morning game. Or have a better game for ESPN+ than Chargers-Cardinals.
Netflix
The NFL is taking over Christmas if it falls on a Wednesday this year, but at least there are good games to watch.
The NFL was kind to Netflix in the streaming giant’s first foray into live NFL broadcasts. The first game is the Kansas City Chiefs against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The second is the Baltimore Ravens against the Houston Texans. That’s four AFC playoff teams from a season ago. The Chiefs are reigning back-to-back champions and always draw, the Steelers have one of the largest fan bases in sports, the Ravens were No. 1 in the AFC last season and have two-time MVP Lamar Jackson, and the Texans have C.J. Stroud, one of the most exciting young players in the league.
Netflix must be happy with those matchups. It’s a great way to usher in the outlet’s live sports streaming offerings and could signal a more extensive partnership down the road. The NFL rolled out the red carpet for Netflix with those games.
Peacock
Peacock, NBC’s streaming service, is getting another exclusive game and it’s a good one. Peacock will watch the Green Bay Packers vs. Philadelphia Eagles broadcast from Brazil, which will take place on Friday of Week 1. That gives the streaming service a high-quality matchup between two playoff teams from last season, both bringing with them huge fan bases. an independent window. The NFL hasn’t had a Friday game in opening week since 1970, which says a lot about their efforts to keep NBC/Peacock happy with their exclusive game. Peacock should be satisfied.
Amazon Prime Video
Amazon will stream a playoff game this season. The company reportedly paid $120 million to add a wildcard game to its portfolio, which will be streamed in January 2025. It’s no surprise, after the success of the Peacock game last season, that the NFL would stream another playoff game.
But the bulk of the Amazon package is the Thursday evening slate. Over the years, the Thursday night schedule often seemed like an afterthought with subpar matchups. Amazon Prime Video isn’t paying a reported $1 billion per season for the Thursday night package just to get leftovers.
The Amazon package got a little better last season, the second year of the deal with the NFL, but the third year is a bit of a mixed bag. It starts off strong with the Buffalo Bills at Miami Dolphins, then there are some questionable matchups before things get going again:
Week 2: Bills with dolphins
Week 3: Patriots at Jets
Week 4: Cowboys among giants
Week 5: Buccaneers at Falcons
Week 6: 49ers at Seahawks
Week 7: Broncos at Saints
Week 8: Vikings at Rams
Week 9: Texans at Jets
Week 10: Bengals at Ravens
Week 11: Commanders at Eagles
Week 12: Steelers at Browns
Week 13 (Black Friday): Chiefs robbers
Week 14: Packers at Lions
Week 15: Rams at 49ers
Week 16: Browns at Bengals
Week 17: Seahawks at Beren
No one really needs to watch the Patriots, Giants, Broncos or Commanders in prime time, but they can’t all include the Chiefs and 49ers. There are some exciting matchups on paper, although plenty of other matchups ask one big team to spend the night against an undersized opponent. Hopefully some of those lesser teams at least give us a good show.
The NFL putting select games on streaming services isn’t going away, and you can bet the number of games and services will increase as those companies cut huge checks for just a few games.
