Netflix NFL Ratings: Christmas Games Set Streaming Record But Trail 2023 Broadcast Numbers

As a gamer with a keen interest in sports and streaming, I must say the latest NFL games on Netflix have certainly caught my attention! With over 24 million viewers for each game, it’s clear that the partnership between Netflix and the NFL is off to a strong start. It’s interesting to compare these numbers to traditional broadcast networks, but let’s not forget that we’re living in an era where streaming is quickly becoming the norm.

The initial NFL games streaming on Netflix attracted substantial viewership, marking the platform’s largest audience for a streaming football event. However, it fell short of the viewership recorded during last year’s holiday matches broadcasted on traditional networks.

The NBA had a very successful Christmas last year, as the five games played increased by an impressive 84% compared to the previous year.

As a passionate gamer, I’ve got some exciting news to share! According to Nielsen fast national ratings, two games on Netflix attracted an average of about 24.2 million viewers in the US. The clash between the Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers drew in around 24.1 million viewers, while the Baltimore Ravens’ victory over the Houston Texans garnered approximately 24.3 million. These numbers include broadcasts aired on TV in the teams’ local markets. Interestingly, during Beyoncé’s electrifying halftime performance at the Ravens-Texans game, Netflix saw its viewership peak at an impressive 27 million viewers!

According to Nielsen and Netflix, approximately 65 million individuals tuned in for at least a minute of their NFL broadcast.

Bela Bajaria, Netflix’s head of content, expressed that giving our members an unprecedented day featuring two NFL games was the most delightful holiday present we could have offered. We are grateful for our collaboration with the NFL, our exceptional broadcast talent, and let’s not forget to acknowledge the captivating performance by Beyoncé and the brilliant Mariah Carey,” said Bela Bajaria.

Hans Schroeder, NFL’s executive vice president of media distribution, expressed his delight about their inaugural Christmas Gameday on Netflix, as they stream NFL games to a global audience for the first time. Netflix expects to share worldwide data on these NFL games within the next week, potentially allowing for a fair comparison with its latest major sports event, November’s boxing match between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson.

On Wednesday, two games attracted approximately 5 million fewer viewers compared to the Christmas Day games last year, which had a viewership of 29.48 million on CBS and 29.02 million on Fox. To put this into perspective, a Monday Night Football game on ABC and ESPN last year garnered 27.61 million viewers. Despite this, the Wednesday games are among the higher-viewed regular-season contests this year, coming after the Thanksgiving games (which averaged over 33 million viewers), the opening game on September 5 (with a total viewership of 29.2 million across all platforms), and several featured games on CBS and Fox during the late Sunday afternoon slot.

Last season, the record for viewership on a streaming-exclusive NFL game was held by Peacock’s wild card playoff telecast, which drew in an impressive 23 million fans back in January. However, this year, Amazon’s Prime Video has been consistently outperforming that mark, averaging a staggering 13.34 million viewers for their Thursday Night Football games – that’s a 12% increase compared to last season! To add to Peacock’s success, they managed to attract 14 million viewers for a game during the opening week of the current season. As a devoted fan, I can hardly wait to see which streaming service will break the viewership record next!

On Christmas Day, the games marked the beginning of a three-year agreement between the NFL and Netflix for streaming games.

On ABC and ESPN, the NBA’s Christmas schedule drew an average of 5.25 million viewers this year, marking a significant rise compared to the record-low viewership of 2.85 million in 2023. Unlike last year where only two games were broadcast on ABC, all five matches were simulcast this season, largely due to ABC’s commitment to its Monday Night Football program.

The highly anticipated clash between the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors garnered the highest viewership with 7.76 million, which is almost six times more than what was typically seen during the same timeframe last year. This matchup marked the most-watched NBA regular season game since 2019.

In addition to the Minnesota Timberwolves and Dallas Mavericks, who had the second most viewers of the day with 5.16 million, all the other four games saw an increase in viewership compared to last year. The New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs attracted 4.91 million viewers, followed by the Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Celtics (4.38 million) and Denver Nuggets and Phoenix Suns (3.84 million). Notably, the game between the Denver Nuggets and Phoenix Suns broke the record for the largest audience on Christmas night for the NBA.

Viewership for NBA games on ESPN has seen a significant increase on Wednesdays, currently sitting 4% higher than at the same point last season. Compared to the previous year as a whole, the league’s national broadcasts are only 4% lower, a marked improvement from earlier in the season when they were consistently running more than 10% behind.

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2024-12-27 02:55