The NFL and Netflix are in the second year of their three-year deal, and it is already proving to be a hit with audiences on Christmas Day.
Netflix has revealed the Christmas Day game between the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings has become the most-streamed NFL game in US history.
The game, which saw the Vikings beat the Lions 23-10, averaged a viewership of 27.5 million according to Nielsen Big Data + Panel. Netflix has now broadcast the top three most-streamed NFL games in US history.
The Dallas Cowboys’ 30-23 victory over the Washington Commanders, the other NFL Christmas Day game on Netflix, averaged a US audience of 19.9 million viewers.
Netflix revealed average international viewership for the Lions-Vikings game was 30.5 million, while the Cowboys-Commanders fixture averaged a global audience of 22.4 million viewers.
Viewership for the Christmas Day games also attributed viewers from the NFL’s international distributors and NFL Game Pass outside of the US, as well as from Netflix Live +1 first-party data for TV, mobile and websites.
The Snoop Dogg effect
For the second consecutive year, a half-time performance, akin to the Super Bowl, was staged on Christmas Day, with hip-hop legend Snoop Dogg performed during the halfway mark of the Lions-Vikings game.
Netflix revealed Snoop Dogg’s half-time performance drew in an average of 29 million viewers in the US, peaking at 30 million.
Snoop Dogg’s ‘Halftime Party’ show also drove 100 million social media impressions, contributing to the Lions-Vikings game being the most socially consumed sporting event in the US on Christmas Day, according to Netflix.
‘Snoop’ was also the number one trend in the US on Christmas Day, while social media conversations on X topped impressions in countries such as Brazil, Mexico and Spain.
NFL and Netflix
Netflix is in the second-year of its three-year broadcast partnership with the NFL to broadcast two games on Christmas Day per year.
Last year saw the Kansas City Chiefs face the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens against the Houston Texas, with Beyoncé performing during half-time of the latter game. Both games averaged a US viewership of 26.5 million.
While the Lions-Vikings achieved a higher average US audience than the 2024 Christmas Day games, the 2025 fixtures failed to reach the global average highs of the Ravens-Texans 2024 game of 31.5 million viewers.
The Netflix broadcast deal, which was agreed in May 2024, was the latest of a series of streaming-focused broadcast deals as the NFL looked to capitalise on the surge of streaming viewership.
As part of a 10-year deal worth $1bn per season, Amazon acquired the rights to become the new home of Thursday Night Football from 2023 until 2033 with games being streamed on Prime Video.
NBCUniversal’s 10-year broadcast deal renewal in 2021 also saw games being brought to its streaming service, Peacock, for the first time. Sunday Night Football games have been streamed on Peacock, as well as international games in São Paulo and Wild Card games.
Peacock’s coverage of the 2024 AFC Wild Card game, which saw eventual Super Bowl champions Kansas City Chiefs beating the Miami Dolphins 26-7, was the most-streamed US live event in history at the time, averaging 24.6 million viewers.
This story was first published on Affiliate Leaders’ sister title, Insider Sport.
