Move over, holiday classics—the NFL on Netflix is rewriting Christmas traditions faster than a Hail Mary in overtime. Imagine Santa trading his sleigh for a goalpost, Mariah Carey’s anthem blasting alongside Lamar Jackson’s scrambles, and Beyoncé dropping halftime fire hotter than Grandma’s apple pie. This isn’t your dad’s Christmas—it’s a gridiron takeover. And Commissioner Roger Goodell just doubled down, turning the holiday into football’s newest holy day.

The NFL announced Monday a 50% boost to its Christmas slate, confirming a tripleheader for 2024—two games on Netflix and one on Amazon Prime. Last year’s doubleheader averaged 24 million viewers, with Beyoncé’s halftime show peaking at 27 million. “The NFL on Christmas has become a tradition,” said NFL exec Hans Schroeder. “To partner with Netflix, a service whose biggest day of the year is typically this holiday, is the perfect combination to grow this event globally for NFL fans.” Forget mistletoe—football owns December 25.

Christmas Day football isn’t new. The league first tested it in 1971, but last year’s NFL on Netflix games rewrote the playbook. Chiefs–Steelers and Ravens–Texans drew 65 million U.S. viewers, dwarfing the NBA’s five-game average of 5.25 million. LeBron James joked, “I love the NFL, but Christmas is our day,” but the numbers shouted louder: NFL games topped every NBA matchup, even Lakers–Warriors. Why the dominance?

Netflix’s global reach. Fans in 218 countries streamed the games, while Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter” halftime spectacle trended #1 worldwide. “We couldn’t be more excited to be the first professional sports league to partner with Netflix to bring live games to fans around the world,” Schroeder added. Besides, football + streaming = unstoppable. However, the Ravens’ 31-2 rout of Houston wasn’t the only highlight.

Beyoncé’s 13-minute show—featuring bull riders, marching bands, and Blue Ivy—became a cultural moment. Mariah Carey’s pregame cameo? Icing on the fruitcake. Meanwhile, Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce cemented legacies, with Kelce breaking Chiefs TD records.

But the real MVP was the NFL on Netflix strategy. Last year’s games became the most-streamed in U.S. history, proving live sports could thrive outside cable. “Bringing our members this record-breaking day of two NFL games was the best Christmas gift we could have delivered,” said Netflix’s Bela Bajaria.

NFL on Netflix: A streaming touchdown

1. The global huddle:

Netflix didn’t just air games—it built a worldwide tailgate. Over 30 million global viewers tuned in per game, with Mexico, Brazil, and Germany joining the party. For comparison, YouTube’s record-breaking Jake Paul fight peaked at 65 million streams. But Netflix’s secret weapon? Zero buffering complaints.

2. Drafts, deals, and dollars:

Moreover, with Netflix skipping NFL Draft bids (hello, Fox and YouTube), Christmas remains its sports centerpiece. The three-year, $150M/year deal hints at more live experiments. Think F1 races or Receiver-style docs. But what’s next?

3. The future of festive football:

2025’s Thursday Christmas could mean three games. “This game has gotten so much faster,” Goodell teased in February. Besides, Christmas movies are about people being happy. NFL games are about people screaming. Which will win?

The NFL’s Christmas coup blends tradition with tech, turning touchdowns into global events. With Netflix as its Rudolph, the league isn’t just stealing Santa’s spotlight—it’s building a sleigh that flies year-round. As Vince Lombardi almost said, “Perfection isn’t attainable, but 65 million viewers is pretty close.”

4. NBA’s lump of coal:

Even the NBA’s 84% viewership jump couldn’t compete with the numbers the NFL brought for Netflix. And some considered Christmas as the NBA’s day. Yeah, right. For years, NBA lovers enjoyed their Christmas Day games in peace, but in the past 2 years, the NFL has clearly shown every other sport—it isn’t here to compete, it’s here to win. But you see, not everyone was happy about NFL’s Christmas day ownership over NBA. After NBA legend LeBron James led the Lakers to a Christmas victory over the Golden State Warriors, he admitted, “I love the NFL. I love the NFL. But Christmas is our day.” Like Bron we hear you, but clearly NFL is here to steal the thunder now!

Let’s take a look at the numbers over the years and see who dominates Christmas day viewerships—NFL or NBA!

In 2023, NFL’s Raiders vs Chiefs game scored an average audience of 29.2 million viewers on CBS. While Eagles vs Giants scored 29M viewers on FOX and the 49ers vs Ravens scored 27.1M views on ESPN. On the contrary, NBA Christmas day viewership looked something like this –

• New York Knicks vs. Milwaukee Bucks scored 2.49 million viewers on ESPN
• Denver Nuggets vs. Golden State Warriors averaged 4.1 million viewers on ESPN and ABC
• Los Angeles Lakers vs. Boston Celtics averaged 5.0 million viewers on ESPN and ABC
• Miami Heat vs. Philadelphia 76ers averaged 1.3 million viewers on ESPN
• Phoenix Suns vs. Dallas Mavericks averaged 1.47 million viewers on ESPN

In 2024, NFL’s Christmas day games averaged an estimated 65M viewers from the Chiefs’ win over the Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens’ win over the Texans. Looking at individual numbers, the Chiefs’ win averaged an audience of over 24 million viewers while the Ravens’ took home a whopping 27 million viewers.

However, the NBA games in 2024 were a little low in numbers. The Lakers’ Christmas Day victory over the Golden State Warriors averaged 7.7 million viewers as the number peaked at 8.3M once James and Steph Curry took charge. While the Knicks’ win over the Spurs brought in 4.9M viewers to become the most watched opening Christmas Day game in 13 years. And the Sun’s win over the Nuggets concluded the night with an average of 3.8M viewers

So, will your Christmas table debate Rudolph reruns or Ravens coverage next year?