NFL Moving To Netflix Will Further Diminish The NBA On Christmas Day

The NFL confirmed on Wednesday that Netflix will exclusively carry this year's Christmas Day slate of games, as part of a three-year media rights agreement.

The league gifted Netflix the Kansas City Chiefs-Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens-Houston Texans as the two Christmas matchups this season.

Carrying three of the best quarterbacks in the NFL (Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson and C.J. Stroud) and one of the most recognized brands in the league (the Steelers) all but ensures a strong debut for the NFL on Netflix. 

Netflix also benefits from the NFL already planting its flag on Christmas Day, by dwarfing the NBA head-to-head in recent years. Previously, the NBA owned the Christmas Day sports schedule as the NFL was content with Thanksgiving. 

Times changed.

This past Christmas, the NFL drew 10 times as many viewers as the NBA.

Here were the ratings for the NFL: Chiefs-Raiders, CBS: 31 million viewers, Giants-Eagles, Fox: 29 million, Ravens-49ers, ABC: 28 million. 

And for the NBA: Knicks-Bucks, ESPN: 2.5 million, Warriors-Nuggets, ESPN/ABC: 4.1 million, Lakers-Celtics ESPN/ABC: 5 million, Heat-Sixers, ESPN: 1.3 million, Mavs-Suns, ESPN: 1.5 million.

Sometimes it's best to just throw in the towel.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Artist Taylor Swift in the stands with an 87 Santa hat on during the game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Las Vegas Raiders on December 25, 2023 at Arrowhead Stadium. (Photo by William Purnell/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The precedent would suggest that the NBA could benefit from the NFL moving its Christmas games from television to streaming. Even in 2024, streaming still lags well behind linear television in viewership.

However, there's an equally convincing argument that the NFL jump to Netflix will further diminish the NBA's presence on Christmas Day.

Netflix has far more subscribers than its streaming competitors, at around 260.28 million worldwide, according to Forbes estimates. Amazon Prime is the next closest at 200 million, though not all Prime subscribers use the service to stream content.

Unlike, say, Peacock or ESPN+, Netflix is as commonly found in a household as a cable or satellite package. Finding and accessing Netflix to watch the NFL should not be a problem for most fans, even those over the age of 65.

Secondly, there's an argument that there will be fewer crossover viewers between the NFL and NBA on Christmas, due to the Netflix agreement.

Television (and, in this case, Netflix) ratings are measured by the average viewer per minute. Meaning, viewers could primarily watch the NFL but switch to the NBA for a few minutes during commercial breaks and halftime, bolstering the NBA ratings as well. 

Barstool podcast host PFT Commenter raised the point on Thursday that with NFL games on an app and the NBA games on cable, Americans still hungover from Christmas Eve will be way less interested in switching back and forth between leagues.

"The most diabolical part of this is putting it on a service that makes it basically impossible to even change the channel over to the NBA games during commercial breaks," said PFT.

He's right. 

Switching between apps and cable can be less than convenient. Doing so often causes the screen to buffer. And some of us have to use a different remote to change between the Roku and the cable box. 

Not fun.

Be honest: how often do you change the channel during a commercial break for Thursday Night Football on Amazon compared to Sunday Night Football on NBC?

See my point?

Likely, more viewers than last year will have to choose between the NFL and NBA on Christmas, rather than trying to watch both sports. 

Based on ratings, it won't be much of a decision for most fans. 

As PFT said, the NFL's deal with Netflix is "diabolical."

And lucrative. 

After suckering Disney, NBC, Fox, CBS and Amazon for every last dollar – the NFL convinced Netflix to pay it $75 million per game this season.

The NBA needs to find a new holiday to showcase its product, perhaps one during the NFL offseason. I hear Juneteenth is open.