If you don't have a Netflix account, you might want to put one on your Christmas list this year, because it's starting to look like the NFL is going to hand two of its biggest games of the season to the streaming company.
According to Puck News, Netflix is currently in negotiations to exclusively stream the NFL's two Christmas games this year. Although the holiday falls on a Wednesday in 2024 -- a day of the week when the NFL almost never schedules a game -- the league has already announced that it will be holding two games on Dec. 25 this year.
Netflix is currently the front-runner to land those games, although nothing has been signed yet. According to the report, "the two sides still have to clear some hurdles before any deal is announced."
The report from Puck News comes less than 36 hours after former NFL MVP Boomer Esiason had mentioned the possibility of a Netflix deal on his WFAN radio show.
"Do not be surprised if the NFL and Netflix get in bed for a nice little Christmas Day football games," Esiason said.
Although CBS, Fox and ABC all got to air a Christmas game last season, the NFL decided to change its plans for 2024. Back in March, it was reported that the NFL would be putting the Christmas games up for bid this year, and it seems that Netflix is now on the verge of winning that bid.
If Netflix does win the bid, it shouldn't be a total surprise because Roger Goodell made it clear that the NFL was thrilled with the massive reach that the league's streaming partners bring to the table, especially with younger audiences. When he was asked about the topic last month, the NFL commissioner specifically mentioned Google's handling of Sunday Ticket and Amazon's impressive ratings for the company's Thursday night package in 2023.
"In each of those platforms, our average age of our audience went down eight to 10 years," the NFL commissioner said at the draft. "So that's where a lot of people are that we need to reach, and that's why we're investing in it."
Netflix has been stepping up its NFL content over the past year. Not only did the streaming company air the "Quarterback" series in 2023 -- a show that followed Patrick Mahomes, Kirk Cousins and Marcus Mariota -- but the company also just got done streaming the live roast of Tom Brady.
If Netflix does end up streaming the two Christmas games, that means you'll need quite a few subscriptions if you want to watch every NFL game in 2024. Netflix will be one of four streamers that will exclusively carry at least one game next season. Here's a look at the three others:
The negotiations with Netflix have gone down to the wire, which is a big reason why the release of the schedule was delayed. NFL
