The battle for Christmas is on between the NFL and the NBA after both leagues released viewership numbers for the Christmas Day slate of games on Thursday, with Netflix’s first venture into broadcast live football games coming with historic numbers.
The NY Post reports the popular streaming service carried both NFL contests (Steelers-Chiefs and Ravens-Texans) on Christmas Day, drawing in an audience of nearly 65 million viewers in the United States, Netflix announced in a press release that cited Nielsen data.
According to the data, an average of 24.3 million viewers watched the Ravens and Texans — with viewership peaking at over 27 million viewers during Beyoncé’s halftime performance — and an average of 24.1 million people tuned in for the 1 p.m. game between the Chiefs and Steelers.
The two games now hold the distinction of being the most-streamed games in NFL history.
“We’re thrilled with our first Christmas Gameday on Netflix with NFL games being streamed to a global audience,” NFL executive vice president of media distribution Hans Schroeder said in a statement Thursday. “Fans in all 50 states and over 200 countries around the world watched some of the league’s brightest stars along with a dazzling performance by Beyoncé in a historic day for the NFL.”
The previous record was set in January when 23 million fans tuned in for Peacock’s broadcast of a wild card playoff game between the Chiefs and Dolphins.
Nevertheless, the streaming exclusive broadcasts brought in 5 million fewer viewers than last Christmas Day’s slate that broadcast games on CBS, Fox and ESPN/ABC.
Wednesday marked the first time the NFL had broadcast games with its new partner Netflix.
It was the first major live broadcast that the streamer has produced since its glitch-filled stream of the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson boxing match last month in Dallas.
The NBA on Christmas, exclusively on ESPN platforms, averaged 5,254,000 viewers on December 25, making it the most-watched NBA Christmas in five years – since 2019 – according to Nielsen.
Viewership for the full five-game slate was up 84 percent from 2023. NBA viewership across ESPN platforms is up four percent from last season. This season’s full Christmas schedule was available on ABC, ESPN, Disney+ and ESPN+. The San Antonio Spurs vs. New York Knicks Dunk the Halls animated alt-cast also aired on ESPN2, Disney+ and ESPN+.
An average of 7,763,000 viewers watched the Los Angeles Lakers and LeBron James battle with the Golden State Warriors and Stephen Curry in primetime. It was the most-watched NBA regular season game in five years, since 2019, and it was up an astonishing 499 percent from the comparable game last year (Philadelphia vs. Miami). The Lakers vs. Warriors game peaked with 8,324,000 viewers at 10:30 p.m. ET.
In addition, the Phoenix Suns victory over the Denver Nuggets averaged 3,840,000 viewers, making it the largest audience for a late Christmas window ever (10:30 p.m. ET start). It was up 161 percent from last year’s Suns vs. Dallas Mavericks game.
The noon game between the San Antonio Spurs and the New York Knicks generated an average audience of 4,913,000 viewers, making it the most-watched opening game on Christmas in 13 years, since 2011. The Spurs vs. Knicks game included the animated Dunk the Halls alternate presentation on ESPN2, Disney+ and ESPN+. Overall, viewership was up 98 percent from last year’s noon game between the Knicks and Milwaukee Bucks.
At 5 p.m., the game between the reigning NBA Champion Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers averaged 5,161,000 viewers, up three percent from the Celtics vs. Lakers game last year. The final audience for this game, and thus the full day, will increase when viewership information from the Boston market is available.
In the 2:30 p.m. window, an average of 4,382,000 viewers watched the Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Dallas Mavericks game. That is up six percent from last year’s Warriors vs. Nuggets game.
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