The NFL is aiming to transform Christmas Day into a football extravaganza akin to a typical Sunday, rolling out a streaming triple-header in 2025.
Netflix will host two games, while Amazon Prime will air a third as part of its ongoing Thursday Night Football package. Last year, Netflix’s Christmas double-header drew over 30 million views per game—eclipsing the NBA’s five-game average of about 5 million viewers by roughly 25 million.
Despite the NFL’s presence last year, the NBA enjoyed an 84 percent surge in viewership compared to Christmas 2023, boosted in part by a thrilling Lakers-Warriors matchup that peaked at 8.4 million viewers. More crucially, the NBA and Disney went all-in, broadcasting every game on ABC to maximize reach.
For the NFL, these streaming deals aren’t primarily about growing their U.S. fanbase—they’re about tapping into fresh revenue streams, according to Julia Alexander at Puck.
But if the NFL is positioning Christmas as a streaming spectacle, Alexander suggests the NBA could counter by doubling down on broadcast, a corner of the media landscape that’s still holding steady while cable channels fade into obscurity.
She adds the NBA has a chance to leverage this blend of broadcast and streaming to hook cord-cutters and cord-nevers into becoming steady viewers. Next season, with games spread across ABC, NBC, and Prime Video—rather than languishing on fading cable relics like TNT, unknown to Gen Z—the NBA could turn accessibility into a winning play.
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