Netflix Scores Most-Watched Christmas Day Ever Thanks to NFL

Thanks largely to NFL stars like Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson, Netflix on Tuesday said it enjoyed its “most-watched Christmas day ever” in the U.S.

The streaming giant said the Kansas City Chiefs versus Pittsburgh Steelers game pulled in 25.8 million U.S. viewers, and the Ravens-Texans matchup that followed it averaged 27.2 million American viewers, per Nielsen Big Data + Panel.

And those games appealed to a ton of viewers outside of the States, too. Netflix said the Chiefs-Steelers game was ranked in the weekly top 10 in 72 countries, including in Canada, Germany and the U.K. The Ravens-Texans game was ranked in the top 10 in 62 countries, including Mexico and Australia.

Overall, the Ravens-Texans game earned the top spot in Netflix’s weekly global rankings, while Chiefs-Steelers grabbed the silver medal for the week.

Tuesday’s update from Netflix comes after the company already shared last week that its two Christmas games, plus a halftime performance from Beyoncé, brought in 65 million total viewers in the United States. The Ravens-Texans game was the most-streamed NFL game in U.S. history, according to Nielsen.

The streaming service had 84.8 million subscribers across the U.S. and Canada by the end of the September, Netflix reported in its Q3 earnings report. (Netflix always lumps American and Canadian subscribers together.)

Netflix, in its press release pumping up its Christmas day performance on Tuesday, did not share how this year’s holiday compared to previous years in terms of viewership, beyond saying it was its best year ever.

It is also worth pointing out that, because the games were on a streaming service rather than network TV, Christmas viewership dipped this year compared to 2023. Last year, 29.2 million people watched the Chiefs lose to the Las Vegas Raiders, which made it the most watched Christmas NFL game going back to 1989. That Chiefs-Raiders game was broadcast on CBS and Nickelodeon.

Netflix paid a combined $150 million for its two Christmas games this year. This was the first year of a three year partnership between the NFL and Netflix to stream Christmas games.

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