NFL Christmas Day games and Beyoncé bring viewers but Netflix was the star

Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs know how to entertain. They have a massive fan-base and football fans will find whatever channel the Chiefs happen to be on, and maybe there is a bit of hope that Taylor Swift is at the game, too. But clearly the NFL pales in comparison to the draw of Beyoncé.

That is, at least, what the initial numbers show from how many people watched the two NFL games on Netflix. The total unduplicated audience for the games was 65 million. The opening game between the Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers had an average minute audience of 24.1 million. The second game between the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans had an AMA of 24.3 million.

But it was Beyoncé's halftime show that truly brought people to Netflix. That averaged 27 million viewers per minute seemingly proving that Beyoncé has even more drawing power than the NFL. That is also based solely on a North American audience.

Netflix is the big winner from broadcasting NFL game and Beyoncé on Christmas Day

The real win for Netflix, as opposed to other streaming services, is the global presence of the giant. The initial viewing numbers are only going to increase because they do not yet incorporate the international viewers. So while the Chiefs and Las Vegas Raiders game in 2023 had an average audience of 29.2 million, a record for a Christmas Day game, and the domestic Netflix numbers are lower, viewership is expected to pass last year once the international numbers are released.

That is expected to be known on December 31.

Ultimately, while the NFL further proved its popularity and Beyoncé proved to be even more impactful, Netflix was the real winner. Their brand should only grow the NFL fan base which is going to make the league quite happy to eventually give the streamer more games. Perhaps potentially Netflix will have the rights to the NFL Sunday Ticket.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect will be exactly how many international viewers tuned in to the games. The NFL will learn a lot about its global pull and Netflix may learn further how to broadcast the games in the future.

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