Netflix has an up-and-down first foray into NFL broadcasts after an early mishap

If you believe omens, Netflix seemed to have a very long day on Wednesday. When the streaming giant began its NFL pregame show prior to airing the Kansas City Chiefs’ 29-10 blowout over the Pittsburgh Steelers, viewers were greeted to the broadcast … with immediate audio issues.

Viewers could not hear studio host Kay Adams’ voice during her intro for the first 20 seconds or so of the broadcast. Then, about nine minutes later, as studio analyst Mina Kimes offered an interesting analysis of Kansas City’s challenge on the offensive line, she was inexplicably cut off by a promo for Squid Game 2. (The Squid Game Frontman would not like such inefficiency.) .

That was the story at 11:11 a.m. ET, and it wasn’t good.

Things mostly got better after that, although I did have a number of people contact me in the sports industry who had some buffering issues in the fourth quarter. NFL viewers didn’t want much for Christmas, but there was one thing they needed. They didn’t care about presents under the Christmas tree or even a transcendent pregame show. But they needed Netflix to fix the major buffering and freezing issues that plagued the streamer during the Mike Tyson-Jake Paul headline boxing event last month.

(Sorry for the tortured Mariah Carey reference.) They mostly solved them –Athletics will update how Ravens-Texans and Beyonce’s performance went.

The big picture, of course, is the burgeoning relationship between the NFL and Netflix. The streaming giant and the NFL announced a three-season deal in May to air Christmas Day games in 2024, 2025 and 2026. That deal is getting even bigger as Netflix recently secured the exclusive U.S. broadcast rights for the 2027 and 2031 editions of the Women’s World Cup .

These are significant signals to the marketplace that Netflix is ​​moving from a focus on sports properties to a legitimate sports rights holder. So is another Netflix foray into live events — the company’s deal for exclusive rights to WWE Raw, the long-running weekly pro wrestling staple.

Netflix paid $150 million to air Wednesday’s game. That’s a rounding error for a company that has 282.3 million subscribers in over 190 countries.

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Netflix’s Jake Paul-Mike Tyson streaming woes raise Christmas concerns for NFL

In a piece on Monday with a focus on Netflix avoiding mistakes during the Christmas periodThe Wall Street Journal reported that Netflix did not adequately prepare its own content delivery systems or its ISP partners for the surge in traffic to the Tyson-Paul card. The Journal reported that Netflix’s early internal estimates projected that the soccer games could draw as many as 35 million concurrent streams globally. Last year’s Chiefs-Raiders broadcast averaged 29.2 million on CBS and Nickelodeon, the biggest Christmas number in the NFL since 1989.

A major difference between the Paul-Tyson event and Netflix’s NFL Christmas production was the outsourcing of the production: CBS handled the game broadcast, while NFL Media was charged with the pregame, halftime and postgame programming. That meant a rare mix of NFL staffers from CBS, ESPN, NBC, NFL Network and Fox.

It was a gig that was highly sought after, like if you’re a front-facing NFL TV person – think of the long-term potential of having a professional relationship with Netflix. Several talent agents, who were granted anonymity to speak freely, said so Athletics that Netflix paid talent between high five figures and low six figures depending on the role (with acting talent being paid on the higher end).

This is why every sports broadcaster wants a relationship with Netflix.

As for the quality of pregame content, it was what you’d expect from groups working together for the first time – misses and minor hits. Drew Brees, who has a desire to return to broadcasting, was part of the pregame show and also the international broadcast. It will be interesting to see if this leads to more work. Laura Rutledge, Jason McCourty and Devin McCourty had easy chemistry. The ad load on viewers was heavy.

One thing Netflix got right was using established broadcasters for the game broadcast. The Chiefs-Steelers booth had Ian Eagle, Nate Burleson and JJ Watt and sideline reporters Stacey Dales and Melanie Collins. It was what you would expect – professional and informative.

Watt smartly acknowledged at the top that he was calling his brother’s (Steelers lineman TJ Watt) plays and what that meant (don’t hide the obvious). There were some gameplay issues early on. The sound of the national anthem was a tick, and the Steelers oddly started the game with two timeouts on the graphic instead of three (that was fixed).

Things from the fourth quarter are understandably going to frustrate those viewers accustomed to zero issues with wireless networks and cable outside of local broadband outages.

“Netflix is ​​still in the discovery phase,” said Ed Desser, the president of Desser Sports Media Inc. and a senior media executive for the NBA for 23 years, Athletics earlier this month. “This is an R&D measure for them and they will learn from it.”

It wasn’t anywhere near the best NFL presentations, but the stream held up for the most part. It’s a win for Netflix and the NFL so far, but they still have a long way to go here.

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(Photo: Aaron M. Sprecher/Getty Images)