How to Watch Today’s Game, Beyoncé Halftime Show and Mariah Carey Performance on Netflix

On December 26, 2024By Littum

Upper line

Netflix will broadcast two NFL games and a Beyoncé performance on Christmas Day, with a matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers followed by the Baltimore Ravens against the Houston Texans, as it hopes to avoid the live stream glitches and delays that marred its stream of the Mike Tyson- Jake Paul match.

The Kansas City Chiefs host the Pittsburgh Steelers in the first of two games on Wednesday. … (+) (Photo by David Eulitt/Getty Images)

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Key facts

Netflix will broadcast the Chiefs-Steelers and Ravens-Texans game in a new partnership with the NFL, and the streams will be available globally in five languages.

The streaming service has scheduled a full day of programming, starting with one pregame show that will include guest commentary from comedians Bert Kreischer and Nate Bargatze, before a performance from Mariah Carey and later Beyoncé.

Netflix’s NFL partnership comes just weeks after it aired the Mike Tyson-Jake Paul fight, although the stream frustrated viewers with glitches and delays.

When and where are the Nfl Christmas Games broadcast?

The pregame show begins at 11:00 AM EST on Netflixtwo hours before the Chiefs and Steelers kick off at 1:00 PM EST from Pittsburgh. The Ravens and Texans kick off at 4:30pm EST in Houston. Games will be available to stream until 3 hours after live streams end in the US, and up to 24 hours after live streams end internationally.

Who is the favorite to win?

The Chiefs, who come in at a league-best 14-1 record this season, are 2.5-point favorites over the 10-5 Steelers, according to FanDuel. FanDuel has the 10-5 Ravens as 4.5-point favorites over the 9-6 Texans.

When will Beyoncé and Mariah Carey perform – and what will they sing?

Beyoncé will take the stage at halftime of the second game on Christmas Day, which begins at 4:30 PM EST. Although her exact setlist is unknown, Netflix said Beyoncé will perform songs from her latest album, “Cowboy Carter,” along with unannounced special guests featured on the album. Featured artists on “Cowboy Carter” include Post Malone, Miley Cyrus, Shaboozey, Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton, though it’s unclear who will join Beyoncé on stage. The length of her performance is also unknown, although her publicist, Yvette Noel-Schure, dismissed rumours that her performance would be 20 minutes long. Carey will perform “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” her blockbuster holiday hit, which will air before the first game begins at 1 p.m. EST, although Netflix has not given an exact time.

Key background

In recent years, Netflix has tried and struggled to break into live programming. Netflix first moved into live streaming with a Chris Rock comedy special last year, but soon flirted with disaster when a planned “Love is Blind” reunion special crashed and finally shipped hours after it was scheduled. Netflix broke into live sports streaming last month when it aired the Tyson-Paul fight, which drew more than 60 million viewers — but the stream was marred by mistakesbuffering and freezing issues, frustrating users and sparking a firestorm on social media over concerns about whether Netflix could handle streaming the NFL Christmas games. Netflix has said it will be able to handle the games and states that it adjusted its “content delivery, encoding and streaming protocols accordingly” after the Tyson-Paul fight live stream.

Chief critics

Several NFL players and commentators have criticized the unprecedented streak of Wednesday-Christmas Day games — a day of the week that has featured only a handful of games in league history. Chiefs stars Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce have said the Christmas Day games make the Chiefs schedule more difficult by having the team play three games in 11 days. “You never want to play this many games in this short time. It’s just not good for your body,” Mahomes told ESPN. Kelce said on his “New Heights” podcast, he’s “excited” about the Christmas game, but his “body’s not that excited,” adding that it feels like a “challenge” from the NFL to play so many games so quickly. Chris Russoa sports radio broadcaster who contributes to ESPN and hosts the channel “Mad Dog Sports Radio,” slammed the NFL and Netflix on his radio show. “Who the hell can watch an NFL game on Christmas Day at 1 in the afternoon? I can’t,” Russo said, calling it “ridiculous” because people are likely to spend time with their families on the holiday. Sports podcast host and former ESPN journalist Bomani Jones criticized the NFL for embracing Christmas games in recent years, saying it may take away from the NBA’s tradition of having games on Christmas Day. “What do you do for Christmas? For a significant portion of America, we do this and we watch basketball,” Jones said, comparing it to watching football on Thanksgiving.

Key

Beyoncé’s performance comes weeks after her husband, Jay-Z, was named in a lawsuit along with Sean “Diddy” Combs, in which an unnamed woman from Alabama said the two men sexually assaulted her in 2000 when she was a minor at a Video Music Awards after-party. The NFL said its relationship with Jay-Z, who is the league’s live music entertainment strategist, will not change amid the lawsuit. Jay-Z’s entertainment company, Roc Nation, is not listed Netflix as one of the producers of Beyoncé’s upcoming halftime show; Beyoncé’s company, Parkwood Entertainment, is instead listed as the producer along with Jesse Collins Entertainment.