Mina Kime’s ‘Christmas present’ talks NFL all day on Netflix

Mina Kimes has a lot going on this week.

Like so many people this time of year, the analyst for ESPN’s “NFL Live” has been busy wrapping gifts and preparing for the arrival of out-of-town guests for the holidays.

In addition to the typical holiday activities, however, Kimes also has to break down the film and attend a Christmas Eve rehearsal ahead of his one-time gig as a studio analyst for streaming Kansas City Chiefs-Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens-Houston Texans live Christmas Day on Netflix.

“Yeah, it’s been pretty crazy,” Kimes said Monday during a phone interview. “I’m just excited. I usually just do a studio show during the week, which I absolutely love, but there’s a level of energy that comes with doing TV right before kickoff and also during the game and after. . . .Let’s see in real time what Joey Porter Jr. or George Pickens or any of the injured players look like and their availability and stuff.

“And it adds another element to it that I’m personally super excited about. But I just love talking football on TV and just to have the opportunity to do this in front of so many people is quite a Christmas present.”

The last sporting event streamed live on Netflix was a huge success — an estimated 108 million live viewers in about 65 million households worldwide tuned in on Nov. 15 to watch the Mike Tyson-Jake Paul fight — but also a huge headache too many consumers who complained on social media about buffering issues and losing the feed altogether.

Netflix told The Times on Monday that it learned from the struggles it faced during the Tyson-Paul live stream and has optimized its systems to better handle live events since then. Kimes hopes all such issues have been resolved ahead of the two NFL games, both of which will be key to AFC playoff seeding, one of which (Ravens-Texans) will feature a Beyoncé halftime show.

“The technology aspect of this is above my grade, but everyone seems pretty confident about it,” she said. “Obviously it’s going to be a bajillion eyeballs on these games, so my hope is that when we’re on our end, everything is seamless, not just from a technology and streaming standpoint, but from a production standpoint. And so far, it looks like , that it will be, just a lot of experienced people working on this.”

Netflix’s first foray into NFL games will feature a variety of talent from various other platforms. Kimes will join the Los Angeles studio show alongside anchor Kay Adams (FanDuel TV) and fellow analysts Manti Te’o (NFL Network), Robert Griffin III (formerly of ESPN) and Drew Brees (formerly of NBC Sports). A studio show from Pittsburgh will feature Laura Rutledge (ESPN) as anchor and Devin McCourty (NBC Sports) and Jason McCourty (CBS Sports and ESPN) as analysts.

“It’s kind of like a Pro Bowl of sorts,” Kimes said. “It sounds self-aggrandizing, but I mean, I mean, I get to work with a lot of people that I don’t normally get to work with, which is pretty cool. It’s a lot of people from a lot of different networks, and it is also something that is a bit unique about this.”

Here’s more from Kimes’ conversation with The Times.

(The questions and answers have been edited for length and clarity)

How did it all come about for you?

I can’t remember when I first heard about the opportunity – a few months ago or something? But every time my agent told me about it, I was really excited for a number of reasons, one of which was just the opportunity to work on such massively significant games and, of course, ones that will have a lot of eyes. Really good games, by the way – which, I mean, is good for Netflix, but also great for me because it’s a lot more fun to talk about games like the ones we’re going to discuss this Christmas.

Was there any hesitation to do this during the holidays? I know you have a little one at home…

Well, here’s the good news – he’s 14 months old, so I can just tell him Christmas is the next day and he won’t know the difference. I actually have family coming in today and even though I wasn’t on the show, they wanted to see it. They are big football fans. They’d have Netflix on all day anyway, so I think they’re almost as excited about the idea of ​​just sitting around all day watching me, probably more so than if I spent time with them because they see a lot of me personally.

So your studio show will be on all day, before, during and after both games?

Yeah, that’s why everyone watches halftime, right? To see our show. Like, ‘Come on, enough Beyonce. A song, let’s return. I really need to hear this analysis.’

It’s been a busy month for you, after serving as color commentator for “Simpsons Funday Football” alternate broadcast of the Dec. 9 Cincinnati Bengals-Dallas Cowboys game. How was that experience?

It was fantastic. It was an absolute dream. I’m a crazy Simpsons fan, and I think we realized early on — me, Drew (Carter) and Dan (Orlovsky) — just to lean right into all the Simpsons jokes and references. Looks like fans of the show really enjoyed it.

You have made numerous appearances on ESPN’s “Around the Horn.” What was your reaction to learning that the show is ending next year?

That show has meant so much to my career. That’s how I really got my start in television at ESPN. I don’t think I’d be doing what I’m doing now if it wasn’t for ‘Hornet randt’. … So it really made me reflect on the role that the show has played (in) my career. I’m going to miss doing that a lot because I’m an NFL analyst now, but for me it was one of those platforms (where) you could talk about other sports and topics and I’ve always really, really enjoyed that . It’s a special show.

What are your predictions for the Christmas games?

It’s boring – I got both favorites to win, Ravens and Chiefs. The Steelers’ defensive injuries are very concerning.

How about a Beyonce prediction? Are there any special guests you think might join her?

I think you may see a special guest from Houston. Don’t know who it will be, but I predict that whatever it is, people will wish it was twice as long instead of having to listen to me talk.