Netflix’s NFL debut will be one big football variety show

One of the great holiday traditions in the entertainment world is the Christmas variety show. This year, Netflix is ​​bringing it back.

Not thanks to Sabrina Carpenter singing Last Christmas with Chappell Roan, but by putting together a one-of-a-kind broadcast for the NFL with a global audience in mind.

Over the past few months, Netflix has finally made its long-awaited foray into the live sports universe. OG’s global entertainment streaming platform will soon be home to WWE Monday Night Raw and in a few years the women’s world championship. But in live sports, there’s the NFL, and then there’s everything else.

So when it came time for the NFL to make a bold move by stepping onto the NBA’s turf on Christmas Day, even if it meant reconfiguring the entire schedule around an incredibly rare Wednesday doubleheader, it was just as cool to partner with Netflix for the broadcasts .

The landmark NFL-Netflix deal for Christmas Day is a huge investment for both parties. For Netflix, it is planting the flag as a major player in the world of live sports. For the NFL, this means a partnership with a global streaming giant that can continue its efforts to take over the world.

Being such a focal point in both the NFL and Netflix’s trajectory, both parties have one goal in mind: To make it the biggest holiday celebration possible. What better way to do that than to has over 20 people for a big NFL variety show with everyone from Nate Bargatze to Beyoncé and the McCourty twins to the Eagles? (Not the band, Noah and Ian.)

Kay Adams has been synonymous with the NFL for years, first with the NFL Network and Good morning football and now with FanDuel’s Up and Adams. On Christmas Day, she will anchor proceedings from Los Angeles apart from an All-Star lineup consisting of Drew Brees, Manti Te’o, Mina Kimes and Robert Griffin III. And getting to work with so many new people across the football universe for the first time will make the showcase event even more special.

“It’s going to be like a holiday party,” Adams told Awful Announcing this week. “There are a lot of commonalities, family things. JJ Watt calls his brother’s games, the McCourty brothers will be stationed together in Pittsburgh, which I love. I couldn’t adore them more. Nate Burleson, we have a Good morning football connection. Then you come to LA where we anchor, me and Mina Kimes never got to work together. We’ve only been on camera together once and that was last week on Up and Adams on my show.”

Adams is especially excited to work with ESPN’s Kimes on air for the first time, who she singled out as the person she was most looking forward to sharing the set with on Christmas Day.

“I can’t wait to share a set with her for Christmas and take notes, learn, absorb her genius through osmosis,” she said.

Adams hopes the excitement of getting to work with people across all the league’s various platforms, in what amounts to the NFL’s version of The Avengers, coming together from all corners of the televised football world, breaks through to fans at home.

“It’s a holiday party where you kind of know Alice, who works in accounting, but you’ve never actually had to hang out with Alice, that’s what I hope it feels like,” she said. “We are looking for cozy, warm atmospheres. And the global aspect of it is amazing, almost 200 countries get to play the sport that you and I are obsessed with.”

Longtime NFL Network anchor and reporter Steve Wyche will be on the sidelines for the Houston Texans-Baltimore Ravens game with Jamie Erdahl. Although both work for the NFL Network, this will be the first time they share the airwaves for the same broadcast. The same goes for Noah Eagle and Greg Olsen, who Wyche covered during his time in the league.

“For Netflix to come in and make it this big and this big, it’s really a chance to do something historic. And for me to have a small footprint in it, believe me, that’s not something I take for granted given,” Wyche said.

“Although many of us work for different networks, we are friends,” he added. “I’m friends with Mina Kimes, who I have the greatest admiration for, I think she’s one of the greatest things to happen to sports broadcasting. To even be included on a concert ticket so to speak with her and JJ Watt and Nate Burleson and Kay Adams, the roster is so deep and it’s just so cool.”

Noah’s father Ian will call the first game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Kansas City Chiefs along with JJ Watt and Nate Burleson, with Melanie Collins and Stacey Dales on the sidelines. This is also where Laura Rutledge and Devin and Jason McCourty will be with live coverage as well. And did we mention Nate Bargatze as a special guest and Bert Kreischer as a tailgate correspondent? And a Mariah Carey intro? And the live Beyoncé performance? The only thing missing is an impromptu duet with Chiefs fan Taylor Swift joining Beyoncé in Houston.

One of the reasons the NFL and Netflix are pulling out is that this broadcast goes beyond the traditional American holiday experience on Christmas Day. The streamer’s global platform aligns with the NFL’s push into new markets around the world, which we saw earlier this year with the first game in Brazil joining games in England and Germany. That fact is not lost on the broadcasters and why these games take on increased importance.

“I like to help build things,” Adams noted. “It’s not the first time I’ve worked with Netflix, it’s a very forward-thinking, big-picture process. I couldn’t adore it more. I’m a kid on Christmas morning on Wednesday when it comes to the ambition and the mentality of it. Let’s casually bring Beyoncé into the mix. You know what? Mariah Carey is what we’re supposed to do. As you can see, you drop the list of 22 people who are equally involved in that bring it best the NFL and Netflix can bring to Christmas.

“Of course there is a responsibility, but I would say more of a thrill, a thrill to connect people at Christmas to the game. I have family in Poland who can watch!”

The NFL is arguably the top sports and entertainment property in the country, dominating the most-watched events on television year after year. However, as the league continues to expand globally, there may not be a cap on the league’s global ambitions. Even a game in Australia has been mentioned as a possibility. Now with one unified global platform, the possibilities for where the league can go in the coming years can be limitless.

“The NFL is the most popular viewing experience for the American public,” Wyche said. “Now that the NFL has committed to its global expansion and now doing it on Christmas Day in a full global context, it’s significant. In broadcast terms, it’s very historic because we just don’t see things because of the varying time zones on a global scale, the fact that Netflix came in and said, ‘Look, we’re the big streaming arm that has all these global subscribers, let’s take a big swing at this.

“I’ve played several games in London. 15 years ago they were teaching the sport, now it’s part of what they do. The fans over there crave it. I think when the NFL tries to establish global footprints, It might not work everywhere like it does in London, I just don’t know. But the fact that they’re trying this bodes well for them. With this game, they haven’t missed out a good example, and Netflix is ​​one such a prominent vessel to deliver this, I think it will be a great success.”

After a weekend in which ESPN was criticized for focusing on the negative when it came to the College Football Playoff, getting dragged down in reruns of lawsuits and lamenting the teams involved, expect a very different vibe when it comes to Netflix ‘ coverage of the NFL on Christmas Day. This will be an all-day celebration of football with a party atmosphere.

Of course, if Beyoncé performed at your Christmas party, it could also brighten your holiday mood.