The battle for Christmas continues between the NFL and NBA after both leagues released viewership numbers for Christmas Day games on Thursday, with Netflix's first live soccer effort set to deliver historic numbers. It became.
Popular streaming service Netflix aired both NFL contests (Steelers vs. Chiefs and Ravens vs. Texans) on Christmas Day, drawing nearly 65 million viewers in the U.S., citing Nielsen data. Announced in a press release.
According to the data, an average of 24.3 million viewers watched the Ravens and Texans, with viewership peaking at more than 27 million during Beyoncé's halftime performance and into the Chiefs vs. Steelers game at 1 p.m. was watched by an average of 24.1 million people.
These two games are currently known as the most streamed games in NFL history.
“We're excited about the first Christmas Game Day on Netflix, where NFL games will be streamed to viewers around the world,” Hans Schroeder, NFL executive vice president of media distribution, said in a statement Thursday. “Fans from all 50 states and more than 200 countries around the world watched the league's brightest stars in action, along with Beyoncé's stunning performance on a historic day for the NFL.”
The previous record was set in January when 23 million fans watched the Peacock broadcast of the Chiefs vs. Dolphins wild-card playoff game.
Despite this, streaming exclusive broadcasting 5 million fewer viewers than on Christmas Day last year CBS, Fox and ESPN/ABC will broadcast the game.
Wednesday marked the first time the NFL broadcast a game with its new partner, Netflix.
This was the first major live broadcast produced by the streamer since the glitch-filled stream of the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson boxing match in Dallas last month.
The NFL broadcast went off without any major incident, and ratings showed the league could give the NBA a battle for Christmas supremacy.
The holiday has long been a high-profile day for the NBA to showcase its leading teams and players on national television.
Steelers. USA TODAY Sports (via Reuters Con)
While the NFL did well, the NBA also had its highest Christmas viewership in five years.
In its own press release, the NBA announced that ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, Disney+ and ESPN+ averaged 5.25 million viewers per game (five contests) in the United States.
And despite new competition from the NFL, viewership was up 84% over last year.
The Knicks' dramatic win over the Spurs drew an average of 4.91 million viewers, while the Lakers-Warriors game drew an average of 7.76 million viewers, with the highest viewership as of 10:30 p.m. Japan time. It reached 8.32 million people. east coast.
“I love the NFL. I love the NFL. But Christmas is our day,” LeBron James declared after the Lakers' win.
But the ratings tell a more nuanced picture.
