Will 'Sports' Be Netflix's Next Big Play?
2min read Netflix, the world's leading streaming service, is making a significant foray into live sports, starting with a high-profile NFL game on Christmas Day. Along with a matchup between Lamar Jackson and CJ Stroud, Netflix has also announced on social media accounts that Beyoncé will be a halftime show guest, appearing in this year's NFL Christmas Game.
Since securing the streaming rights for the NFL Christmas Day game for three years earlier this year, Netflix has been working with the league to hype up the two Christmas Day games this year, trying to combine the festive atmosphere to create another entertainment extravaganza besides the Super Bowl.
NFL and NBA have always controlled the two most important holidays in the United States - Thanksgiving and Christmas. Watching football on Thanksgiving has become an important tradition for countless American families. By launching the Christmas Day game, the NFL has taken the lead in breaking this tacit agreement, trying to incorporate Christmas into its fold and consolidate its leading position.
The beneficiaries of this carnival may not be limited to the NFL.
Just like Pepsi and Apple Music during previous Super Bowls, the NFL has always been able to find brands to pay for its carnival, and this time is no exception.
Reportedly, in addition to streaming and exclusive naming rights, Netflix is also in charge of this year's Christmas Day game halftime show, which will definitely create more exposure across the network and show their determination to enter the sports industry.
Compared to traditional broadcasters and other streaming services, Netflix is focusing on exclusive, high-profile events. This approach allows Netflix to attract new subscribers and retain existing ones with unique, high-value content while minimizing financial risks.
For Netflix, sports may also be a unique way to expand its content library by offering exclusive, real-time events and attracting more sports enthusiasts to use its service, thus diversifying its user base and increasing overall engagement.
According to a 2023 study, 67% of sports fans are more likely to subscribe to a streaming service that offers live sports (Source: Deloitte), so for Netflix, this may suggest there is a doorway for another significant boost of subscriber growth and retention rates.
However, even for a streaming giant like Netflix, there are still a lot of issues that need to be addressed in order to realize this grand and beautiful envision.
For instance, one of Netflix's problems is it looks like they do not have stable broadcasting technology and cannot fully handle super traffic. In the earlier Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul fight, which was also exclusively presented by Netflix, from the beginning of the match, Netflix's servers had various issues, with black screens, crashes, delays, and stuttering, and the complaints from users on X even topped the daily hot search with the topic Netflix crashed.
Ultimately, this farce ended with an apology letter from Netflix.
In fact, this is not the first time they have shown struggles in live broadcasting technology. In early 2023, Netflix conducted two live broadcasts in a row - in March, the live broadcast of Chris Rock's stand-up comedy special across the United States went smoothly; but in April, the global live broadcast of the Love is Blind reality show reunion event crashed due to platform overload, leaving millions of viewers unable to watch.
Clearly, Netflix has felt the technical difficulty of supporting a nationwide live broadcast, and their most important business in the next month before the end of December is to prepare for the upcoming NFL Christmas Day game with their broadcasting partner ABC.
Overall, in the field of video content, Netflix has brought too many surprises to people over the past 20 years and has even set a benchmark for the entire industry. Now, can it become the breaker in the sports streaming business?