Media insider expands on possible Netflix, NFL Christmas Day partnership

It turns out former CBS Sports NFL analyst Boomer Esiason may not have been guessing when he recently suggested that the league could broadcast a pair of Christmas Day games on streaming service Netflix later this year. 

"The league’s top executives have been in the middle of a high-stakes negotiation with Netflix over its planned Christmas Day games," media insider John Ourand of Puck News reported about the NFL on Thursday night. "And now it looks like Netflix will wind up carrying the two NFL games scheduled for December 25, per a bevy of sources."

The NFL surprised few and upset some when it called an audible earlier this year and went forward with scheduling two Christmas Day games for 2024 even though the holiday falls on a Wednesday this coming December. 

As for Esiason, he raised eyebrows when he said on his WFAN radio show this week that fans should "not be surprised if the NFL and Netflix get in bed for a nice little Christmas Day football game." 

Ourand was sure to point out that the Netflix agreement for the Christmas games "could all fall apart," as "the two sides still have to clear some hurdles before any deal is announced." He did, however, refer to Netflix as the "likely winner" for the rights to those contests. 

Back on Wednesday, NFL insider Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk openly wondered if contracts between the league and its current media partners "were written to give the NFL the flexibility to yank a pair of Sunday games and move them to Wednesday." 

On Friday morning, Florio mentioned that "reports indicated that the NFL wants at least $50M — and ideally as much as $100M — for each of the Christmas games." 

Reice Shipley of Awful Announcing noted that Netflix already has a deal with World Wrestling Entertainment to become the new home of the live "Monday Night Raw" program in 2025. Additionally, Netflix streamed "The Roast of Tom Brady" live this past weekend. 

According to Ourand, the delay in the NFL schedule release that is now planned to occur this coming Wednesday is directly related to the league's negotiations with Netflix for the Christmas Day games. One wonders what other surprises the league will reveal for fans and potential viewers between this weekend and the evening of May 15.