General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20267 min read

NFL Christmas Gameday

NFL Christmas Gameday is the National Football League's presentation of regular-season games on Christmas Day, and since 2024 the name refers specifically to the Christmas Day package streamed live on Netflix under a partnership between the league and the streamer. The 2024 debut, a doubleheader of Chiefs-Steelers and Ravens-Texans, produced the two most-streamed NFL games in United States history to that point and an unduplicated audience of nearly 65 million U.S. viewers, according to Nielsen.¹

Key fact	Detail
First edition	December 25, 2024: Kansas City Chiefs at Pittsburgh Steelers (1:00 PM ET) and Baltimore Ravens at Houston Texans (4:30 PM ET), both on Netflix²
2024 U.S. audience	Ravens-Texans 24.3 million and Chiefs-Steelers 24.1 million average minute audience, the most-streamed NFL games in U.S. history at the time; nearly 65 million unduplicated U.S. viewers for the day (Nielsen)¹
2024 halftime	Beyoncé's "Beyoncé Bowl" performance during Ravens-Texans peaked above 27 million U.S. viewers; Mariah Carey performed in the pregame segment³^•⁴
2025 edition	Cowboys-Commanders (19.9 million U.S. average) and Lions-Vikings (27.5 million, then the most-streamed NFL game in U.S. history) on Netflix; Broncos-Chiefs (21.06 million) on Prime Video⁵
2025 global reach	Viewers from over 200 countries and territories; global AMA of 22.4 million for Cowboys-Commanders and 30.5 million for Lions-Vikings⁶
Deal	A three-season Netflix partnership began with the 2024 games; Netflix's footprint through 2029 includes a Week 1 game, a Thanksgiving Eve game, two Christmas games, a Week 18 game, and NFL Honors³^•⁷
2026 change	One of three Christmas Day games moves to FOX, the first Christmas game on broadcast television since 2023, alongside a Netflix doubleheader⁸

Background

NFL games on Christmas Day have been a holiday staple since 2020, with games in other seasons appearing when the holiday fell on a day the league already scheduled.⁴ The 2023 Christmas tripleheader set a high bar: the Raiders-Chiefs game averaged 29.6 million viewers, the second most-watched Christmas Day game in NFL history behind only Bengals-Vikings in 1989.⁹

In March 2024, NFL executive vice president of media distribution Hans Schroeder announced the league would play two games on Christmas, a Wednesday, during the 2024 season, citing "unprecedented growth" in holiday viewership.⁹ Netflix paid $75 million apiece for its two 2024 Christmas games, with a potential opt-in for future years.¹⁰

The 2024 debut

Netflix's first livestreamed NFL games kicked off at 1:00 PM ET with the Chiefs visiting the Steelers, followed by the Ravens at the Texans at 4:30 PM ET.² Coverage began with an 11 a.m. pregame show featuring Mariah Carey, and the day included game-day correspondents such as comedians Bert Kreischer and Nate Bargatze.⁴^•¹¹

Record audiences. Ravens-Texans averaged 24.3 million viewers and Chiefs-Steelers 24.1 million in the average minute audience (AMA), making them the most-streamed NFL games in U.S. history according to Nielsen. The day drew an unduplicated audience of nearly 65 million U.S. viewers. The AMA figures are based on Nielsen Fast National Live + Same Day data, which include out-of-home viewing, CBS local market viewing in the four team markets, and mobile and web data from Netflix and NFL+.¹ U.S. viewership peaked with the "Beyoncé Bowl" halftime performance during the second game, drawing more than 27 million viewers.³ Ravens-Texans was also the most-watched Christmas Day game on record among Adults 18-34, with 5.1 million U.S. viewers in that demographic, based on Nielsen records dating back to 2001.¹

Christmas 2024 became a media milestone: Nielsen measured more streaming viewing that day than on any day ever before, the first day on record with streaming exceeding 50 billion viewing minutes, with roughly half of all U.S. holiday viewing on streaming services.¹²

Production and distribution. EverWonder Studio executive produced NFL Christmas Gameday.¹³ The announce teams paired father and son: CBS Sports' Ian Eagle and NBC Sports' Noah Eagle each called one game.¹⁴ The viewership numbers counted people watching on Netflix, those streaming on the NFL+ mobile app, and audiences of the CBS affiliates in the four host cities of Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Baltimore, and Houston.¹⁵

The 2025 edition

The 2025 Christmas slate expanded to three games, two on Netflix and one on Prime Video. The Dallas Cowboys beat the Washington Commanders 30-23 in a game that averaged 19.9 million U.S. viewers, down sharply from the 24.1 million for the 2024 early game. The Minnesota Vikings beat the Detroit Lions 23-10 in the late afternoon game, which averaged 27.5 million U.S. viewers and became the most-streamed NFL game in U.S. history, surpassing the 27.2 million average of the 2024 Ravens-Texans game. The Denver Broncos' 20-13 win over the Chiefs averaged 21.06 million on Prime Video, breaking the network's 19.39 million mark for most-watched "Thursday Night Football" game.⁵

Halftime and social reach. Snoop's Holiday Halftime Party, staged at halftime of the Lions-Vikings game, averaged 29 million U.S. viewers, with NFL Christmas Gameday viewership peaking above 30 million during the show, according to Nielsen Big Data + Panel.⁶ Netflix reported more than 632 million social impressions globally for the day, with Snoop Dogg's halftime show driving over 100 million impressions.⁵ With the Lions-Vikings record, Netflix has distributed the top three most-streamed NFL games in U.S. history.⁶

Streaming records versus broadcast comparisons

The move to streaming has come with a measurable audience trade-off. The NFL averaged 22.9 million viewers for its three 2025 Christmas games, and the 2024 doubleheader averaged 24 million; both figures fall well below the 28.7 million average that broadcast television delivered on Christmas 2023. The 2025 games on Netflix and Prime Video were 20 percent lower than what CBS, Nickelodeon, Fox, and ABC delivered two years earlier. That gap matters to the league as it negotiates its next rights deals, where a holiday streaming package has been the subject of industry speculation.¹⁶

Streaming's share of overall holiday viewing has nonetheless grown. On Christmas 2025, streaming accounted for 54 percent of all U.S. TV viewing, only the second time streaming had surpassed 50 percent in a single day, helped by the NFL games and Netflix's release of three new Stranger Things season five episodes.¹⁷

2026 and beyond

For 2026, the league scheduled one of its three Christmas Day games on FOX, the first Christmas game on broadcast television since 2023, with Netflix carrying a doubleheader.⁸ The matchups are Packers-Bears, Bills-Broncos, and Rams-Seahawks.¹⁸ Under Netflix's agreement running through 2029, the streamer will carry five regular-season games per season, including a Week 1 game, a Thanksgiving Eve game, two Christmas Day games, and a Week 18 game, plus the NFL Honors.⁷ Netflix's 2026 Christmas Day double-header is part of a broader slate that also includes the Melbourne game and a Week 18 game.¹⁹

References

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026