Netflix has solidified its reputation as a leader in streaming entertainment. Its portfolio of scripted shows, films and documentaries attracts large audiences around the world.
However, 2024 marked a significant moment for the platform as it entered the live sports landscape, it broadcast two Christmas Day National Football League (NFL) games.
With a historic partnership with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and winning broadcast rights in the United States for the 2027 and 2031 Women’s World Cups, the streaming giant has demonstrated its ambition to become the premier online platform for live sports.
An unexpected U-turn in Netflix’s live sports strategy
It’s nothing new for streaming platforms to venture into live sports. Apple TV and Amazon have both done the same, with Amazon broadcasting Life soccer matches for the past decade.
Both the platforms have the rights to show various competitions and events. For example, Amazon UK has the English Premier League rights packages, and Amazon’s European arm, EU Simple, has the rights to show Champions League matches. Apple TV has the global rights to stream Major League Soccer (MLS).
Yet, as recently as December 2022, Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s co-CEO and chief content officer, said at the UBS Global TMT conference that the company “hasn’t seen a profitable path to renting big games.”
“We’re not anti-sports. We’re just pro-profit,” he said, adding that Netflix “could be twice as big without sports.”
According to Jochen Losch, CEO of JL Sports Investments, Netflix’s U-turn and entry into the live sports market was due to an ad-supported package it began offering subscribers in November 2022.
“Now they’ve gone into the advertising business as well. Suddenly, they need advertisers,” Losch, who has worked in the sports media rights market for 25 years, told DW.
“Netflix realized that live sports is one of the last things in the world that generates huge audiences and gets the most attention, which you can’t generate with anything else.
“It’s also the last ‘appointment TV’ program. You can’t choose when you’ll watch a soccer or American football match. You have to watch it when it’s on, which creates its own promotion.”
Global reach like no other
Although it has been slow to welcome live sports, Netflix boasts a reach of 283 million subscribers worldwide and a cash-content budget of $17 billion (€16.5 billion) annually.
This makes live events an attractive prospect for partnerships with streamers while making live events a comparatively small acquisition in a company’s annual cash content budget.
In October 2024, the NFL signed a three-year partnership with Netflix to stream two Christmas Day games. According to Netflix, the total cost of streaming the games between the Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers and between the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans was equivalent to one of their usual medium-to-large movies.
In return, the games gained massive viewership for the NFL, with viewers from 218 countries and territories attending, as each game attracted 30 million viewers worldwide.
“With Netflix’s global distribution, with Christmas being Netflix’s biggest day, they were an ideal partner for the NFL as the league wants to become a global sport,” Alexander Steinforth, general manager of NFL Germany, told DW.
The games helped make it Netflix’s most-watched Christmas Day series ever in the United States, and NFL games earned over a billion impressions on Netflix and NFL global handles on social media.
“We are extremely excited about this partnership,” Steinforth said of the Christmas Day package.
Netflix was similarly excited.
“Opportunities like NFL Christmas games don’t come around that often,” a Netflix spokesperson told DW. “Netflix has always been entrepreneurial and bold in pursuing opportunities that deliver the most value to our members.”
A big WWE deal to launch in 2025
Now, Netflix has added World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) to its lineup, in a deal reported to be worth $5 billion (€4.8 billion).
WWE’s popular weekly wrestling show, Monday Night Raw, debuted in January 2025, a move to streaming that its chief content officer Paul Levesque, better known as former wrestling superstar Triple H, described as “as huge as WrestleMania.” ” Said.
The professional wrestling circuit has a dedicated fan base. The inaugural “Monday Night Raw” live broadcast attracted 4.9 million viewers globally.
A Netflix spokesperson said, “WWE is great sports entertainment. It’s all about the drama of the game, which is Netflix’s sweet spot.”
“This is another area where we can deliver immense value for our members as well as rights holders and talent.”
For Netflix, a key part of why WWE became such an attractive prospect was the understanding that more families watch WWE together than the NBA, NASCAR, MLB, MLS, the NHL or PGA golf.
WWE is also ranked as the No. 1 sports channel on YouTube in Netflix’s target demographic (18 to 34 years old) based on subscribers and lifetime video views. It also has more than 1 billion followers on social media platforms.
“We want to continue creating unforgettable live events for our members that create global water cooler moments,” a Netflix spokesperson said.
In an era when the streaming wars are heating up, Netflix’s live sports gambling could prove to be its next blockbuster.
Edited by: Chuck Penfold
