Netflix Sport and advertising: These are the two keywords that symbolise Netflix’s present and future. The video-streaming giant is changing its skin, opening its doors to live sporting events. This is an important step, not only because until a few months ago, top management continued to deny interest in sport, but also because broadcasting live events of great appeal ensures a high number of viewers and, therefore, more revenue thanks to advertising.
Representing Netflix’s breakthrough were the two NFL games broadcast on Christmas Day 2024: Kansas City Chiefs-Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens-Houston Texans. The two games had no history on the field, as they were easily won by the Chiefs and Ravens, but the significant fact is that they were visible to Netflix subscribers worldwide. A huge firepower, so much so that the challenges drew over 24 million subscribers each.
Peaking at 27 million during the half-time show in which Beyoncé performed. Although both games were broadcast free-to-air in the cities involved, on CBS and NBC and on smartphones and tablets via NFL+. For the sake of comparison, the NFL regular season game between the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers played at the beginning of December recorded 17.3 million viewers on Amazon Prime Video. It should be considered, however, that on Christmas Day it is a tradition for Americans to get together with friends to watch sports competitions on TV.
From the NFL to boxing, sport is winning
Beyond the figures, the point is that after Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, too, has decided to focus on sports. The NFL competitions, whose three-year rights for the Christmas games were paid $150 million (a figure that seems high, but in the TV dynamics related to sports and advertising high, it is not), are only the latest act in a list that already counts some precedents. They have ranged from a tennis match to a burger-eating contest (after all, the sports category in the USA includes activities that are as surprising as they are bizarre), from the first wrestling shows (which from next year will be broadcast weekly) to the boxing match between Mike Tyson and the YouTuber Jake Paul.
The latter was the symbolic event to understand Netflix‘s metamorphosis because, despite the connection problems experienced by several users, it was watched by some 65 million subscribers. A huge number, which the Los Gatos-based company monetised thanks to commercials. It has to be taken into account that during live sporting events, even those who subscribe to the commercial-free plan find themselves watching several commercials.
After the launch of the ad-free subscription plan, the restriction on password sharing and the marriage with sport marks the beginning of a new chapter for Netflix. Which currently has around 270 million subscribers globally, including 80 million in the US and Canada. ‘Netflix is not yet a major player in sports, a boxing match and a few NFL games at Christmas are not enough to call it a powerhouse. But it’s just the beginning for a company that for years denied being interested in sports,’ Ed Desser, president of Desser Sports Media and former media executive for the NBA, told The Athletic.
Netflix sport events
The combination of sports and advertising is the lever that attracts Netflix because investing in live sporting events means keeping tens of millions of viewers glued to their TV, computer, tablet and smartphone monitors, thus guaranteeing significant revenue for investors, who are happy to advertise their products to a specific target audience with a medium-to-high spending capacity. A win-win operation. That is why it cannot come as a surprise that Netflix very quickly used up all advertising slots for the two NFL games broadcast on Christmas Day. It also took advantage of the sounding board provided by American football to launch the second season of the TV series Squid Game, broadcast worldwide from the following day.
The end of the year thus brings to a close a prosperous period for the company’s coffers, as since the beginning of 2024, Netflix’s share price has risen 47%, with a market capitalisation of nearly 400 billion dollars. There is, therefore, no shortage of money for the streaming giant, which is busy evaluating which sports and events to invest in to maximise profits. With the addition of Netflix to Prime Video, Disney+ and Apple TV+, it is clear that those most concerned about the future acquisition of sports rights are the traditional broadcasters, who are faced with an increasing number of rivals, all with plenty of money.
