The NFL's relationship with streaming has evolved extremely quickly over the last few years — and it may just be getting a new partner in Netflix if the speculation is true.
Boomer Esiason, the former NFL MVP and recently replaced analyst on CBS' "The NFL Today," said on his morning radio show WFAN on Wednesday, May 8 that he thinks the NFL could soon be working with streaming giant Netflix (NFLX) .
"Do not be surprised if the NFL and Netflix get in bed for a nice little Christmas Day football games," Esiason said.
Boomer Esiason says “Do not be surprised if the NFL and Netflix get in bed for a nice little Christmas Day football games.” pic.twitter.com/WFytWNOIun
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 8, 2024
While Esiason has been in the media game for two decades and has a legendary NFL career as a player, he is not normally associated with breaking news about the league. That's reporting that normally goes through ESPN's Adam Schefter or the NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, or for sports media news, through Puck's John Ourand or The Athletic's Andrew Marchand.
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But Esiason still felt pretty confident about his prediction.
"I could be wrong, but I don't think I am," Esiason said before making his prediction.
Esiason is clearly not declaring any certainty about the news, so he's not breaking it. But his confidence mixed with his media experience — he was removed from CBS' NFL studio show a few weeks ago — is leaving many to think that he's not just pulling the information out of thin air.
What are the odds Boomer has this tip/scoop because maybe Netflix reached out to him to be part of their broadcast either pregame/postgame or in the booth as Netflix would need to hire people to put on a game and Boomer is now a free agent in the broadcasting world
— DolphinsTalk.com (@DolphinsTalk) May 8, 2024
The NFL has been adamant about streaming for the last couple of years, with Amazon Prime Video owning the rights to "Thursday Night Football" for the next decade and NBC's Peacock airing the first-ever NFL Playoff game exclusively on streaming in January.
However, a Christmas game on streaming would be new for the league. Peacock aired an exclusively streamed game on December 23, but none of the Christmas games were exclusive to streaming.
But Netflix as the NFL's partner is the bolder part of Esiason's prediction. The streamer has been expanding its horizon for airing live events, such as "The Roast of Tom Brady" from Sunday. It's also focused heavily on sports storytelling properties, including the Netflix "Quarterback" series that it's continuing this season with "Receiver."
The company has pushed back on notions that it would be entering the live sports space, even after it signed a deal with WWE Raw to air the wrestling promotion through 2023.
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"WWE Raw is sports entertainment, which is right in the sweet spot of our sports business, which is the drama of sport," Netflix's Co-Chief Executive Officer Ted Sarandos said during the company's Q4 2023 earnings call in January.
Netflix has live-streamed other sporting events like "The Netflix Cup," and will be airing the upcoming fight between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson in July.
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The company has insisted for a while that it would not enter sports, though Sarandos seems to have opened up a little bit when asked about whether the company's sports strategy was shifting during Netflix's most recent Q1 2024 earnings call in April.
"You know, we said this many times, but not anti-sports but pro-profitable growth," Sarandos said. "And I think that's the core of everything we do in all kinds of programming, including sports. So, our North Star is to grow engagement, revenue, and profit. And if we find opportunities, we could drive all three of those, we will do that across an increasingly wide variety of quality entertainment. So, when and if those opportunities arrive that we can come in and do that, which we feel like we did in our deal with WWE, if we can repeat those dynamics in other things, including sports, we'll look at it for sure."
These statements seem to open the door more for Netflix to enter the live sports — which also support the exploratory talks Netflix reportedly had with the NBA on its media rights deal. If Esiason's prediction comes true, then it's likely that Netflix is turning the corner on a strategy it had avoided for years.
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