Netflix keeps crashing the NFL party

Netflix just wants in on the whole season

Netflix is no longer the kid invited to the Christmas party. After turning its NFL Christmas Day games into a ratings flex, the streamer is expanding to five games for the 2026 season and will also host the NFL Honors show before the Super Bowl in February 2027.

That means Netflix will be in the mix from September through February — basically the full football buffet. The lineup includes a Week 1 Rams-49ers game in Australia, a Thanksgiving Eve Packers-Rams matchup, two Christmas games, and a Week 18 slot still to be announced.

Why Wall Street cares

Live sports are Netflix’s not-so-secret weapon. They keep people tuned in, they give advertisers something very expensive and very watchable to buy, and they help the company push harder on its ad-supported tier.

Netflix said its Christmas Day games drew 27.5 million U.S. viewers last year, which is the kind of number that makes media execs swoon and rights holders start thinking about who’s writing the biggest check.

The bigger game here

This isn’t just about five football games. It’s about the NFL’s media rights pie getting more fragmented, with Amazon, Disney, Fox, Comcast, Paramount Skydance, and now Netflix all fighting for slices.

And yes, Trump’s criticism that streaming is “killing the golden goose” adds some political theater to the mix. But from an investor angle, the real story is simpler: Netflix is building a live-content moat, one kickoff at a time.

Big picture: if Netflix can make live sports a habit instead of a novelty, the ad business gets more juice and the subscriber story gets harder to ignore.