Netflix's NFL Ambitions Could Go Beyond Games

Earlier this year, Netflix signed a three-year agreement with the National Football League that would add a pair of Christmas Day football games to the streaming service’s lineup. Since then, more details about the logistics of these games have emerged, including the fact that CBS Sports would handle production for this year’s games. Still, it begs the question: what does the NFL on Netflix look like?

Now, in the wake of comments made by the service’s co-CEO, Greg Peters, we have a better sense of what to expect. The Hollywood Reporter‘s Alex Weprin relayed comments Peters made at a recent Financial Times event, which provide more context about how Netflix sees their move into live sports.

When discussing the games, Peters outlined the service’s plans. “We plan to Netflix-ify them a little bit. So we’ll plan to have a little bit of stuff around the games with our talent, stuff like that, that’ll hopefully make it super fun,” Peters said at the event.

Now, “Netflix-ify” can mean a lot of things — from John Mulaney dropping in to comment on the proceedings to a cameo from the cast of Squid Game. But it’s worth pointing out that, even without live sports, Netflix has had a pretty strong sports component, including docuseries like Beckham, Last Chance U, Sunderland ‘Til I Die, the Untold series and especially Formula 1: Drive to Survive.

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It’s part of a growing phenomenon in the world of sports broadcasting — one where watching games live is only part of the experience. And it’s had a noticeable effect on some of the sports and teams covered: in a world without Welcome to Wrexham, it’s hard to imagine Wrexham A.F.C. playing pre-season friendlies in the U.S. Still, the NFL is a massive presence when it comes to broadcast dominance.

In making these comments, Peters also understands how to get an audience’s attention: by suggesting that they’re about to see something familiar in an entirely new way. That could mean adjacent docuseries or a Wednesday tie-in; either way, a lot of people will be tuning in.