The NFL had a busy morning amidst its annual meetings, revealing that it will now host a Christmas Day doubleheader and stream two games exclusively, including one playoff game. The league announced that the Week One Friday night game in San Paolo, Brazil, featuring the Philadelphia Eagles, will stream exclusively on Peacock. Prime Video will also exclusively stream a playoff game for the first time ever.
In a news release, the NFL announced that NBCUniversal’s Peacock secured the rights to exclusively stream the NFL’s first-ever regular season game in South America and the first Friday night opening weekend game in over 50 years. The Eagles are expected to play the Cleveland Browns in this game as leaks and rumors indicate.
In addition, the league announced that Prime Video will add an NFL Wild Card game to their schedule this season. This will mark the second time an NFL playoff game has been available exclusively via a streaming service following last season’s Wild Card matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Miami Dolphins on Peacock.
“As media consumption habits evolve, the NFL continues to work with our partners to put our games on digital platforms where our fans are increasingly spending their time,” said Hans Schroeder, NFL executive vice president of media distribution. “The viewership success of both Thursday Night Football on Prime Video and the historic Wild Card game on Peacock last season are strong indicators our streaming distribution is resonating with our fans.”
Outside of this release, Schroeder also announced a Christmas Day doubleheader, despite the holiday falling on a Wednesday this year. According to NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport, Schroeder said the league, “[saw] really some unprecedented growth” in the games. Last year’s Christmas Day games averaged 28 million viewers, including 29.2 million viewers for Chiefs/Raiders.
