Netflix recently completed the first year of a three-season deal with the NFL to air games on Christmas Day, a presentation that collectively averaged more than 30 million global viewers. As the over-the-top streaming service continues to look for the future, it has been consistent in emphasizing that sports rights need to make sense economically and also convey a feel of being “eventized.” Yet there seems to be purported interest in expanding the relationship with the NFL to become a regular broadcast partner as the league is expected to enact an opt-out clause within its existing 11-year media rights deal, estimated to be worth approximately $111 million, after the 2029 season.
Bela Bajaria, the chief content officer of Netflix, recently appeared on The Town podcast from The Ringer hosted by Puck founding partner Matthew Belloni. He asked the executive if the company would be airing a weekly NFL game in five years, prefacing her answer by surmising that she would obviously say ‘Yes.’ Contrary to his belief, Bajaria initially declined this prospect, attributing it to the rights being tied up. Upon Belloni saying that there is an opt out in less than five years, she said that if the answer was ‘Yes,’ she would definitely be interested in the Sunday afternoon games.
Earlier in the program, Belloni recalled that he had told Bajaria two years prior that the NFL would be on Netflix, a proposition to which she replied, “Absolutely not.” After admitting that he was right, she remarked that it was interesting because they did not realize the Christmas Day slate of games would be available. Belloni then depicted the league bending to Netflix rather than it being the other way around.
“We have a great relationship and NFL is great,” Bajaria said. “I also think you probably meant, even though I’m going to give you props, but you probably meant we were going to bid on the whole season.”
Netflix currently has more than 300 million paid memberships to its service, divulging in the latest quarterly earnings report that operating income proliferated 22.2% year-over-year to $2.27 billion. The company forecasted a content spend of approximately $18 billion, and Belloni was curious to find out how it would be allocated across different genres. While Bajaria declined to give a summation of their specific plans, she voiced her appreciation for the budget being fluid and the company being able to remain opportunistic.
“I think the one thing is also to remember is with $18 billion of spend for film and TV and live events and all of the things we do, it doesn’t have to be either or, and that’s why we can really, for our members, do lots of different film and TV in different languages, but also be opportunistic with these live events. It’s been amazing between the fight and NFL on Christmas Day, but also Beyoncé Bowl on Christmas Day.”
Netflix is currently airing weekly editions of WWE Raw under a 10-year media rights deal reportedly worth a total of $5 billion. As the broadcasts have aired over the last month-and-a-half, Bajaria explained that multigenerational audiences are coming to Netflix to watch the property and that viewership outside of the United States has been interesting. The company also continues to work with WWE to examine opportunities to develop other content for sports storytelling while remaining aware of the rights landscape, which is slated to include UFC and Formula One.
“Film and TV is the core of what we do,” Bajaria said. “We are always going to make amazing film and TV everywhere. We’re also going to be smart about understanding the marketplace and what opportunities are available. Like I’ve said, we understand people love sports. I love sports too – people love them – we know our audiences love them. It is always going to have to make sense in a long-term deal, something that feels eventized, and it has to make economic sense for us.”
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