It was fitting that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was touting the future of Netflix and the NFL into a microphone that wasn’t working.
Jones, appearing between one of the various boxing matches that preceded the mostly sad exhibition between 27-year-old Jake Paul and 58-year-old Mike Tyson, made clear his belief that the ongoing pivot to streaming will fully pivot to Netflix.
That surely hinges on Netflix pulling off the Christmas Day doubleheader, with the Chiefs at the Steelers followed by the Ravens at the Texans. And Friday night’s live-event performance by Netflix was far closer to the Love is Blind fiasco than the Tom Brady roast (which was a fiasco only in substance, not streaming).
It was bad. Very bad. Buffering. Grainy images, which brought back memories of the video clips incorporated into the old Sega CD add-on for the Genesis. And, at times, nothing at all.
Although Amazon Prime had a few glitches during its first season as full-time Thursday night streamer, it has since perfected the experience. It’s crisp. It’s clear. It’s reliable. It’s a non-issue that it’s on a streaming platform.
For Netflix and the looming Christmas games, it could be a major issue. And the clock is ticking. Loudly.
The big-event, live-sports trial run for Netflix was supposed to happen in July, but an injury to Tyson delayed the fight until November. Which gives Netflix and the NFL less than six weeks to get its stream (and/or a four-letter word also starting with “s”) together.
The first question is will it work? The second question is, if it doesn’t, will that disqualify or delay further Netflix deals? There’s already a Netflix contract for Christmas in 2025 and 2026. If, however, Netflix’s nightmare before Christmas trickles into December 25, the NFL surely has escape hatches in its contracts that would allow the league to take the games to Amazon or elsewhere.
Beyond the existing commitment, is there a scenario where Netflix screws up the Christmas games badly enough that the NFL snubs it? For the best evidence of that potential outcome, look at the place where last night’s fight was held. Jerryworld hosted one Super Bowl. It was a two-sided clusterfudge, with an ice storm making game-week travel nearly impossible and a game-day situation with more tickets to the event than, you know, available seats.
In the past 14 years, AT&T Stadium has never been mentioned as a serious candidate to host another Super Bowl. It’s unclear if or when it ever will be again.
For Netflix, the situation is fixable with money. Pump more money into the technology. More importantly, pump more money into the NFL’s pockets.
Hell, at some level the NFL might be hoping things go poorly for Netflix on Christmas. Once the short-term embarrassment fades (and there’s always another bright, shiny object in the form of the next NFL game), the NFL can make it clear to Netflix that there’s only one way to repair the relationship.
