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Jamison Hensley, ESPN Staff Writer
For the second straight Christmas, the NFL will provide the gift of Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson.
Netflix announced Wednesday that it will stream two games — the Kansas City Chiefs at the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens at the Houston Texans — on Dec. 25. The streaming network will broadcast at least one game on the holiday for each of the next three years in a new agreement with the NFL.
The four teams involved this year will play rare Wednesday regular-season games.
“There are no live annual events, sports or otherwise, that compare with the audiences NFL football attracts. We’re so excited that the NFL’s Christmas Day games will be only on Netflix,” Netflix chief content officer Bela Bajaria said in a statement.
This marks back-to-back Christmas games for the Chiefs and Ravens. On Christmas last season, the Ravens beat the San Francisco 49ers 33-19 and the Chiefs were upset by the Las Vegas Raiders 20-14.
Before the 2024 season, only three teams had played on Christmas in back-to-back years: the Steelers (2016-17), Arizona Cardinals (2021-22) and Green Bay Packers (2021-22). The Ravens will be the first team to play back-to-back Christmas games on the road.
This will be the fifth Christmas game for Kansas City, which ties the Dallas Cowboys for the most in the NFL.
“The NFL on Christmas has become a tradition and to partner with Netflix, a service whose biggest day of the year is typically this holiday, is the perfect combination to grow this event globally for NFL fans,” Hans Schroeder, NFL executive vice president of media distribution, said in a statement of the deal with Netflix, which will broadcast an NFL game for the first time.
The full 2024 NFL schedule will be announced Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET. A two-hour special will air on ESPN2 and be simulcast on ESPN+.
Source: www.espn.com