Netflix has gotten what they’ve long wanted: a bigger piece of the NFL broadcasting pie.
According to The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand, the streamer will broadcast the league’s first-ever regular-season game from Australia in Week 1, featuring the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers.
Netflix will air the game on Thursday, Sept. 10, with kickoff at 8:35 p.m. ET from Melbourne Cricket Ground, the largest stadium in Australia. Per Marchand, NBC is expected to handle the game’s production.
The early-season deal bookends Netflix’s current broadcast relationship with the NFL, which has included two Christmas Day games. However, this might not be the only new NFL game that the streaming platform has this season.
Before Marchand’s report dropped, Puck’s John Ourand said on X that “Netflix is close to an NFL deal that looks likely include the week 1 game in Australia, the Thanksgiving Eve game and the Christmas games.”
Ourand promised to provide more details in his newsletter, The Varsity.
The NFL floated the idea of a Thanksgiving Eve game earlier this year, and the Wall Street Journal previously reported that it was part of a four-game package Netflix was eyeing.
None of this is too surprising given the ongoing reports this offseason around the NFL’s desire to carve out mini-packages for media partners like Netflix. The Australia game also aligns with the streamer’s worldwide audience strategy, which is very appealing to the internationally minded NFL. It also aligns with reports that the NFL wants to increase its broadcast footprint this season compared to last season. About 87% of NFL games aired on broadcast networks last season, and the league expects that number to increase slightly this season, news that isn’t likely to sit well with government officials currently probing the NFL over its media-rights push toward streaming services.
Earlier in the day, Alex Sherman of CNBC reported that the NFL planned to divvy up the former MNF doubleheader games between YouTube and Netflix. The news came amid separate reports suggesting YouTube is in line to land a five-game package, and that Netflix was interested in expanding its NFL package.
Like the Christmas Day games, the Australia game will require a Netflix subscription to watch, except in local markets, where games will be available on over-the-air TV, as has been standard protocol for all NFL games that air nationally on streamers.
