Pittsburgh Steelers legend Ben Roethlisberger sees the NFL’s Christmas Day schedule as a major problem for any league player unfortunate enough to suit up on a Wednesday.
‘It’s miserable,’ Roethlisberger said on his ‘Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger’ podcast.
As the Super Bowl winner explained, the issue is rest and recovery for a league that is increasingly focused on profits.
‘It’s a shame that the league does this,’ Roethlisberger said. ‘It just shows that it’s all about money and this is a way that they can make more money and figure this thing out because it’s not fair for the players.
‘You wanna talk about injuries and making the game safer, changing the kickoff rule and preventing guys on hip-drop tackles, and concussions, and this that and the other, but you’re going to make guys play the most violent game in the world, arguably, three games in [11] days,’ Roethlisberger continued. ‘I mean, there’s no time for your body to get healthy and rest.’
Netflix will have one of its biggest days Wednesday since the site launched in 1998 when it airs two NFL games for the first time. ‘NFL Christmas Gameday on Netflix’ begins with a two-hour pregame show at 11am, before Pittsburgh hosts Kansas City. Baltimore faces Houston in the second game. All four teams last played on Saturday.
Roethlisberger says it’s unrealistic to ask NFL players to suit up on such a short turnaround
Kelce laughs during warmups before an NFL football game against the Texans on Saturday
Patrick and Brittany Mahomes shared their festive family snaps a day early on Christmas Eve
The streaming giant agreed to a three-year contract in May to carry Christmas Day games.
Netflix’s 282.3 million subscribers in over 190 countries will be able to stream the games, marking the first time one outlet has distributed an NFL game globally. Netflix will have the games available in five languages – English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and German.
The games will also air on CBS affiliates in Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Houston. NFL policy dictates that games on cable or being exclusively streamed must also be on an over-the-air station in the competing teams’ markets. It will also be available on mobile devices in the U.S. for those who have NFL+.
The biggest reason is money. The league is getting $150 million from Netflix for the two games this season. It also continues the NFL’s moves into streaming – Thursday night games are in their third season on Amazon Prime Video and the ‘Sunday Ticket’ package moved to YouTube TV last year.
That’s true, but the league wasn’t about to give up Christmas after seeing the ratings. Last year’s three games averaged 28.68 million viewers. The early afternoon contest between the Las Vegas Raiders and Chiefs led the way, averaging 29.48 million.
The Chiefs, Steelers, Ravens and Texans played on Saturday, giving them the same turnaround they would have if they played on Sunday and then Thursday.
All four have clinched playoff spots in the AFC, but seeding remains up for grabs.
Kansas City (14-1) can clinch the top seed – which would mean a first-round bye and home field throughout the playoffs – with a win over the Steelers. Pittsburgh and Baltimore are tied atop the AFC North at 10-5, with the Steelers holding the tiebreaker due to a better conference record.
Houston (9-6) has wrapped up the AFC South and holds the fourth seed.
Taylor Swift chats with a Kansas City Chiefs fan dressed as Santa during a 2023 game
Netflix’s first attempt at handling a live sports event did not receive a passing grade.
The fight November night between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul experienced streaming problems according to many viewers on social media.
Many viewers took to Twitter/X and Bluesky to express their frustrations with streaming and buffering problems before and during the fight.
According to the website Down Detector, nearly 85,000 viewers logged problems with outages or streaming leading up to the fight.
Netflix later revealed the bout was watched by a worldwide audience of 60 million and peaked at 65 million concurrent streams.
It said nearly 50 million households were turned in for the co-main event between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano in which Taylor kept her undisputed super lightweight championship with another disputed decision.
A Kansas City Chiefs fan dresses as Santa Claus during an NFL game on Saturday
Baltimore Ravens running back Justice Hill (43) in action against Houston Texans defensive end Derek Barnett (95) during the AFC Divisional Playoffs on January 20, 2024
It it possible that could happen again? Yes. Is it likely? Maybe not.
The largest audience for a streamed-exclusive NFL game was 23 million on Peacock for last season’s AFC wild-card game between the Miami Dolphins and Chiefs.
Nielsen will measure the ratings for the Christmas Day games, with early numbers expected late afternoon on Thursday.
It will probably beat kickoff for both games, but especially around 5:45pm EST. That would be near halftime of the Ravens-Texans game, and when Beyoncé will be performing.
Mariah Carey will kick off the day with a taped performance of ‘All I Want for Christmas is You.’
There is no word if Taylor Swift will make the trip to Pittsburgh to watch her boyfriend, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. Swift has been spending time in Kansas City since she wrapped up her Eras Tour two weeks ago.
The NFL will have at least two games on December 25 in 2025 and ’26, with Netflix slated to have at least one each year. Amazon Prime Video will have a night game with Christmas on a Thursday next year.
Netflix’s worldwide partnership with World Wrestling Entertainment will begin on January 6 when ‘Monday Night Raw’ moves to the streaming service.
On Friday, Netflix secured the U.S. rights for the 2027 and 2031 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
