Pittsburgh Steelers legend Ben Roethlisberger sees the NFL's Christmas Day schedule as a major problem for any player in the league unlucky enough to suit up on a Wednesday.
“It's miserable,” Roethlisberger said in his “Football with Ben Roethlisberger' podcast.
As the Super Bowl winner explained, the issue is rest and recovery for an increasingly profit-focused league.
“It's a shame the league does this,” Roethlisberger said. “It just shows that it's all about money and this is a way to make more money and solve this because it's not fair to the players.”
“You want to talk about injuries and making the game safer, changing the kickoff rule and stopping guys from doing drop-hip tackles, and concussions, and this and that, but you're going to make guys play the most violent game in the world.” world, possibly three games in (11) days,” Roethlisberger continued. “I mean, there's no time for your body to recover and rest.”
Netflix will have one of its biggest days on Wednesday since the site launched in 1998, when it streams two NFL games for the first time. 'NFL Christmas Gameday on Netflix' begins with a two-hour pregame show at 11 a.m., before Pittsburgh hosts Kansas City. Baltimore faces Houston in game two. The four teams last played on Saturday.
Roethlisberger says it's unrealistic to ask NFL players to suit up on such short notice
Kelce laughs during warmups before the NFL football game against the Texans on Saturday.
Patrick and Brittany Mahomes shared their festive family photos a day early on Christmas Eve
The streaming giant agreed to a three-year deal in May to broadcast Christmas Day games.
Netflix's 282.3 million subscribers in more than 190 countries will be able to stream the games, marking the first time an NFL game has been distributed globally by an outlet. Netflix will have the games available in five languages: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and German.
The games will also be broadcast on CBS affiliates in Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Houston. NFL policy dictates that cable or broadcast-only games must also be broadcast on an over-the-air station in the competing teams' markets. It will also be available on mobile devices in the US for those who have NFL+.
The most important reason is money. The league will receive $150 million from Netflix for the two games this season. It also continues the NFL's moves toward streaming: Thursday night games are in their third season on Amazon Prime Video and the 'Sunday Ticket' package moved to YouTube TV last year.
It's true, but the league wasn't willing to give up on Christmas after seeing the ratings. Last year's three games had an average of 28.68 million viewers. The early afternoon game between the Las Vegas Raiders and Chiefs led the way, averaging 29.48 million.
The Chiefs, Steelers, Ravens and Texans all played on Saturday, giving them the same change they would have if they played on Sunday and then on Thursday.
All four have clinched spots in the AFC playoffs, but qualification is still up for grabs.
Kansas City (14-1) can clinch the top spot, which would mean a first-round bye and playing at home during 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 clinched the AFC South and has fourth place.
Taylor Swift chats with a Kansas City Chiefs fan dressed as Santa during a 2023 game
Netflix's first attempt at managing a live sporting event didn't get a passing grade.
The November fight night between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul experienced streaming issues according to many viewers on social media.
Many viewers took to Twitter/X and Bluesky to express their frustrations with streaming and buffering issues before and during the fight.
According to the Down Detector website, nearly 85,000 viewers reported issues with streaming or streaming outages ahead of the fight.
Netflix later revealed that the fight was watched by a global audience of 60 million and peaked at 65 million simultaneous streams.
He said nearly 50 million households showed up for the co-main event between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano in which Taylor maintained her undisputed super lightweight championship with another contested decision.
A Kansas City Chiefs fan dresses up 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.
Is it possible that this 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 the Chiefs.
Nielsen will measure ratings for the Christmas Day games, with the first numbers expected late Thursday afternoon.
It will probably be better than the start of both games, but especially around 5:45 pm EST. That would be around halftime of the Ravens-Texans game, and when Beyoncé will perform.
Mariah Carey will start the day with a recorded performance of 'All I Want for Christmas is You.'
It is unknown if Taylor Swift will travel to Pittsburgh to see her boyfriend, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. Swift has been spending time in Kansas City since wrapping her Eras Tour two weeks ago.
The NFL will have at least two games on December 25 in 2025 and 2026, and Netflix is scheduled to have at least one each year. Amazon Prime Video will have a Christmas night game on Thursday next year.
Netflix's global partnership with World Wrestling Entertainment will begin on January 6 when 'Monday Night Raw' moves to the streaming service.
On Friday, Netflix secured U.S. rights to the 2027 and 2031 FIFA Women's World Cup.