A Netflix executive has caused a bit of a stir with comments last week about potential interest in a Sunday afternoon NFL rights package.
When asked whether Netflix will air a weekly NFL package in the next five years and, if so, which package it would steal from a rival network, Netflix chief content officer Bela Bajaria said on the Matthew Bellioni “The Town” podcast last week that “if the answer is yes,” she would “definitely want the Sunday [afternoon] games.”
While the context — a rapid-fire question and answer segment — does not indicate any plans by Netflix to actually bid on a Sunday afternoon package, the comment has nonetheless been the subject of industry chatter, particularly since John Ourand of Puck highlighted the exchange in his Monday newsletter.
The Sunday afternoon NFL packages currently belong to CBS and FOX, neither of which can be considered among the strongest platforms. CBS parent company Paramount is in the midst of a difficult sale process made more complicated by government regulators, and the FOX broadcast network has taken a clear backseat on the list of Fox Corporation priorities behind its cable news channel.
Shifting either of its afternoon packages to streaming would mark a strategic shift for the NFL, which has prioritized broadcast television in a manner unlike any of the other leagues. Even if one assumes that games would be simulcast on over-the-air affiliates in the home markets — as is the current practice for the NFL on cable and streaming services — a significant portion of afternoon games air in neutral markets, including the 4:25 PM ET national windows that generate the largest audiences.
It could also complicate the league’s other deals, particularly the NFL Sunday Ticket package currently owned by Google. It is hard to imagine Netflix bidding for a Sunday afternoon package and not at least attempting to secure out-of-market rights.
Those concerns are of course premature, as nothing Bajaria said on the podcast could be considered a statement of the company’s intentions. As she said earlier in the podcast when asked about other sports rights, “every time we meet with somebody, or we even have a conversation, or somebody may have gone to a UFC fight because her son likes it, people start writing about it.”
Netflix is entering the second year of a three-year contract to carry Christmas Day NFL games. In year one last season, the streamer delivered the two largest NFL audiences ever on a streaming service (though both figures include an undisclosed number of viewers who watched on local over-the-air affiliates).
