Through 2024, the NFL had played 32 Christmas Day games in league history, with the Prime Time holiday matchup becoming an annual occurrence since 2020. But that year marked something new; the league struck a first-of-its-kind deal with Netflix, making the streaming platform the exclusive distributor of the Christmas Day game. The gamble paid off, pulling in a record-breaking 65 million viewers, peaking during the halftime show featuring Houston’s very own Beyoncé performing at the Texans’ game. Expectations were exceeded to say the least, marking a new era of Prime Time sports entertainment. This evolution is reshaping the landscape of how fans engage with their favorite teams during Prime Time events.
As audiences continue to shift from cable to streaming, live television, once the king of entertainment is losing its grip. And at the forefront of that change? Live sports.
From television and film to live events, streaming has completely reshaped how we consume media. What started as an escape from commercials and a way to binge your favorite shows has turned into a constant battle over who has the rights to what.
With more people cutting the cord every year, live sports have taken a hit when games air exclusively on traditional networks like TNT, ESPN, or Fox Sports. In response, streaming services have started weaving live programming into their platforms. Over the past few years, services like Hulu and Max HBO Max have quietly introduced live sporting events, a move that’s blurred the once-clear line between cable and streaming.
As viewing habits evolve, national leagues like the NFL and NBA are finding new ways to negotiate media rights and monetize their content with streaming apps of their own. But as the landscape continues to shift, one question remains on every sports fan’s mind: Is streaming taking over prime time sports?
Though the success of Netflix’s NFL Christmas game showed just how powerful streaming live sports could be, that deal wasn’t the first and it definitely won’t be the last between a national league and a streaming platform.
The NFL had already partnered with services like Hulu + Live TV and YouTube TV to stream major events such as the Super Bowl. And looking ahead, the 2025–2026 NBA and WNBA seasons are set to mark another major shift. NBC and Amazon have acquired the majority of distribution rights, meaning Prime Video and Peacock will now serve as the primary platforms for six of the seven days in the weekly broadcast schedule.
What used to be as simple as having a cable subscription that gave fans access to every game, whether it aired on ESPN, TNT, or another network, has now turned into a juggling act of subscriptions. Fans will need both Prime Video and Peacock just to keep up with the action. And that doesn’t even include smaller, privately owned network subscriptions that carry specific teams and aren’t available through either of those platforms.
With both the NFL and NBA seasons just getting underway, and streaming platforms cracking down on password sharing, fans are being forced to make tough choices. Many now have to decide which subscriptions are actually worth it, if they can even afford to keep up at all.
As we navigate this new era of sports viewership, one thing is clear: Prime Time sports have entered a new phase defined by accessibility, innovation, and a deeper connection between fans and the content they love.
