Netflix made its NFL debut on Christmas Day with two games featuring four of the American Football Conference’s (AFC) top teams and a stellar Beyonce halftime show with surprise appearances by Shaboozey and Post Malone.
Riding into NRG Stadium on a white horse, the 32-time Grammy winner delivered a 13-minute performance to tracks from the “Cowboy Carter” album.
On the field, Patrick Mahomes led the Chiefs to a dominant 29–10 win over the Steelers, securing Kansas City the AFC’s No. 1 seed. Lamar Jackson and the Ravens breezed past the Texans in the second game, 31-2.
Meanwhile, according to NFL Media, Netflix passed its stress test with minimal streaming issues. The streamer’s 282.3 million subscribers could access the games in five languages across 190 countries, setting a record for Netflix.
The OTT platform has previously encountered technical difficulties when streaming major sports events, like the November Mike Tyson-Jake Paul boxing match.
It faced minor pregame audio issues in the NFL games but avoided the glitches that plagued past events.
Overall, the games, part of Netflix’s $150 million deal with the NFL, mark the start of a new holiday tradition—and Beyonce made sure the debut was unforgettable.