Netflix Deepens Its NFL Ties With Expanded Five-Game Package

Netflix isn’t a full-season NFL rights holder, and might never be, but it’s definitely a major player in the league’s media profile.

The streaming giant used its upfront presentation to advertisers Wednesday in New York to detail an expanded, five-game rights agreement with the NFL. The enlarged pact includes:

• Rights to the league’s Week 1 game in Australia between the 49ers and Rams.
• Rights to a newly created Thanksgiving Eve game, a game window developed as the league looks to expand its already record-setting presence across the U.S. holiday. The contest will feature the Packers vs. the Rams.
• Continuation of its Christmas Day doubleheader.
• A Week 18 regular-season game with playoff implications.
• Coverage of the NFL Honors awards show held during Super Bowl week.

The expanded 2026 schedule is part of an enlarged rights deal for Netflix now extended through the 2029 season. Future years will include a Week 1 game, a Thanksgiving Eve matchup, one Christmas Day game, a Week 18 regular season finale game, and the NFL Honors.

Each of these elements fits squarely within Netflix’s long-held strategy of preferring a select number of big-event sports broadcasts as opposed to larger, full-season rights packages. The games will air globally, tying directly into a core league goal of expanding its reach around the world.

Part of Netflix’s expanded inventory came from reallocating two of four games that the league reacquired in its complex equity deal with ESPN.