When Netflix was announced as the streaming home for two Christmas Day NFL games this year, the immediate response focused on how expensive it's become to stream football in 2024 and how many streaming services you would need.
As Netflix is the streaming platform, there seemed to be little doubt that it could stream football well. Amazon does it without a hitch every Thursday night, after all. Peacock has delivered quality streams for its exclusive contests including a playoff game, meanwhile, and Sunday Ticket now lives on YouTube TV.
Then Friday night's fight between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson happened. Littered with buffering and quality issues, social media was quickly filled with comments, memes and complaints about Netflix's latest foray into live sports streaming.
This is how most people watched the fight on your channel pic.twitter.com/FYHQyDXj5S
— ZEEZ 🌚 (@Swaggzeez1) November 16, 2024
never broadcast anything live ever again yall suck
— 〽️ (@drizzyys) November 16, 2024
Even Fox's NFL Sunday crew poked fun at the fight's poor streams. Reddit's Netflix board had threads titled "The NFL games on Christmas Day are doomed."
'Fox NFL Sunday' threw a jab at Netflix's presentation of the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson fight. pic.twitter.com/i1WS058QE4
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 18, 2024
Netflix says that 60 million households worldwide watched the fight's main event live, with a peak of 65 million concurrent streams. A fight between a popular influencer-turned-boxer and an aging 58-year boxing legend is one thing, though. A doubleheader of NFL games -- including one that features Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and the Chiefs -- on Christmas Day is another.
Netflix declined to comment on the service's performance during the fight and if it was taking any additional steps to ensure a smoother experience for the NFL.
With just over a month to go, time is short for Netflix to figure out how to handle major live events at scale.
The good news for football fans is that there are some backups out there in case it can't get its act together.
VPNs to the rescue?
Mike Tyson and Jake Paul fight during LIVE On Netflix: Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson at AT&T Stadium on November 15, 2024 in Arlington, Texas.
As with other games that air on streaming services or cable, Netflix and the NFL will be showing both the Chiefs and Steelers game and the Ravens and Texans game on local TV in their respective home markets. That means if you are in the Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Baltimore or Houston areas, you won't actually need to use Netflix to watch the action.
As noted by Deadline, CBS Sports will be handling the production of Netflix's games this year. Netflix says it will also air the contests on local CBS stations in those markets.
As we've noted in our regular coverage of watching NFL games, if you find yourself unable to view the game locally due to incorrectly applied blackout restrictions, you may need a different way to watch the game. That's where using a VPN can come in handy.
Using a VPN to watch or stream sports is legal in any country where VPNs are legal, including the US and Canada, as long as you've got a legitimate subscription to the service you're streaming. You should be sure your VPN is set up correctly to prevent leaks: Even where VPNs are legal, the streaming service may terminate the account of anyone it deems to be circumventing correctly applied blackout restrictions.
Assuming you subscribe to a service like YouTube TV, DirecTV Stream, Fubo or Hulu Plus Live TV, you could pair that with a VPN to pick up the broadcast that is airing on TV in those markets that could be better than what Netflix is streaming directly through its servers.
ExpressVPN, our current best VPN pick for people who want a reliable and safe VPN that works on a variety of devices, has servers in Houston so that should work for the Ravens and Texans game.
The Chiefs and Steelers game is trickier as ExpressVPN doesn't have a server in either city. PIA could be an option there, as it has servers in Kansas City as well as Baltimore so you'd be able to watch both games.
Beyond VPNs, those who subscribe to NFL Plus (the league's streaming service) will also be able to get the games on their phones and tablets (but not larger screens like TVs or computers). It remains to be seen if Netflix will follow Amazon, Apple and Google to offer its streaming games in airports, bars and restaurants.
Those companies have previously worked with traditional television providers like DirecTV to make games they stream available in commercial areas. Netflix used DirecTV, through a third party called Joe Hand Promotions, to make the Paul/Tyson fight available in "bars, restaurants, and other commercial locations."
Netflix has not yet announced if it will do the same for the Christmas Day NFL games.