Netflix and the National Football League (NFL) have agreed to a new media rights extension that will run through the 2029-30 season.
Under the expanded agreement, Netflix will add three new NFL game windows to its existing Christmas Day package, including one game during the opening week of the season, another during the final week of the regular season and a new Thanksgiving Eve matchup. The streamer will also become the exclusive home of the NFL Honors awards show.
The 2026 schedule includes the Week 1 Rams-49ers International Series game in Melbourne, Packers-Rams on Thanksgiving Eve, a Christmas Day doubleheader and a Week 18 Saturday matinee.
The deal further strengthens Netflix’s growing presence in live sports as the company continues focusing on premium event-based rights rather than full-season packages. In addition to NFL coverage, Netflix recently entered Major League Baseball through a separate agreement covering marquee events and special broadcasts.
Part of the newly acquired inventory previously belonged to ESPN’s Monday Night Football package, with additional rights distributed between NBC and FOX.
NFL executives have increasingly defended streaming distribution as comparable to — and in some cases larger than — traditional television reach. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell recently stated that Netflix’s distribution scale could surpass some broadcast networks.