Another Netflix touchdown

Another Netflix touchdown

YouGov - January 17th, 2025

By Dr Sarah Melville

YouGov recently highlighted the success Netflix achieved by airing the Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul fight. The unique approach of streaming the event attracted 64 million viewers, despite some buffering issues, and generated over 1.06 trillion social media impressions on the night. This exposure proved lucrative for the event’s sponsors, with the six tracked brands receiving an average of £50 million NSV-X from just one hour of stream time. Our attention now turns to the next major live streaming event to take place on Netflix, the NFL on Christmas Day 2024.

Christmas Day NFL matches attracted an average of 33 million viewers per match, exceeding the previous year’s total by 15%

According to YouGov Behavioral data, across seven key markets (Australia, Canada, Germany, UK, Italy, Spain, and the US), 32.1 million people watched the Baltimore Ravens vs. Houston Texans NFL game, and 33.9 million tuned in to see the Kansas City Chiefs vs. Pittsburgh Steelers play. 6.8 million additional viewers have streamed the dedicated Beyoncé Bowl Netflix program. This viewership is higher than the global average of 28.7 million per game reported for the 2023 Christmas Day games.

The lion's share of the 2024 NFL Christmas Gameday Special audiences came from the USA, with 30.1 million watching the Chiefs vs. Steelers game and 28.6 million tuning in to the Ravens vs. Texans game.

The Beyoncé Bowl attracted a different audience to that of the NFL matches

German viewers followed a similar trend to the USA, with more viewers watching the Chiefs vs. Steelers game than the Ravens vs. Texans match. However, this trend was reversed in other markets, where the lure of the Beyoncé halftime show at the Texans’ NRG Stadium proving more significant in the UK, Canada, and Italy.

Focusing on UK audiences on Christmas day itself, it’s evident that there was a notable boost in the NFL program viewership figures related to the Beyoncé halftime show. Many UK based Netflix subscribers switched over after the ‘Gavin & Stacey Christmas Day Finale’ had aired, a favourite show of the nation that garnered 12.3 million viewers on the day, the highest since Christmas Day 2008.

Data sourced from BARB

Demographics data provided by BARB (Broadcasters Audience Research Board) indicates that Netflix viewers across the UK differed between the live NFL coverage (which included the halftime show) and the dedicated Beyoncé Bowl program that became available on the platform later. The NFL live coverage proved most popular with men (56% of viewers) and the 25-34 year old age group (25% of viewers), whereas the Beyoncé Bowl was viewed by a greater proportion of females (65% of viewers) and the 35-44 year old age bracket (36% of viewers).

The NFL games generated significantly more brand exposure for Netflix than the Jake Paul v Mike Tyson boxing match

As highlighted in YouGov’s previously shared Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson broadcast sponsorship analysis, the streaming of the live fight on the Netflix platform proved highly lucrative for the brand. Netflix enjoyed 18 minutes and 55 seconds of brand exposure per hour of coverage. The NFL program has further built on this success, generating over four times as much coverage opportunity and resulting in a higher total brand exposure of 19 minutes and 24 seconds per hour.

YouGov Sport’s new BIS-X methodology revealed that Netflix experienced a positive brand health score throughout the festive period, leading to a 12% increase in NFL associated Net Sponsorship Value across their 12 branded assets. From 4 hours and 31 minutes of coverage, including the Beyoncé halftime show, the Netflix brand appeared on screen for a collective total of 4 hours and 38 minutes, generating a Net Sponsorship Value of $33.6 million. Using YouGov’s unique BIS-X boost methodology, which calculates the intangible value attributed to a brand through positive sport fan association and adds it to the value achieved purely through on-screen exposure, this value increased to $37.6 million Net Sponsorship Value-X (NSV-X).

This impressive uplift, tracked within YouGov’s BrandIndex, suggests that Netflix has a strong net positive perception among sport fans across brand health metrics such as Buzz, Awareness, Satisfaction, and Quality. Notably, 63% of Netflix’s total brand exposure (and 58% of NSV-X) was attributed solely to the Scorebug asset, which appeared on screen for a total of 2 hours and 55 minutes across both matches. The prolonged presence of the Scorebug asset, coupled with the exclusivity of the Netflix brand when on screen, resulted in a high Brand Impact Score of 3.35 out of a possible 5.00.

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The Netflix Scorebug was the best-performing asset in terms of brand exposure, featuring on screen for 2 hours and 55 minutes.

Lucrative Microphone sponsorship once again

As seen in our analysis of the Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson fight, Netflix’s branding on the event microphone proved highly impactful. Although only visible for 35 minutes and 10 seconds, the Microphone generated Netflix $5.8 million in NSV-X, highlighting the importance of pre- and post-match interviews on brand impact.

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The Netflix Microphone was the second best-performing asset in terms of NSV-X, but the top performing by BIS, with a score of 4.79. High BIS was driven by the Microphone asset being held in a position central to the screen, coupled with the brand having on-screen exclusivity for 97% of the time.

Not only was the Netflix Microphone impactful in exposure duration, but it also packed a punch when on screen, achieving a Brand Impact Score of 4.79 out of 5.00. YouGov’s brand impact score assessment (calculated using YouGov Sport’s proprietary AI-driven image recognition software ‘Theia’) considers several factors, including the asset’s size, centrality on the screen, the number of iterations at any given moment, the duration of those moments, and whether it was the only brand on the screen at the time.

#NFLonNetflix

Netflix’s branding impact extended beyond the streaming platform, with over 376,000 posts on X.com mentioning the NFL matches on Christmas day globally, and more than 157,000 posts using the #NFLonNetflix hashtag. The brand’s presence in both text and shared imagery likely generated significant secondary media sponsorship value. Social media activity peaked during Beyoncé’s halftime show, further amplified by discussions about Lamar Jackson surpassing Michael Vick for the most rushing yards by a quarterback in NFL history.

Christmas day viewing was driven by NFL fandom and the availability of the matches on Netflix

YouGov surveyed 6,679 panelists across Germany, the UK, and the USA about their Christmas day viewing habits, specifically regarding NFL matches. The survey revealed that 12% of respondents watched the games, primarily due to a general interest in the NFL. This interest was the main motivator for 40% of US viewers, 36% of UK viewers, and 19% of German viewers. The halftime show was a less significant factor, with only 7% of US and UK viewers and 10% of German viewers citing it as a reason for watching.

Ease of access also played a role in the higher viewing audiences compared to previous years. A substantial 88% of UK viewers, 85% of German viewers, and 75% of US viewers indicated that they would not have tuned in if the NFL games were aired on a different pay-TV platform. With a generally positive view of live sports being accessible on streaming platforms, viewers in Germany, the UK, and the USA are hopeful that major events like the UEFA Champions League, the Super Bowl, Formula One, top-tier English football, and NBA All-Star games will eventually be available on platforms like Netflix. Our research has shown how lucrative live sport on streaming platforms can be for brands, and it seems those associated with WWE are the next to benefit, with the sport debuting on Netflix from January 2025.