The Kansas City Chiefs get to usher in a new era of NFL games on streaming services.
Netflix announced on Wednesday that it has agreed to a three-year streaming deal with the NFL that includes an upcoming exclusive doubleheader on Christmas Day, and at least one holiday game through the 2026 season. Kansas City gets to be one of the guinea pigs for this year's doubleheader, and it will mean a tough end-of-the-year schedule. They'll play on Christmas Day for the second consecutive year.
The Chiefs will head to Acrisure Stadium to face the Pittsburgh Steelers as part of the doubleheader on Christmas Day in Week 17 as first reported by Bleacher Report's Jordan Schultz.
Sources: The #Steelers will host the #Chiefs in Week 17 on Christmas Day — a game that will be exclusively on Netflix.🎄🏈 https://t.co/4wDHkurVBS pic.twitter.com/k2eH5tLldY
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) May 15, 2024
Chiefs get coal in their stocking with the latest NFL news
It's tough enough going on the road late in the season against a conference opponent, but to do so on extremely short rest is about the shortest stick you can draw if you're an NFL team in 2024. The Christmas Day game means that the Chiefs will likely play on Saturday in Week 16. That gives them just three days of rest before they play the Steelers in Week 17 on Christmas Day, which will fall on Wednesday, December 25.
On a good note, if the Chiefs somehow dominate their early season schedule and lock up the No. 1 seed before Week 17, they could potentially rest starters and have a massive rest advantage heading into the final week of the 2024 NFL season. Then you get into the argument of rest vs. rust and with over 20 days off, it might be a valid concern.
This deal isn't just bad for the players and the team, but this game will be exclusively streamed via Netflix. That means fans are going to have to fork out another $6.99 to watch the game on another streaming service. This is becoming the new norm in the NFL, so everyone better get used to it.
Overall, Kansas City has a 2-2 record on Christmas Day. Last year, they lost to the Las Vegas Raiders in front of their home crowd at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid, and others credit that loss as the spark that lit the fire to carry the team to Super Bowl LVIII. So maybe this game won't be all bad in the long run, no matter the potential outcome.
