The Netflix ratings record was broken by the Lions-Vikings Christmas Day game

Netflix provided a historic moment for sports streaming on Christmas Day, breaking its own NFL viewership record with the Minnesota Vikings vs. Detroit Lions matchup. According to Nielsen, the live broadcast averaged 27.5 million viewers in the United States, making it the NFL’s most streamed game in US history, according to Variety.

The crowd was even bigger at key moments. The most-watched portion of the game topped 30 million viewers, while the halftime show, “Snoop’s Holiday Halftime Party,” averaged 29 million. These numbers reflect the average minute audience, highlighting how consistently viewers stayed locked in during the broadcast.

Netflix also aired the Dallas Cowboys vs. Washington Commanders game earlier in the day, which averaged 19.9 million viewers. That number still fell short of another NFL Christmas showcase, as Amazon Prime Video’s Denver Broncos vs. Kansas City Chiefs game averaged 21.1 million viewers and became Amazon’s most-watched Thursday night regular season show ever.

Netflix is ​​tightening its grip on NFL streaming dominance

This year’s Lions-Vikings audience eclipsed Netflix’s own Christmas NFL debut from last season, when its two games averaged 24.3 million and 24.1 million viewers. With this latest performance, Netflix now holds the top three spots for the most streamed NFL games in US history, further cementing its growing presence in live sports.

The influence spread far beyond the United States. Netflix reported that viewers in more than 200 countries and territories watched at least one of its NFL games. Worldwide, the Lions-Vikings matchup averaged 30.5 million viewers, while the Cowboys-Commanders drew 22.4 million worldwide.

The NFL’s success capped off a big Christmas for Netflix, which also released Volume 2 of the fifth and final season of Stranger Things. On December 25, the series ranked as Netflix’s most-watched title worldwide, reaching 34.5 million views during the week of December 22-28.

Entertainment also played a big role in the shows. Snoop Dogg hosted the Lions-Vikings halftime show alongside Lainey Wilson, while Martha Stewart opened the segment with a Snoop-themed holiday parody. CBS Sports produced both games, with NFL Media handling studio programming and EverWonder Studio executive producing the Netflix telecast.

For Netflix, Christmas confirmed what the numbers now make clear: NFL football has become one of its biggest wins in live events.