Is the king of streaming ready for some football?

For the first time, Netflix will host the NFL’s two biggest Christmas games: the Kansas City Chiefs vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers at 1:00 p.m. ET, followed by the Baltimore Ravens vs. the Houston Texans at 4:30 p.m. Beyoncé will headline the halftime show during the final game, with her first live performance of tracks from her country album “Cowboy Carter.”

The games are a crucial test for the streaming giant as it doubles down on its live events offering and aims to provide more than 280 million subscribers with real-time content that was once the exclusive domain of traditional television networks. But amid the hustle and bustle, the company is faced with the question of whether it will be able to stream these events without technical glitches.

The concerns were underscored during the much-hyped boxing match between retired pro Mike Tyson and social media personality Jake Paul. Netflix called the Nov. 15 fight the most-streamed sporting event of all time, peaking at 65 million concurrent streams. However, many viewers were frustrated by buffering issues during the live stream.

“Glitchy is a generous way to describe it,” said Patrick Crakes, a media consultant and former Fox Sports executive.

Likewise, the streamer’s “Love Is Blind” reunion special was delayed in April 2023 after one of the company’s top executives described a technical “bug” that was inadvertently introduced to improve the live broadcast after a Chris Rock’s stand-up comedy special had aired the previous month.

“We have not met the standard we expect of ourselves to serve our members,” Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters said on an earnings call last year.

Ahead of major NFL holiday games, Netflix said it had investigated issues with previous live events and made necessary adjustments. The optimizations include using third-party providers like Charter Communications and Comcast to provide additional capacity to Netflix, according to sources familiar with the matter. (Comcast owns NBCUniversal, the parent company of NBC News.)

The NFL’s media department, which has a three-year deal with Netflix to broadcast some games, is confident in the streaming platform’s breadth.

“I think the evolution of the medium is moving forward,” Brian Rolapp, the league’s chief media and business officer, told CNBC. “And I think they’re taking all the necessary steps to have a great Christmas Day.”

Netflix isn’t the only major streaming service making deeper inroads into high-profile events that were once carried on broadcast networks or cable channels.

Amazon Prime Video owns the exclusive streaming rights to the NFL’s “Thursday Night Football.” Disney+ simulcasts sporting events across its ESPN tile and Warner Bros.’ The Max app plays CNN newscasts and NBA games that were previously exclusively on TNT. Peacock, the platform owned and operated by NBCUniversal, attracted a significant audience this summer as the streaming home of the Paris Olympics.

Netflix has other high-profile live events on the calendar, including World Wrestling Entertainment’s weekly “Raw” shows streaming in less than two weeks. Then, in 2027 and 2031, Netflix will be home to the FIFA Women’s World Cup. Netflix has also shown interest in broadcasting live Hollywood awards shows; The 30th Screen Actors Guild Awards aired on the platform in late February.

“I think everyone needs to get used to finding their content on multiple different distribution platforms,” said Crakes, the former Fox Sports executive.