One of the great holiday traditions in the entertainment world is the Christmas variety show. This year Netflix is ​​bringing it back.

Not thanks to Sabrina Carpenter’s singing Last Christmas with Chappell Roan, but by putting together a unique broadcast for the NFL with a global audience in mind.

Only in the last few months did Netflix finally make its long-awaited entry into the live sports universe. OG’s global entertainment streaming platform will soon be home to WWE Monday Night Raw and in a few years the Women’s World Cup. But in the realm of live sports, there’s the NFL and then there’s everything else.

When it came time for the NFL to make a bold move and step onto the NBA’s turf on Christmas Day, it was equally bold to partner with Netflix, even if it meant reshaping the entire schedule around an incredibly rare doubleheader on Wednesday adapt around for the shipments.

The groundbreaking NFL-Netflix Christmas Day deal is a huge investment for both sides. For Netflix, it is a major player in the live sports world. For the NFL, this means a partnership with a global streaming giant that can continue its efforts to conquer the world.

With this being a turning point in the evolution of both the NFL and Netflix, both parties have one goal in mind: making it the biggest holiday celebration possible. What better way to do that than to have over 20 people for a big NFL variety show with everyone from Nate Bargatze to Beyoncé to the McCourty twins to the Eagles? (Not the band, Noah and Ian.)

Kay Adams has been synonymous with the NFL for years, initially with NFL Network and Good morning football and now with FanDuel’s Up and Adams. On Christmas Day, she will host the event from Los Angeles alongside an all-star cast including Drew Brees, Manti Te’o, Mina Kimes and Robert Griffin III. And working with so many new people from across the football universe for the first time will make the showcase event even more special.

“It’s going to be like a holiday party,” Adams told Awful Anniving this week. “There are a lot of similarities, family things. JJ Watt calls his brother’s game, the McCourty brothers will be based together in Pittsburgh, which I love. I couldn’t love her more. Nate Burleson, we have one Good morning football Connection. Then when you get to LA, where we’re anchored, Mina Kimes and I have never had to work together before. We’ve only been on camera together once before and that was last week on Up and Adams on my show.”

Adams is particularly excited to be working on-air for the first time with ESPN’s Kimes, who she highlighted as the person she was most looking forward to sharing the set with on Christmas Day.

“I can’t wait to share a set with her at Christmas and take notes, learn and, through osmosis, absorb her genius,” she said.

Adams is confident that the excitement of engaging with people across all of the league’s various platforms, which is like an NFL version of The Avengers coming together from all corners of the televised football world, will resonate with fans at home.

“It’s a holiday party where you kind of know Alice, who works in accounting, but you never actually get to hang out with Alice, I hope it feels like that,” she said. “We are looking for a cozy, warm atmosphere. And the global aspect is amazing: almost 200 countries can play the sport you and I are obsessed with.”

Longtime NFL Network host and reporter Steve Wyche will be on the sideline with Jamie Erdahl at the Houston Texans-Baltimore Ravens game. Although both work for NFL Network, this is the first time they have shared the same airwaves. The same goes for Noah Eagle and Greg Olsen, who Wyche mentored during his time in the league.

“For Netflix, it’s really a chance to create something historic when it gets this big and big. And the fact that I have a small footprint is, believe me, not a given,” said Wyche.

“Although many of us work for different networks, we are friends,” he added. “I am friends with Mina Kimes, for whom I have the greatest admiration. I think it’s one of the greatest things to happen to sports broadcasting. To even be on a concert ticket, so to speak, with her and JJ Watt and Nate Burleson and Kay Adams, it’s so big and just so cool.”

Noah’s father Ian will join JJ Watt and Nate Burleson in officiating the first game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Kansas City Chiefs, with Melanie Collins and Stacey Dales on the sidelines. Laura Rutledge and Devin and Jason McCourty will also report live there. And did we mention Nate Bargatze as special guest and Bert Kreischer as Tailgate correspondent? And a Mariah Carey intro? And that live performance by Beyoncé? All that’s missing is a spontaneous duet with Chiefs fan Taylor Swift and Beyoncé in Houston.

One of the reasons the NFL and Netflix are doing their best is because this show goes beyond the traditional American holiday experience on Christmas Day. The streamer’s global platform is in line with the NFL’s push into new markets around the world, as we saw earlier this year when the first game took place in Brazil alongside games in England and Germany. This fact is not lost on the broadcast participants and why these games are becoming increasingly important.

“I like being a part of building things,” Adams noted. “It’s not the first time I’ve worked with Netflix. It is a very forward-thinking and forward-thinking process. I couldn’t love it more. I’m a kid on Christmas morning Wednesday when it comes to ambition and mentality. Let’s casually include Beyoncé at halftime. You know what? Mariah Carey sounds like we should. It feels right. As you can see, the list drops 22 people, all equally involved in this collaborative effort to bring the best that the NFL and Netflix can bring to Christmas.

“Of course there is a responsibility, but I would speak more of a thrill, a thrill of connecting people to the game at Christmas. I have family in Poland who can watch!”

The NFL is undoubtedly the top sports and entertainment venue in the country, dominating the most-watched events on television year after year. However, as the league continues to expand globally, there may be no cap on the league’s global ambitions. Even a game in Australia was mentioned as a possibility. With a unified global platform, the league’s possibilities in the coming years may be limitless.

“The NFL is the most popular television experience for the American public,” Wyche said. “Now that the NFL is committed to its global expansion and is now doing so on Christmas Day in a fully global context, it matters. In terms of transmission, it’s very historic because we just don’t see anything on a global scale due to the different time zones. The fact that Netflix came in and said, “Look, we’re the big streaming arm with all these global subscribers, let’s go after this.”

“I played several games in London. 15 years ago they taught the sport, today it is part of their job. The fans over there are craving it. I think while the NFL is trying to establish a global presence, it might not work in every place like it did in London, I just don’t know. But the fact that they are trying will bode well for them. The NFL didn’t miss much. Since this game is a prime example and Netflix is ​​such an outstanding vehicle to make this happen, I think it will be a resounding success.”

After a weekend in which ESPN was criticized for focusing on the negative in the College Football Playoff, getting dragged into new resume litigation and lamenting the teams involved, expect a much different mood when it’s about Netflix’s coverage of the NFL on Christmas Day. This will be an all-day football festival with holiday spirit.

Of course, if Beyoncé performed at your Christmas party, it could brighten your Christmas spirit too.