Topline

Netflix will broadcast two NFL games and an appearance from Beyoncé on Christmas Day, with a game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers followed by the Baltimore Ravens vs. Houston Texans fight between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul.

Important facts

When and where will the NFL Christmas games be broadcast?

The pregame show begins at 11 a.m. EST on Netflix, two hours before the Chiefs and Steelers kick off in Pittsburgh at 1 p.m. EST. The Ravens and Texans kick off in Houston at 4:30 p.m. EST. Games will be available to stream up to three hours after live streams end in the US and up to 24 hours after live streams end internationally.

Who prefers to win?

According to FanDuel, the Chiefs, who have the league’s best record at 14-1 this season, are 2.5-point favorites over the 10-5 Steelers. FanDuel has the 10-5 Ravens as 4.5-point favorites over the 9-6 Texans.

When will Beyoncé and Mariah Carey perform – and what will they sing?

Beyoncé will take the stage at halftime of the second game on Christmas Day, which begins at 4:30 p.m. EST. Although her exact setlist is unknown, Netflix said Beyoncé will perform songs from her latest album, “Cowboy Carter,” along with unknown special guests featured on the album. Featured artists on “Cowboy Carter” include Post Malone, Miley Cyrus, Shaboozey, Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton. However, it is unclear who will join Beyoncé on stage. The length of her performance is also unknown, although her publicist Yvette Noel-Schure dismissed rumors that her performance would last 20 minutes. Carey will perform “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” her blockbuster holiday hit, which will air before the first game begins at 1 p.m. EST, although Netflix hasn’t given an exact time.

Important background

In recent years, Netflix has tried to break into live programming – and with difficulty. Last year, Netflix ventured into livestreaming for the first time with a Chris Rock comedy special, but soon flirted with disaster when a planned “Love is Blind” reunion special crashed and ended up airing hours after it was scheduled to air. Last month, Netflix broke into the live sports streaming space when it aired the Tyson vs. Paul fight, which attracted more than 60 million viewers – but the stream was marred by glitches, buffering and freezing issues, frustrating users and sparked a firestorm on social media over concerns that Netflix could handle streaming NFL Christmas games. Netflix has said it will be able to handle the games, saying it has adjusted its “content delivery, encoding and streaming protocols accordingly” following the live stream of the Tyson-Paul fight.

Main critic

Several NFL players and commentators have criticized the unprecedented number of games on Wednesday, Christmas Day – a weekday that has only seen a handful of games in the league’s history. Chiefs stars Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce said the Christmas Day games complicate the Chiefs’ schedule as the team has to play three games in 11 days. “You never want to play so many games in such a short time. It’s just not good for your body,” Mahomes told ESPN. Kelce said on his “New Heights” podcast that he was “excited” about the Christmas game but his “body wasn’t that excited,” adding that it felt like a “challenge” of the NFL to have so many games so quickly to play. Chris Russo, a sports radio broadcaster who works for ESPN and hosts “Mad Dog Sports Radio,” criticized the NFL and Netflix on his radio show. “Who the hell can watch an NFL game at 1 p.m. on Christmas Day? I can’t do that,” Russo said, calling it “ridiculous” because people will likely be spending time with their families over the holidays. Sports podcast host and former ESPN journalist Bomani Jones criticized the NFL for introducing Christmas games in recent years, saying it could affect the NBA’s tradition of holding games on Christmas Day. “What do you do at Christmas? “In a lot of America, we do that and watch basketball,” Jones said, comparing it to watching football on Thanksgiving.

tangent

Beyoncé’s appearance comes weeks after her husband Jay-Z was named alongside Sean “Diddy” Combs in a lawsuit in which an unnamed Alabama woman said the two men sexually assaulted her in 2000 when she was a minor. sexually assaulted after party at Video Music Awards. The NFL said its relationship with Jay-Z, the league’s live music entertainment strategist, will not change as a result of the lawsuit. Jay-Z’s entertainment company Roc Nation is not listed by Netflix as one of the producers of Beyoncé’s upcoming halftime show; Instead, Beyoncé’s company Parkwood Entertainment is listed as a producer alongside Jesse Collins Entertainment.

Further reading

Netflix dreams of a trouble-free Christmas with two important NFL games (NPR)

How Netflix took over live TV — and prepared to take on the NFL (The Verge)

Beyoncé’s NFL halftime show is available to rewatch on Netflix – but only for a few hours (Variety)