If you were planning on just flipping through the channels this Christmas to find some football, honestly, you're probably going to stare at a blank screen for a minute. The NFL has basically changed the rules of the game. Not the ones on the field, but the ones in your living room.
The nfl football schedule for christmas is no longer a "turn on the TV and find it" situation. It’s a streaming-first holiday now.
Last year, the league leaned into a massive three-year deal with Netflix, and it totally flipped the script. We aren't just talking about a random game; we are talking about a full-blown takeover of your internet bandwidth. If you don’t have a login ready, you’re basically benched while everyone else is watching CeeDee Lamb or Jared Goff go to work.
The 2025 Christmas Tripleheader Breakdowns
For 2025, the NFL gave us a Wednesday slate that felt like a mini-Super Bowl. Because Christmas fell on a Wednesday, the league had to do some scheduling gymnastics, playing games on a day they usually ignore.
Here is how the day actually looked:
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- 1:00 PM ET: Dallas Cowboys at Washington Commanders. This was the early "Netflix" special.
- 4:30 PM ET: Detroit Lions at Minnesota Vikings. Also on Netflix.
- 8:15 PM ET: Denver Broncos at Kansas City Chiefs. This one shifted over to Amazon Prime Video as part of the Thursday Night Football package (which was moved up a day).
It was wild. The Lions-Vikings game actually became the most-streamed NFL game in U.S. history, pulling in about 27.5 million viewers. Think about that. Nearly 30 million people were all hitting "play" on a streaming app at the same time.
Why Netflix Is the New Home of Christmas
The NFL is chasing the bag. Let's be real. Netflix reportedly paid about $150 million per year for these Christmas games.
They didn't just show the football, though. They turned it into an "event." We had Snoop Dogg doing a "Holiday Halftime Party" during the Lions-Vikings game that peaked at 30 million viewers. It’s less like a standard Sunday broadcast and more like a produced variety show that happens to have a football game in the middle of it.
For the purists who hate streaming, the league did throw a bone. If you lived in the local markets—say, Dallas or Minneapolis—the games were still available on local broadcast stations (usually CBS or FOX affiliates). But for the rest of the world? It was Netflix or nothing.
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Navigating the Tech: Don't Get Caught Buffering
If you're looking ahead to 2026, the deal stays the same. Netflix has one more year on this contract.
You’ve gotta be prepared. I’ve seen so many people try to sign up five minutes before kickoff, only to realize their smart TV needs an update or they forgot their password. It’s a mess.
- Check your subscription early. You don't need a special "sports" tier. Any standard Netflix plan gets you the games.
- Update the app. Do this on December 23rd. Seriously.
- Local fans: Keep your antenna handy. If you’re in the home city of the teams playing, you can skip the app and use the old-school airwaves.
The Weirdness of Wednesday Football
A lot of people asked: why play on a Wednesday?
Usually, the NFL avoids mid-week games like the plague because it messes with player recovery. But when the holiday falls on a Wednesday or Tuesday, the league has started "flexing" the schedule. To make it work in 2025, the teams playing on Christmas actually played their previous games on the Saturday before. This gave them a "short week" that still felt somewhat normal, similar to the turnaround for a typical Thursday night game.
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Hans Schroeder, the NFL’s VP of media distribution, basically said the league follows the fans. If fans are home on Christmas, the NFL wants to be there. Even if it means playing on a day that makes the coaches' heads spin.
What This Means for 2026 and Beyond
We know the NFL is on Netflix for Christmas 2026. After that? It’s anyone’s guess.
The success of the 2025 schedule—specifically the record-breaking numbers for the Lions and Vikings—means the "streaming experiment" is over. It’s no longer an experiment; it’s the blueprint.
Expect even more "produced" content. More halftime concerts. More integration with other shows. In 2025, Netflix even dropped Stranger Things 5 content alongside the games. It’s a total entertainment blitz.
If you’re a fan, the move is to embrace the apps. The days of the NFL being a "free" broadcast staple are slowly shrinking, especially for these high-value holiday windows.
Actionable Next Steps for Fans
- Audit your streaming: Check if you actually have active Netflix and Amazon Prime accounts.
- Hardware check: If your TV is older, consider a Roku or Fire Stick. They handle live streaming sports much better than most built-in "smart" TV apps which tend to lag.
- Schedule blocking: Keep an eye on the official schedule release in May 2026. The NFL usually drops the Christmas matchups a few days before the full calendar to build hype.
- Bandwidth: If the whole family is over, tell the kids to get off YouTube while the game is on. Live 4K streaming takes a massive bite out of your data.
The tradition has changed. It's not just about the turkey or the tree anymore; it's about making sure your Wi-Fi is strong enough to handle a divisional rivalry.