What Paul–Tyson Stream Issues Mean for Netflix’s NFL Games

“The big question remains: Can they get it right on the third time?” Proulx said.

What advertisers are thinking

Netflix’s NFL Christmas game ad inventory is sold out, and media buyers with clients advertising in the games aren’t balking—but the streamer’s past track record isn’t being ignored.

“I do think now there’s enough of a track record that we definitely do need reassurances,” a buyer at a major holding company with clients in the game told ADWEEK on the condition of anonymity. “I have no doubt that they are doing everything they can and making whatever investments are needed between now and December 25 to get it ready.”

Another media buyer with clients in the game said Netflix had been in contact following the streaming issues, saying the unprecedented audience was behind the glitches.

“They’re all optimistic that they’ll have the resources ready to go for that, and there won’t be any glitches at all in the grand scheme of things,” the second buyer said. “So we’ll see how that ends up going, but you can be sure that there’s a lot of pressure coming down on them for that not to happen again.”

Netflix did not have a comment.

Ultimately, ADWEEK spoke with three media buyers on the condition of anonymity who had clients in the game, and all of them were confident the NFL streams wouldn’t have issues on game day. Among the reasons, they pointed to Netflix going into those games with a production partner in CBS, NFL viewership being more predictable than a boxing match, and Netflix guaranteeing viewership and bringing on Nielsen for measurement.

Though Netflix said the Paul–Tyson fight received around 108 million viewers, ADWEEK previously learned that Netflix was estimating a significantly lower audience of around 23 million for the NFL games.

Of course, viewers’ thoughts are another issue. According to a recent survey of 3,000 NFL fans from Casino.org, 71% don’t consider Netflix a reliable platform for live sports streaming.

Still, there’s reason for optimism.