While we’ve known the Pittsburgh Steelers will play in the NFL’s first-ever game on Netflix, we now know the company who will produce it. According to the Wall Street Journal via Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, CBS Sports will be the company producing the Steelers Christmas Day game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
From PFT:
“According to Joe Flint of the Wall Street Journal (via Sports Business Daily), CBS Sports will produce the two games to be broadcast by the streaming powerhouse on December 25.
It’s a one-year deal. CBS will receive a production fee and promotional spots during the games, for its own programming.”
Reports earlier this offseason indicated Netflix was having some difficulty finding a partner to produce the game. Concerns stemmed over a quality product and successful showing would allow Netflix to expand its reach of games and take away from the other television partners like FOX, ABC, CBS, and NBC.
However, per the reporting, the agreement doesn’t include CBS’ on-air talent. Meaning, don’t expect Jim Nantz or Tony Romo to be on the call for this one. Instead, the production and directing team would be in charge of the broadcast, possibly led by director Mike Arnold. The broadcast wouldn’t feature CBS branding but it would be their team steering the ship.
Having a marquee company like CBS produce these games is a big win for Netflix. Reporting and speculation indicated Netflix would need to turn to an international or non-football sources like Endeavor Group Holdings’ IMG, the company that produces Major League Soccer games. That would come with additional risk of inexperience producing an NFL game and a bad broadcast could rob Netflix of future opportunities.
CBS will produce the Steelers-Chiefs game and the following matchup between the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans. Both games will take place on a Wednesday and to accommodate the messy schedule, all four teams will play on Saturday the previous week.
Those in local markets will be able to watch the game on television while those out-of-market will need a Netflix subscription to tune in. In recent years, the NFL has expanded its reach of online exclusive games, landing deals with Amazon to produce Thursday Night Football and NBC’s Peacock for a Wild Card Game.
