• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, October 25, 2024

Is there a love-hate relationship spinning a bit with the NFL ready to air two Christmas Day games on Netflix?

In a recent survey of 3,000 NFL fans, sports betting site Casino.org, which has a focus on data, says nearly 60% (59%) don’t like the idea of Netflix's holiday hit-and-tackle NFL content effort.

In addition, 76.5% say they won’t buy a Netflix subscription to see the games. Nearly 40% say the main reason is that “subscription prices are high.” And 36% of those respondents say they don’t have a Netflix subscription.

This is terrible news, right? Not really. When asked which preferred platform they will go to in order to watch those NFL Christmas Day Games, among 12 networks, streamers, and platforms, Netflix came in at third place with a 14.3% thumbs-up score. CBS scored the best result at 24.5%, and "cable" came in at 23.6%.

The last question of the survey -- which seemingly speaks to a clearer picture: Will you be watching Netflix on Christmas Day to see those games?

Nearly 57% said yes -- in effect: “Oh yeah. I’ll be watching.” Hmmm.. Alarm bells might now be ringing at appropriate Netflix destinations in regards to password sharing on that day.

Okay, so research and surveys aren’t always perfect science.  No doubt it’s a confusing and a frustrating time for many. Should we read between the lines?

Respondents also had complaints about streaming latency-broadband-related issues as they refer to live TV events -- especially sports content.

Early on, Amazon had a bit of these problems with “Thursday Night Football.” 

For some consumers, issues often are about easy access. (You might read that as “free” access).

But that is complicated, of course -- unless you get CBS via over the air, from a digital antenna, consumers still pay for things anyway related to watching live sports. 

You might need broadband, streaming, home WiFi, fiber cable, satellite, or whatever. (Still,"cable" was ranked second only to CBS.)

Casino.org says the average age of 3,000 respondents was 43.3 years -- and that breaks down to 63.7% male, 35.7% female; and 0.6% non-binary.

For its part, the NFL has been very careful to focus heavily on those live, linear TV networks that still contribute the lion’s share of TV rights revenue -- and which might be a easy preference for all viewers young and old.

Still, at just about $16 a month (for Netflix), how can modern TV consumers really complain versus that of the $80 or so a month prices for traditional cable TV network bundles people have been complaining about for decades?

Sure, pound for pound, Netflix doesn’t give consumers what all of traditional cable TV gives them.

But before anyone starts roughing on Netflix, remember where we have been for many decades: In our blue-sky consumer a la carte dreams, we wish to have a chance to buy exactly what we want. No packaging; no bundling.

Don’t be greedy. Be grateful -- even just a little bit.