For years, Netflix took the position that it wouldn’t spend huge amounts on live sports unless it could be safely assured of a great return on investment. The streaming service is doing everything it can to ensure a huge return on its deal to air two Christmas Day NFL games starting in 2024, as the world’s largest streamer has secured Queen Bey for a hometown halftime performance during one of this year’s contests.

Key Details:

• Beyoncé will perform at the halftime show of the Baltimore Ravens vs. Houston Texans game on Christmas.
• Netflix has not announced a halftime performer for its other Christmas NFL contest.
• The show will be another chance for Netflix to boost its reputation as a live content streamer.

Beyoncé, a Houston native, will be the headlining performer of the halftime show for the game between the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans. The game will take place on Dec. 25 at 4:30 p.m. ET and will be exclusively available to watch on Netflix outside the home markets of those two teams.

That will be Netflix’s second exclusive game of the day after the Kansas City Chiefs take on the Pittsburgh Steelers at 1 p.m. ET. Netflix struck a deal with the league to become the national partner for these games in 2024, 2025, and 2026, becoming an NFL broadcaster for the first time. There has been no announcement of a halftime performer for the first game of the day as yet.

This is hardly the first time that Beyoncé has been thrust into the spotlight for a big NFL game. She joined fellow Destiny’s Child stars Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams at 2013’s Super Bowl XLVII, and accompanied Coldplay and Bruno Mars at 2016’s Super Bowl 50 halftime show. She’ll bring some collaborators from the “Cowboy Carter” album to this year’s performance, but Netflix is keeping those details mostly under wraps.

The move to make these Christmas games as big of an event as possible is a good decision by both Netflix and the NFL. The league is continuing to experiment with streaming-exclusive games, and as much as fans complain about them, audiences continue to tune in. Bringing Beyoncé on board will undoubtedly help that trend continue, and it may allow Netflix to even improve on the 60 million viewers it says tuned into the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight on Nov. 15.

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