Here’s why the NFL is pushing more games to streaming
Here’s why the NFL is pushing more games to streaming
New data on the effectiveness of streaming ads during NFL games shows why the league is so eager to partner with streamers.
When the NFL released its 2025 schedule in May, I immediately spotted that the schedule looked optimized for streaming. The league has more streaming partners than ever nowadays, with Netflix, Peacock, and Prime Video on the roster, just to name a few. Viewers who are hoping the NFL will slow down on team-ups with new streaming services will likely be disappointed, especially in light of new data from AdWeek. The outlet reports that the NFL saw streaming ads surge in effectiveness in 2024, outpacing the effectiveness of ads of games broadcast on linear TV by a wide margin.
Key Details:
- Impressive gap: Ads on streaming-exclusive NFL games were 66% more effective last year than ads on linear games.
- Shopping season: Commercials during Prime Video’s Black Friday game were 51% more effective than Thanksgiving games.
- Streaming expansion: The NFL will offer a game to stream free on YouTube this season, in addition to other streaming contests.
AdWeek’s data comes from the third annual NFL TV Outcomes report, published by EDO. The results show that every NFL game has a clear advantage over non-NFL programming when it comes to ad effectiveness; the 550 brand advertisers partnered with the NFL in 2024 would have had to run 23 ads on TV to have the same impact as just one NFL ad last year.
But the data also clearly shows that streaming ads on NFL games are punching even further above their weight. Ads on streaming-exclusive NFL games were 66% more effective for brands than games on either broadcast or cable, the numbers from EDO show.
Prime Video was a heavy-hitter in this regard. Its Black Friday game in 2024 saw ads that were 51% more effective than those that ran during the traditional NFL Thanksgiving contests. Netflix’s first-ever Christmas Day games were also a hit; entertainment brand ads were 84% more effective than linear broadcasts, and pharmaceutical ads were 70% more effective.
Effectiveness of ads climbs even higher during the playoffs. Postseason NFL ads are 68% more effective than the average TV commercial, and that could mean more streamers making dramatic bids for playoff rights in the future. As things stand in 2025, streaming-exclusive NFL games will appear on YouTube, Prime Video, Peacock, and Netflix, as well as ESPN+, which now lives inside the broader ESPN streaming offering as ESPN Select.
“The NFL is so important to the TV ecosystem overall that it is, on average, more effective than all other types of advertising on TV,” CEO of EDO Kevin Krim said. “The big push for the NFL has been to add streaming exclusives as a way to keep up with the evolution of where the audiences are going, which is to a streaming-first ecosystem.”
Effective ads bring in more revenue for the NFL, and that points to the conclusion that those hoping for fewer streaming-only NFL games in the future are likely to be disappointed. The NFL can opt out of current broadcast deals after the 2029 season, and is widely expected to do so. When it does, it would hardly be a surprise to see a big package of games end up on a streaming service.
Prime Video
Prime Video is a subscription video streaming service that includes on-demand access to 10,000+ movies, TV shows, and Prime Originals like “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” “Jack Ryan,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “The Boys,” and more. Subscribers can also add third-party services like Max, Showtime, STARZ, and dozens more with Prime Video Channels. Prime Video also offers exclusive live access to NFL Thursday Night Football.