How much higher would Christmas ratings have been on traditional networks?

The NFL and Netflix are taking a justified victory lap after their previous Christmas Day streaming doubleheader. First, the stream worked. Second, the NFL pocketed $150 million. Third, the NFL brought another major player to the table for the next round of broadcast negotiations.

However, it came with a cost. While 24.1 million watched Chiefs-Steelers and 24.3 million tuned in for Ravens-Texans, how big would the audience have been on a traditional network?

In 2023, 28.68 million viewers watched Raiders-Chiefs on CBS. Giants-Eagles drew 29.02 million on Fox. And the Ravens-49ers drew 27.61 million on ABC/ESPN.

Could the 2024 Christmas Games break 30 million? May be. For the league, though, it made more sense to come up with $150 million — and add another potential broadcast partner to the mix. It’s a multi-billion dollar game of musical chairs and it always helps the league to have a network more interested than the available packages.

With a European morning pack inevitable, someone will drop huge bucks on it. Current packages may be reshuffled. It will continue to be a mix of broadcast, cable and streaming.

And it will continue to mean a lot of money for the men and women who own NFL teams.