Netflix is airing 2 NFL games on Christmas Day. Here's what to know

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Netflix is airing 2 NFL games on Christmas Day. Here's what to know

2024-12-23 23:48 Last Updated At：23:50

Netflix will have one of its biggest days Wednesday since the site launched in 1998 when it airs two NFL games for the first time.

“NFL Christmas Gameday on Netflix” begins with a two-hour pregame show at 11 a.m., before Pittsburgh hosts Kansas City. Baltimore faces Houston in the second game.

The streaming giant agreed to a three-year contract in May to carry Christmas Day games.

Netflix’s 282.3 million subscribers in over 190 countries will be able to stream the games, marking the first time one outlet has distributed an NFL game globally. Netflix will have the games available in five languages — English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and German.

The games will also air on CBS affiliates in Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Houston. NFL policy dictates that games on cable or being exclusively streamed must also be on an over-the-air station in the competing teams’ markets. It will also be available on mobile devices in the U.S. for those who have NFL+.

The biggest reason is money. The league is getting $150 million from Netflix for the two games this season. It also continues the NFL’s moves into streaming — Thursday night games are in their third season on Amazon Prime Video and the “Sunday Ticket” package moved to YouTube TV last year.

That’s true, but the league wasn’t about to give up Christmas after seeing the ratings. Last year’s three games averaged 28.68 million viewers. The early afternoon contest between the Las Vegas Raiders and Chiefs led the way, averaging 29.48 million.

The Chiefs, Steelers, Ravens and Texans played on Saturday, giving them the same turnaround they would have if they played on Sunday and then Thursday.

All four have clinched playoff spots in the AFC, but seeding remains up for grabs.

Kansas City (14-1) can clinch the top seed — which would mean a first-round bye and home field throughout the playoffs — with a win over the Steelers. Pittsburgh and Baltimore are tied atop the AFC North at 10-5, with the Steelers holding the tiebreaker due to a better conference record.

Houston (9-6) has wrapped up the AFC South and holds the fourth seed.

Netflix hopes so. Brandon Riegg, Netflix’s vice president of nonfiction series and sports, said the system was stress tested, and then some, during the Nov. 14 bout, along with internet service providers reporting they were also overwhelmed by the surge that occurred before and during the fight.

The bout peaked at 65 million concurrent streams, including 38 million concurrent streams in the United States. According to the website Down Detector, nearly 85,000 viewers logged problems with outages or streaming leading up to and during the fight.

Possible? Yes. Likely? No.

The largest audience for a streamed-exclusive NFL game was 23 million on Peacock for last season’s AFC wild-card game between the Miami Dolphins and Chiefs.

Nielsen will measure the ratings for the Christmas Day games, with early numbers expected late afternoon on Thursday.

It will probably beat kickoff for both games, but especially around 5:45 p.m. EST. That would be near halftime of the Ravens-Texans game, and when Beyoncé will be performing.

Mariah Carey will kick off the day with a taped performance of “All I Want for Christmas is You.”

There is no word if Taylor Swift will make the trip to Pittsburgh to watch her boyfriend, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. Swift has been spending time in Kansas City since she wrapped up her Eras Tour two weeks ago.

The NFL will have at least two games on Dec. 25 in 2025 and ’26, with Netflix slated to have at least one each year. Amazon Prime Video will have a night game with Christmas on a Thursday next year.

Netflix’s worldwide partnership with World Wrestling Entertainment will begin on Jan. 6 when “Monday Night Raw” moves to the streaming service.

On Friday, Netflix secured the U.S. rights for the 2027 and 2031 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

House Ethics Committee accuses Gaetz of 'regularly' paying for sex with women, including minor

2024-12-23 23:47 Last Updated At：23:50

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Ethics Committee on Monday accused Matt Gaetz of “regularly” paying women, including a 17-year-old girl, for sex and purchasing and using illicit drugs all while the Florida Republican was a member of Congress.

The 37-page report by the bipartisan panel includes explicit details of sex-filled parties and vacations that Gaetz, now 42, took part in while representing Florida's western panhandle. The findings conclude that he violated multiple state laws related to sexual misconduct while in office.

“The Committee determined there is substantial evidence that Representative Gaetz violated House Rules and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, impermissible gifts, special favors or privileges, and obstruction of Congress,” the report states.

The report brings to a close a nearly five-year investigation into Gaetz. Its release comes after at least one Republican joined all five Democrats on the panel earlier this month in a secret vote to release the report about their former colleague despite initial opposition from GOP lawmakers, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, to publishing findings about a former member of Congress.

While ethics reports have previously been released after a member’s resignation, it is extremely rare. Gaetz has repeatedly denied all wrongdoing, saying last week that he would have “no opportunity to debate or rebut” the findings as a former member of the House.

On Monday, Gaetz filed a lawsuit seeking to block the report’s release, saying it contains “untruthful and defamatory information” that would “significantly damage” his “standing and reputation in the community.” Gaetz’s complaint argues he’s no longer under the committee’s jurisdiction since he resigned from Congress.

“The Committee’s position that it may nonetheless publish potentially defamatory findings about a private citizen over whom it claims no jurisdiction represents an unprecedented expansion of Congressional power that threatens fundamental constitutional rights and established procedural protections,” Gaetz’s lawyers wrote in their request for a temporary restraining order.

The often secretive, bipartisan panel has investigated claims against Gaetz since 2021. However, its work became more urgent last month when President-elect Donald Trump picked Gaetz as his attorney general nominee. Gaetz resigned from Congress that same day, putting him outside the purview of the Ethics Committee's jurisdiction.

But Democrats had pressed to make the report public even after Gaetz was no longer a member and had withdrawn as Trump’s pick to lead the Justice Department. A vote on the House floor this month to force the report’s release failed; all but one Republican voted against it.