Netflix’s first live NFL game from Australia produced an average US audience of 18.5 million viewers, according to Nielsen figures cited by the league. The Melbourne matchup between the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams matched the number YouTube generated for its Brazil game a year earlier, but it also extended a restrained start to the NFL regular season.
What the numbers show
The NFL put the global reach at 21.7 million viewers across Netflix’s footprint of more than 200 countries and territories. The non-US audience of 3.2 million was a clear improvement over the 1.2 million overseas viewers who tuned into YouTube’s Brazil stream.
- US average audience: 18.5 million, per Nielsen
- Global reach: 21.7 million across 200-plus territories
- Non-US audience: 3.2 million, up from 1.2 million for YouTube’s Brazil game
- Adults 18-34: 4 million, the highest for a streamed game outside Christmas
Context for a soft start
The league’s opening-night game on NBC and Peacock averaged 25.1 million viewers, down 11% from a year earlier. Part of that is scheduling and matchup noise. This season started on Wednesday rather than the usual Thursday, and last year’s opener featured Dallas against Philadelphia, a more compelling draw than this year’s Seattle-New England matchup.
Netflix’s Australia game also moved from Friday to Thursday this year, making direct comparisons with the YouTube game less clean. Even the Super Bowl rematch angle did not add much heat: Seattle’s one-sided victory last February is not fondly recalled by casual fans.
Why this matters for media buyers
The most important line is the 18-34 number. Netflix averaged 4 million viewers in that demo, the best for a streamed NFL game outside Christmas. For advertisers, that is the audience segment hardest to reach through traditional linear television and one of the main reasons live sports have become central to streaming ad pitches.
Netflix has used its Christmas Day NFL doubleheader as an advertising showcase since 2024. With Amazon holding exclusive Thursday night games since 2022, Netflix’s international NFL experiments are a test of whether the platform can create a regular live sports advertising moment outside the domestic US window. The jump in non-US viewers, from 1.2 million to 3.2 million, is a small but directional signal.
For planners, the split between US average audience and global reach is the framework to watch. A US media buy may look flat at 18.5 million, but a global sponsorship could point to 21.7 million total viewers and higher non-US sampling. If Netflix can keep lifting the international share, the value of an NFL global window becomes less dependent on the strength of the US matchup.
Ratings for Sunday’s main slate, including the Cowboys-Giants prime-time game, and Monday Night Football were not available at publication. Those results will determine whether the soft start is a schedule quirk or something broader. The NFL also reported 14.5 million social engagements across Netflix and NFL channels for the Australia game. For the NFL, global expansion remains a key theme; for Netflix, it is another live sports proof point.
Source: Deadline
