Viewers blasted Netflix after its Christmas NFL streams lagged and dropped to low resolution, reviving doubts about the platform’s ability to handle live sports

Netflix’s second year of exclusive NFL Christmas coverage quickly turned into a frustration point for many viewers, as fans across social media reported persistent streaming problems during the Dallas Cowboys–Washington Commanders matchup.

Instead of enjoying one of the league’s showcase holiday broadcasts, many said they were battling pixelated visuals, lag, and sudden drops in video quality, issues that revived lingering concerns about Netflix’s ability to handle live sports at scale.

After viewers already slammed a shirtless cameo in the pregame show, more complaints surfaced early in the game and continued throughout the broadcast. One viewer wrote, “Netflix streaming of the Dallas/Washington game is in very poor resolution. Constantly goes to low resolution probably because they can’t handle the bandwidth. Wish it was on another channel!”

Others reported delays between on-screen graphics and the live feed, adding to the frustration during key plays and replays.

Several fans directly tagged both the league and the streaming platform while venting about the viewing experience. “@nfl @netflix game quality sucks. We’re getting warm announcements before the live video we’re getting,” one user posted.

Another wrote, “@netflix how in the year 2025 is your live stream picture quality so bad? NFL, quit letting Netflix do live games.”

The backlash comes despite the league previously seeking assurances from Netflix that earlier technical failures would not be repeated during this year’s slate.

After the Mike Tyson–Jake Paul boxing event in 2024 was marred by widespread streaming problems, NFL officials met with Netflix executives to review what went wrong and evaluate the risk of similar issues occurring during football broadcasts.

At the time, the company explained that the fight had reached more than 60 million homes worldwide and that the unprecedented scale contributed to the instability, while insisting lessons had been learned heading into future live-sports productions.

That conversation helped clear the way for the league’s expanding partnership with the streamer, which paid roughly $150 million to secure the rights to its Christmas Day games.

The agreement positioned Netflix as the exclusive global broadcaster for the holiday schedule as part of the NFL’s broader strategy to reach international audiences.

The league and the platform both hoped the second year of the deal would showcase improved reliability and production quality after a generally successful debut in 2024.

Instead, the reaction this year highlighted how risky it can be when big games are locked behind a streaming-only service. For fans without cable or a traditional TV option, Netflix was the only way to watch the Commanders–Cowboys game, so when the picture quality dipped or the feed stalled, there was nowhere else to turn.