Netflix is on notice. More importantly, the NFL is, too.
With four weeks and six days to go until Netflix hosts a pair of NFL games on Christmas day, the streaming giant knows that Friday night’s fight between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson was a gigantic mess. The NFL knows it, too.
And while the NFL is saying all the right things (what else would they do?), here’s hoping the powers-that-be are preparing an emergency option in the event the Netflix streams ends up (technical term) shitting the bed on December 25.
The answer seems obvious. CBS is producing both games for Netflix. So if the Netflix stream ends up sputtering or buffering or otherwise not looking and working like it should, how hard would it be to flip a switch and divert the CBS production to CBS affiliates?
Frankly, we all should expect it — if not demand it. This isn’t the time to experiment. It isn’t the time to settle for an experience less than the one we’re all used to.
If the goal on Christmas was to stream the games, the games could have been sold to Amazon, which already has the infrastructure in place. Instead, the NFL wanted to create a seat at the table for a partner that is 0-for-1 when it comes to successfully streaming high-profile sporting events.
Really, how hard can it be to have CBS on standby? If Netflix is overloaded, send the signal to CBS and give the domestic audience an option. As the Netflix audience shrinks, the Netflix experience potentially improves.
So, as Netflix spends its time preparing to shore up its ability to deliver Chiefs-Steelers and Ravens-Texans, the NFL should install a kill switch. A dump button. A break-glass-in-event-of-emergency alarm.
If Netflix can’t deliver an acceptable NFL experience, the NFL needs to insist — on the fly — that the usual NFL experience will be delivered by CBS.
