Netflix's 49ers-Rams broadcast draws 18.5M U.S. viewers
The 49ers-Rams game from Melbourne, Australia in Week 1 of the 2026 NFL season averaged 18.5 million U.S. viewers on Netflix, matching YouTube's domestic audience for the Chiefs-Chargers game played in Brazil in Week 1 of the 2025 season. Netflix's broadcast drew 3.2 million international viewers across more than 200 countries and territories.
The 49ers-Rams game from Melbourne, Australia in Week 1 of the 2026 NFL season averaged 18.5 million viewers in the U.S. on Netflix Thursday, according to Front Office Sports. The broadcast drew 3.2 million viewers internationally across more than 200 countries and territories. The domestic viewership figure matches the Chiefs-Chargers game on YouTube in Week 1 of the 2025 season, which also averaged 18.5 million U.S. viewers. YouTube's Brazil game drew 1.2 million international viewers, per the reporting. The two broadcasts differed in measurement approach and scheduling. Netflix used Nielsen audience measurement while YouTube employed a custom, revised methodology. The 49ers-Rams game aired Thursday; the Chiefs-Chargers Brazil game played Friday in 2025. The Netflix broadcast is the first of the network's newly expanded five-game package in the 2026 season. Netflix's next broadcast will be the NFL's first-ever Thanksgiving Eve game between the Rams and Packers. The network will also air another Christmas doubleheader and a Week 18 game with playoff implications. Netflix's Christmas Day doubleheader last year averaged 23.7 million viewers in the U.S., per Front Office Sports, setting a higher benchmark for the network's regular-season broadcasts. The Week 1 Patriots-Seahawks kickoff game on NBC saw an 11 percent viewership decline compared to the prior year, according to the reporting.
Netflix's Thursday broadcast from Australia reached 18.5 million U.S. viewers, equaling YouTube's Brazil game from a year earlier despite different measurement methodologies.
The Australia broadcast matched YouTube's domestic reach one year later but fell short of Netflix's own Christmas performance, suggesting international Thursday slots have ceiling constraints. The network's three remaining primary broadcasts this season will determine whether the streaming model sustains or grows its audience relative to traditional kickoff-game declines.
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Single-source report. As published, only frontofficesports.com had reported this development. No independent outlet had corroborated it.
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