The NFL’s expansion to Australia paid off handsomely for Netflix, with the Rams-49ers matchup bringing in an average of 18.5 million viewers in the U.S. and 21.7 million globally, according to viewership data from the streamer and Nielsen.
The game, which kicked off on Thursday, Sept. 10 in the U.S. and Sept. 11 in Australia, ranks among the top three most-streamed Thursday primetime NFL matchups.
Viewership in the U.S. peaked at 21.3 million viewers between 9:30 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. ET. In the 18 to 34 year old demo, the game averaged 4 million viewers, the highest non-Christmas streaming delivery for an NFL regular-season game.
Netflix now holds the top four highest-rated regular-season streamed NFL games among 18 to 13 year olds, including Christmas.
For comparison, Netflix’s Christmas Gameday saw its presentation of the Detroit Lions vs the Minnesota Vikings become the most-streamed game in U.S. history at the time with 27.5 million viewers in the U.S. The Christmas day game between the Dallas Cowboys vs the Washington Commanders averaged 19.9 million U.S. viewers.
On social, meanwhile, the 49ers vs. Rams generated over 340 million social impressions and 14.5 million engagements across Netflix and NFL social channels.
The rival West coast teams played on Melbourne Cricket Ground, and the San Francisco 49ers emerged as victorious as they scored 27-7 against the Los Angeles Rams. The game marked the NFL’s first-ever regular season game in Australia, a notable step as league aims to expand across the globe.
The next NFL game Netflix is set to stream is the Thanksgiving Eve matchup between the Green Bay Packers and Los Angeles Rams. The stream will continue its Christmas gameday tradition with a doubleheader: the Green Bay Packers vs. Chicago Bears and Buffalo Bills vs. Denver Broncos.
The streamer will also host a Week 18 matchup on Jan. 9 and the annual NFL Honors awards show during Super Bowl week.
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