By Gavin Boyle
Concerted efforts across the NFL have pushed the league’s popularity to new heights, even as media continues to get sectored off into niche audience categories.
“We’ve never had a bigger fan base,” said Tim Ellis, the executive VP and chief marketing officer for the NFL. “The strategy was to get helmets off the players and humanize them, to lean in their passions and showcase our players as the face of the league.”
This strategy has also led to numerous behind the scene shows such as Netflix’s QUARTERBACK, which followed Patrick Mahomes, Kirk Cousins, Joe Burrow and Jared Goff, among others, and RECEIVER, which followed Justin Jefferson, Davante Adams, George Kittle and more.
“We were thrilled last summer to see audiences all over the world diving into the lives of NFL quarterbacks,” NFL Films supervising producer Joe Zucco said when RECEIVER was announced in 2024. “We believe the extraordinary skills, dedication and passion of the NFL’s great wide receivers — and one tight end — will make a perfect follow-up.”
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Americans’ interest in football as become so strong that it encouraged Netflix to go shopping for game slots and adding the three Christmas Day games to its library. Last Christmas was the most-streamed day ever with 55+ billion viewing minutes, led by these games, per Nielsen.
Through these efforts, the NFL fanbase has grown from the traditional young male audience to include Americans of all ages, genders and interests.
“We’re seeing a very multigenerational audience for football, which is always so important for long-term success. More women are coming in than ever before,” said Jennifer Storms, chief marketing officer for NBCUniversal Television and Streaming.
“Women already make up roughly half of NFL viewership, and that share is growing fastest among younger viewers,” added Elle Duncan, a former ESPN anchor who joined Netflix in December as its first staff sportscaster. “The opportunity now is to stop treating women as a new audience and start treating them as a core one with smarter storytelling, lifestyle-forward partnerships and more visibility for women across the sport.”
This increased interest in football makes it unique in the entertainment world as as the advent of streaming and social media content has fractured viewers on average, largely bringing audience numbers down on specific programming.
The NFL, however, has only continued to grow its viewership numbers in the age of streaming, and in 2025, that was primarily attributed to the sport becoming available through streaming platforms. While the league has been a part of YouTube TV through Sunday Ticket for several years now, many of the games this season were also available through non-cable streaming options such as Prime Video, Peacock and ESPN+.
Live sports remain the most popular draw for the TV industry, and the NFL continues to serve as the golden child of this trend. As football’s audience continues to grow, it will only become more lucrative for advertisers as even people of all ages come together weekly to enjoy the games.
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