J.J. Watt Will Announce Steelers-Chiefs Christmas Day Game
J.J. Watt will be a color analyst for the Steelers-Chiefs Christmas Day game on Netflix, Andrew Marchand of The Athletic reports. The theme for the Christmas Day double-header is family-oriented, as J.J. will not only broadcast his brother T.J.’s game, but the father-son duo of Ian and Noah Eagle will be the play-by-play announcers for both games.
Ian will call the early game between the Steelers and Chiefs, while his son, Noah, will call the late game between the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans.
Watt and Nate Burleson will be in the booth with Ian Eagle. All three work for CBS Sports, but will be paid by Netflix for the game. Eagle calls games with CBS’ No. 2 NFL broadcast team, while Burleson and Watt are studio analysts for the network’s “NFL Today” show.
Noah Eagle works for NBC calling college football and basketball. Noah will call the Ravens-Texans game with Greg Olsen. Olsen calls games with FOX’s No. 2 NFL broadcast team.
According to Marchand, Netflix will also add a sideline reporter to each broadcast team as well, but the names were not disclosed.
https://twitter.com/jtoonkel/status/1790755826392547451″
target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>Jessica Toonkel of the Wall Street Journal reported in May that the streaming service will pay approximately $150 million to air the two games.
Netflix joins Amazon Prime, which owns the rights to the Thursday Night Football package, and NBC’s Peacock, which broadcast a Wild Card playoff game last year, as NFL streamers. Those deals have come in addition to the league’s arrangements with traditional broadcasters ABC/ESPN, CBS, NBC and FOX. Deals with other streaming companies have mandated an over-the-air option in local markets.
“We couldn’t be more excited to be the first professional sports league to partner with Netflix to bring live games to fans around the world,” NFL vice president Hans Schroeder said in a press release. “The NFL on Christmas has become a tradition and to partner with Netflix, a service whose biggest day of the year is typically this holiday, is the perfect combination to grow this event globally for NFL fans.”
The Steelers and Chiefs play at 1 p.m., while the Ravens-Texans game is at 4:30 p.m.
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