Beyoncé is celebrating Christmas Day with a ‘Cowboy Carter’ NFL halftime show via Netflix
It’s no concert film or visual album, but it’s still a gift of Bey proportions: Beyoncé will perform a live NFL halftime show in Houston on Christmas Day that will be streamed by Netflix.
The “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages” hitmaker has joined forces with the streamer to deliver its first-ever NFL Christmas game live show during the second of the NFL games scheduled for this year’s holiday. The singer-songwriter will take the stage in her hometown while the Houston Texans host the Baltimore Ravens at NRG Stadium.
The show will be Beyoncé’s first live performance of songs from her genre-busting “Cowboy Carter” album. Bey announced the album in February in an ad during the 2024 Super Bowl, and last week it earned 11 Grammy Award nominations, becoming the most-nominated album by a female artist.
Although details about the show are slim, Bey is expected to feature some special guests from “Cowboy Carter,” which boasts prominent voices from country music, pop and R&B.
Other acts up for multiple awards at the 67th Grammys include Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar, Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan and Billie Eilish.
The “Formation” singer has performed at two Super Bowls, headlining the 2013 halftime show in New Orleans, where she was joined by her former Destiny’s Child counterparts, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams. She also took the global stage with Coldplay and Bruno Mars when they headlined Super Bowl L in Santa Clara in 2016.
Netflix has been making strides in its live-entertainment offerings, just this weekend streaming a boxing match between YouTuber-turned fighter Jake Paul and veteran Mike Tyson that was watched by more than 60 million households. Despite the huge audience, the fight was a less than ideal viewing experience as viewers struggled with buffering issues and availability of the feed.
The company said it is hoping to kick off a new tradition by streaming the two Christmas Day NFL games this year after announcing in May that it had acquired exclusive rights — its most aggressive move yet into live sports.
Also, the bundle is making a minor comeback in streaming, thanks to a deal between rivals Walt Disney Co. and Warner Bros. Discovery.
The Los Gatos, Calif.-based streaming titan, which has 283 million subscribers, will also stream the game between the Super Bowl LVII-winning Kansas City Chiefs and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Additionally, the games will air on broadcast TV in the competing teams’ cities and be available on U.S. mobile devices with NFL+, the streamer said, to keep with tradition.
The Christmas games are the second NFL package to go to a streamer. Amazon‘s Prime Video acquired the rights to “Thursday Night Football” starting with the 2023 season.
