Beyoncé is headlining an NFL halftime show on Christmas Day, lending her star power to a sporting event that Netflix is hoping will assert its status as a player in live sports programming.
The Houston native and “Texas Hold ’Em” singer, who has twice performed at the Super Bowl, will perform at halftime when the Houston Texans host the Baltimore Ravens. The game is scheduled to kick off at 4:30 p.m. ET.
The Ravens-Texans matchup is one of two Christmas Day games on Netflix. The streaming giant also scored the rights to show the earlier game, between the Kansas City Chiefs and the host Pittsburgh Steelers — which opened with Mariah Carey singing “All I Want for Christmas Is You” in a pretaped performance.
The NFL games are part of Netflix’s foray into live sports, and the company is likely hoping that the entertainment portion will attract a wider viewership. The company has so far aired a celebrity golf tournament, a hot dog eating contest between Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi, a tennis exhibition match between Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz, and a boxing match between Mike Tyson and influencer-turned-boxer Logan Paul.
But things haven’t always gone smoothly. The Tyson-Paul match, around which Netflix had built intense anticipation, was plagued with streaming issues that led to a wave of complaints from viewers.