More than four months before Christmas, Netflix has already sold all its available commercial time for the two NFL games it will show on December 25.
“For our two highly anticipated Netflix NFL games this December, we’ve sold out of all available in-game inventory and have closed sponsorships with multiple partners like Accenture, FanDuel, Google, and Verizon on in-game and broadcast features,” Netflix said in a statement.
One of the reasons live sports have become so attractive to the streaming providers is that viewers are much more willing to sit through ads while watching sports than they are for scripted programming. The NFL is both the most popular programming on American television and a sport in which fans have come to accept that commercial breaks are part of the deal.
Netflix will show Cowboys-Commanders at 1 p.m. ET on Christmas Day, followed by Lions-Vikings at 4:30.
It’s been a rough week in court for the NFL.
Three days after the Nevada Supreme Court ruled against the effort to force Jon Gruden’s claims against the league and Commissioner Roger Goodell into arbitration, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit found that certain claims made by former Dolphins coach (and current Vikings defensive coordinator) Brian Flores should not be sent to arbitration.
In a 29-page ruling, the three-judge panel found that claims made by Flores against the Giants, Broncos, Texans, and the NFL should proceed in court.
“The significance of the Second Circuit’s decision cannot be overstated,” the lawyers for Flores (Douglas H. Wigdor, David E. Gottlieb, and John Elefterakis) said in a statement issued to PFT. “For too long, the NFL has relied on a fundamentally biased and unfair arbitration process — even in cases involving serious claims of discrimination. This ruling sends a clear message: that practice must end. This is a victory not only for NFL employees, but for workers across the country — and for anyone who believes in transparency, accountability and justice.”
The NFL issued a much shorter statement: “We respectfully disagree with the panel’s ruling, and will be seeking further review.”
We’ll have more on this one later. For now, the point is that Flores and Gruden have secured important wins when it comes to the league’s knee-jerk habit of demanding to make the Commissioner responsible for resolving any and all legal claims made against the NFL, its teams, and/or the Commissioner himself.
Anyone who believes in basic fairness should be opposed to that. And, as I’ve said before (and surely will say again), if the league was committed to true and objective fairness, it shouldn’t insist on the Commissioner being responsible for resolving disputes involving the league, its teams, and/or the Commissioner himself.
The Titans have claimed linebacker Brian Asamoah off waivers, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reports.
The Vikings cut Asamoah on Tuesday, and the Titans are first in the claim order.
Minnesota made Asamoah a third-round pick in 2022, one of 10 players the Vikings drafted that year. Only running back Ty Chandler and wide receiver Jalen Nailor remain from that draft class.
Asamoah played 46 games with no starts in his time with the Vikings, seeing action on 188 defensive snaps and 802 on special teams. He played only 36 defensive snaps in 2023 and 33 in 2024.
He may have sealed his fate when he punched offensive lineman Will Fries during practice earlier this month.
Asamoah played 23 defensive snaps and six on special teams in the Vikings’ preseason opener Saturday and was cut three days later.
The Titans lack depth at the position, with Cody Barton the only guaranteed starter. Cedric Gray, Otis Reese IV and James Williams Sr. are other linebackers at the top of the team’s depth chart.
Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson remains out of practice due to a hamstring injury, but his status could change next week.
Head coach Kevin O’Connell told reporters at a Wednesday press conference that Jefferson will remain out of action through this week’s preseason game against the Patriots before being re-evaluated by medical personnel next week. O’Connell said that Jefferson is progressing, so a clean bill of health would open the door for the wideout to get on the field.
Jefferson’s injury cropped up in July, so it has been multiple weeks on the sideline for the All-Pro. That would necessitate a slow buildup to a full workload, but Week 1 is the most significant date on the calendar for the Vikings so there’s still time for Jefferson to get ramped up.
The Vikings would want Jefferson for their game in Chicago under any circumstances, but Jordan Addison’s three-game suspension to open the season makes having him is all the more important for first-time starter J.J. McCarthy and the Minnesota offense.
In advance of two of joint practices with the Patriots, the Vikings have added a pair of defensive players.
Minnesota announced the club has signed outside linebacker Cam Gill and linebacker Max Tooley.
Gill, 27, has appeared in 50 career games, mainly playing special teams. He appeared in 10 contests for the Panthers last season, recording 22 total tackles. He entered the league as an undrafted free agent in 2020 with the Buccaneers, winning Super Bowl LV with the club.
Tooley, 27, is returning to Minnesota for his second stint with the club. Having entered the league last year as an undrafted free agent out of BYU, Tooley spent time on the practice squad last year and was on the roster into the offseason program. He has also spent time with the Texans.
