The NFL has placed perhaps the best matchup of wild card weekend on Peacock,  unsurprisingly upsetting plenty of fans across the country, with many speaking out on social media about their frustration. In order to watch the Kansas City Chiefs host the Miami Dolphins on Saturday night, fans not residing in the Kansas City or South Florida markets will need a subscription to Peacock, which starts at $5.99 per month.

But despite the outrage from some, not everyone is beside themselves about the NFL playoffs existing behind a paywall. An exclusive Front Office Sports-Harris Poll shows that a majority of potential viewers are okay with Peacock, or any other streamer, getting a game like Chiefs-Dolphins. 

About three in five (61%) NFL fans and two in five (45%) U.S. adults said they would be likely to pay for a subscription to a streaming service to watch an NFL playoff game, according to the survey. If the NFL were to take things a step further and make a postseason matchup a pay-per-view event, 57% of NFL fans and 42% of U.S. adults surveyed say they would be likely to pay a one-time fee to watch an NFL playoff game. Of those NFL fans willing to pay a per-game price, more than half (53%) would pay $10+, and 17% would pay $20+.

What About A Super Bowl?

If the Super Bowl ever ended up on a paid streaming service, two-thirds (64%) of NFL fans and about half (49%) of U.S. adults would be likely to pay for a subscription to watch the game, per the FOS-Harris Poll. And the same amount of NFL fans and U.S. adults would be likely to pay a one-time fee for the Super Bowl, too.

The survey was conducted online in the U.S. by The Harris Poll from Jan. 5-7, 2024, among 2,147 U.S. adults, ages 18 and over. View the full study here.

Netflix’s sports ambitions have hit yet another peak with the reveal of two new documentary projects that will further raise the profile of the prominent streamer. 

On Wednesday morning, Netflix released a trailer for NASCAR: Full Speed, its five-part documentary series that premieres on Jan. 30 and has been in active development for months. Following a similar playbook as its Formula 1-focused Drive To Survive, the NASCAR project chronicles top drivers such as Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, and Kyle Larson as they competed in last year’s NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. 

NASCAR: Full Speed features several noteworthy executive producers, including Connor Schell, the former ESPN executive who helped lead The Last Dance, and NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Netflix is also developing an NBA-themed version of its popular NFL Quarterback show, according to a report by The Athletic’s Shams Charania. The docuseries is set to feature NBA stars LeBron James, Jayson Tatum, Jimmy Butler, Anthony Edwards, and Domantas Sabonis, and has reportedly already started filming. That effort, too, is bringing in prominent producers including James’s SpringHill Company, Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions, and Higher Ground Productions, co-led by former U.S. President Barack Obama.

A series name and premiere date for that NBA project has not been finalized. But the initiative adds to Netflix’s rising interest in live NBA game rights, potentially including part of the successful new In-Season Tournament.

After years of actively resisting any notion of acquiring live sports rights—largely on financial grounds—Netflix’s interest in the space has shifted dramatically in recent months, both through the development of its own content and possible deals with leagues and promoters. Netflix, however, has yet to strike a large-scale deal for exclusive game rights to a major sports property as rivals Apple and Amazon have done.

For the third time in less than eight months, an NBA head coach has received the most lucrative contract in league history. 

The Miami Heat have extended Erik Spoelstra with a new eight-year deal worth more than $120 million according to ESPN. That would represent the most amount of total money committed not just in the NBA, but in all of North American professional sports coaching history.

Last summer, the Detroit Pistons made Monty Williams the highest-paid coach in the NBA with a six-year, $78.5 million contract ($13 million annually). However, just over a month later, the San Antonio Spurs extended Gregg Popovich with a five-year, $80 million deal, giving the five-time NBA champion coach a higher annual ($16 million) and total value than Williams.

Spoelstra’s new reported deal carries an annual value of $15 million, meaning Popovich remains the highest-paid head coach in the NBA on a yearly basis. 

Big Bucks 

Here’s a breakdown of the new top three, by total value:

1. Spoelstra ($120M) … 🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀 
2. Popovich ($80M) ….. 🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀
3. Williams ($78.5M) … 🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀

Beyond the top trio, other NBA coaches with big deals include Steve Kerr, who is entering the final year of a contract with the Golden State Warriors believed to be worth $9.5 million annually, and Rick Carlisle, who was making $7.25 million a year before receiving an undisclosed extension in October that could be even more valuable.