Netflix’s Christmas Day game broadcast will feature a family flair, sources briefed on the crews for the games told The Athletic.
The play-by-play broadcasters for the doubleheader will be the father-son combination of Ian Eagle and Noah Eagle, while the analysts will be Nate Burleson, J.J. Watt and Greg Olsen.
In the early game between the Steelers and the Chiefs, Ian Eagle will be joined by Burelson and Watt. Adding to the family theme, T.J. Watt, J.J.’s brother, is the Steelers’ star pass rusher.
The late matchup featuring the Ravens and Texans will include Noah Eagle and Olsen.
When reached, Netflix declined to comment.
The Christmas Day games are Netflix’s first foray into big-time live sports. The network paid around $75 million per game after reaching an agreement with CBS to handle the behind-the-scenes production of the games, but not the broadcast crews.
The early game trio of Eagle, Burleson and Watt all work for CBS, but will be paid by Netflix for the game.
Noah Eagle calls Big 10 football, some NFL and the Olympics for NBC. He is expected to be a main play-by-play announcer when the network begins its coverage of the NBA next season.
Olsen broadcast the Super Bowl for Fox Sports two years ago, but was demoted from the No. 1 perch with the arrival of Tom Brady. He is now on Fox Sports’ No. 2 team.
Fox considered not allowing Olsen to moonlight with Netflix, but eventually relented, according to sources briefed on internal discussions. Netflix originally inquired about using Fox’s No. 1 team of Tom Brady and Kevin Burkhardt, as the New York Post reported. Fox declined that request, according to the sources.
Netflix is expected to add sideline reporters for each broadcast as well.
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